High School + Physics + Linux = ?

earlums25 asks: ""I'm a high school physics teacher stuck in a school where not only is Windows rampant, but the sysadmin isn't interested in alternatives. I want to present a case where my students could use Linux boxes instead of Windows for the purpose of showing them there are alternatives. The major obstacle is that I haven't found software for Linux that would take the place of 'Precision Timer,' a piece of software that allows students to connect photogates through a Pasco 6500 interface. The software would need to recognize the input signal which comes in through the Pasco interface (a 1/4 inch plug connected the gameport), record time, plot data, print/save data and plots, and do basic calculation of speeds, accelerations, averages and standard deviations. Any ideas?"