Linux Desktops in New Zealand Schools

nigelr writes "The New Zealand Ministry of Education has signed a deal with Novell New Zealand to provide SUSE Linux desktop licenses in schools. The article claims that while the price for a desktop license now matches what Microsoft charge, the new deal will significantly reduce the over all cost due to reduced charges for existing Novell products used in schools around the country."

Comments

Bugger!

[Anonymous Coward]

As a kiwi student, I'm saddened by this news,
my hacking of unsecure school network systems days are over :-(

But on the otherhand it is good to see the playing field levelled.

Re:Question....

[Hosiah]

Quick! Somebody push another Linux distro to number one! I can't take the cult rattling their tambourines and chanting "Ubuntu" anymore!!!

Re:Isn't the point

[lxs]

And if I was running a school, I would surley want somebody to yell at when things go foobar.

Isn't that what students are for?

Re:Isn't the point

[HerbieStone]

Pretty amazing this got moded as Insightful and not as Funny. Is it common among Slashdotters to pay for sex?

Re:Isn't the point

[CmdrGravy]

Well you don't really pay up front for the sex, it's the support you pay for to make sure it stays on-line.

nOOOO

[CdBee]

There are loadsa girls out there who are very grateful for being freed from Claria/Gator/MSIE :-p

Re:Teacher!...leave the kids alone

[Just Some Guy]

When they get out into the real world, what practical knowledge will their experience with Linux afford them?

Preach it, brother. I have been endlessly cursed by an early exposure to a Timex ZX-81 and Commodore 64, and may never recover from once having owned an Amiga. Oh, my kingdom for the ability to somehow acquire new skills that are similar to the ones I already have!

No, I want my kids learning XP and only XP, and that's been my opinion ever since the United Nations declared it the One True OS For Posterity. I don't want them to look back with shame and horror on the weird systems of their youth as they attempt to learn the Windows path 30 years from now (which will be exactly identical in to current systems - how could we ask them to cope with change?).

Re:Isn't the point

[Tekzel]

There's a different between Som31 t4lk1ng li|3 th|5, and someone making a typo in a post where everything else is perfectly readable and understandable, without ever having to struggle or reread the post, as is the case with the post in question here.

From the context, I can only assume you mean that you had to struggle to read my post. If this in indeed the case, you should revisit reading class. I think grade four should about do it.

Re:Isn't the point

[Trelane]

Sex can be free too

You see, sex isn't generally free. You're not really taking all the factors into account when calculating your TCI (Total Cost of Intercourse). While certainly it can be, if J. Random Girl and J. Random Dude merely run into each other and throw themselves on the floor and go at it, generally it takes a great deal of cultivation on the part of the male (and also the female, though I'm much less used to that perspective, so here's the male perspective). For instance, did you take into account the days you've waited to approach J. Random Girl, and plotted how to best go about it for minimizing rejection? How about all those dates where you gallantly paid for the check? Or, even more casually, for a one-night stand, while smaller than the Full-On Relationship, you generally must first have an expenditure of effort for the approach, buying her drinks, etc. Now, on the full extremum, conservatives like myself who wish to have Free Sex only after marriage must account for many months, even years of dedicated effort and direct monetary expenditure in order to even begin to have Free Sex (what is the vendor lockin cost of Free Sex with a Wife? How do you account for locking yourself down to a single Sexual Vendor?). And, as all of you are no doubt aware, the TCI is even higher for a Relationship scenario, since acquiring Free Sex also requires regular maintenance of the relationship (again effort and cash (for sacrificial flora, for example)), in addition to effort involved in getting J. Random Girl relaxed enough to even contemplate having sex!

So, in conclusion, generally sex is not free when you account for the entire TCI!