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Linux vs. Windows for Schools?
Fiachra06 writes "I am involved in helping to maintain the computer systems in the local school (200 ~ 250 pupils) in my home village. The children range in age from 4 to 12. The 14 PC's are running either Windows 95, Windows 98, and XP Home Edition and I find this rather abhorrent. The licensing fees to upgrade all the capable machines to XP pro is unreasonable for such a small school. What would the esteemed Slashdot readers think of shifting all these machines to a Linux distro (probably Ubuntu). I have no doubt the children will have no problem adapting to the new OS (although the teachers might), the main concerns are the availability of educational software for them to use, and practicality of maintenance for people who are new to the OS given that I am not there regularly enough to be a full time sys admin. Preferably I wouldn't like to running too much through Wine but it is still an option."
Edubuntu?
Edubuntu may be the way to go.
Edubuntu FAQ
Looking at the Edubuntu Tour, some of the programs seem to be for a younger age, around kindergarten and up, but the SchoolTool calendar for teachers looks interesting.
OpenOffice is included (of course). You don't mention what applications the kids may need - if it's just for internet browsing and research, and maybe some of the other educational things already included (Typing, etc), Edubuntu may fit your needs.
The upcoming 6.04 release of Ubuntu's Dapper Drake may fit you better, as it will have a formal support cycle. (I want to say 3 years).
Close, but not quite. You're forgetting that you're not using the software for the software's sake; you're using it to acheive something. That is to say, the software isn't the be-all and end-all, it's just a means to an end.
More than likely, the OP needed "A spreadsheet" but chose the actual application based on a variety of factors, one of which was probably the OS he was running at the time. He doesn't need to run spreadsheet Brand X, that's just his current choice; if spreadsheet Brand Y can fulfil the needs as well, but works solely on Linux, that's fine. It's certainly not the vicious cycle of "I chose X because I run Windows, and I need to run Windows because I use X".
Admittedly there are retraining/migration costs, which would come under the cons of changing product (and are sometimes really large, e.g. incompatible data files). But don't make the mistake of thinking that because you can't get a specific app on Linux, it's not worth switching. People really use computers as a tool, to acheive certain goals, and people using and developing for Linux have similar goals to those using Windows. If you can do it in Windows, you can probably do it some way in Linux; don't get too hooked on the details.
My, that was a yummy potato!
Sure you get a peachy keen deal...oh but did you buy Office? *ka-ching* Did you get the educational software you needed? *ka-ching* Did you buy the support contracts? *ka-ching* Did you buy the anti-virus software? *ka-ching* Oh and did you figure up how much a compromise would cost? *ka-ching*
Not saying Windows is the worst solution, but you oversimplify the issue grossly.
The only change I can believe in is what I find in my couch cushions.
Sure the handful of crapfully crafted games he had for Windows wouldn't run, but within the first week he didn't care. The distro comes loaded with educational games and exercises. His 1st grade class has 3-4 ancient iMacs (the ones that came in different colors). My impression was that they don't use the computers to construct or teach lessen plans, but its there to get them accustomed to using computers on a daily basis. For some edu-games, some heavily restricted internet, and education exercises I HIGHLY recommend edubuntu for younger kids.