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Linux Desktops Catching On In Education
digihome writes to point us to an appreciation of the state of Indiana's project of moving students from Windows desktops to Linux. In about a year, 22,000 students have made the switch, using a variety of Linux distributions. The crn.com writer tried switching his own two children to Linux laptops. From the article: "'So Dad,' [the 10-year-old son] asked. 'What is the difference between Linux and Windows?' I tried to explain but it was a waste of breath. 'What difference do you see?' I asked back. 'Nothing, really.'"
...for training?
I work at a school district. I'm the most Linux-saavy of the four IT employees, and I'm still very much a novice. For us to make a transition to Linux, we'd need training and good support. It's been talked about, but sticking with MS has (at least on paper) come out being cheaper for the time being. And that's not even addressing the problem of teachers who are scared enough of Windows, IE, and MS Office; it's pulling teeth to get them to use StarOffice.
So how about it? What's a good way for us to make the leap into Linux without dropping a load of cash?
120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
What would make Linux the killer desktop app that it almost is, is a seamless way to run Windows programs, including installers.
.exe or clicking "Install" in the autorun box (yes, those should work too) and getting my app the same way I do in Windows.
If I could drop an application CD in a Linux system and install a Windows app with minimal fuss, that'd pretty much be the end of Windows in my household. I'm not talking about using Wine (which I tried once, didn't take to it and never went back), I'm talking about just running the
Is it easy to do? I seriously doubt it. Would it go a long way toward making Linux a major desktop OS? Probably.
120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
Here in my university in Brazil, they moved all the computers to linux (fedora) and guess what, it is destroying our capacity. We're a journalism and film school, now, how can our students be eligible to internships if they don't have Adobe Pagemaker, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro to learn? I really like the GIMP, OO and other F/OSS initiatives, I have linux at home in one of my machines but no way the students will be able to do state-of-the-art desktop publishing and film editing using linux, that was a bad idea from the start and it's reflecting now, the last film festival promoted by our city (actually by our university) had not a single movie made by us!!! Linux simply killed our capacity to produce here...
I'd exchange it anytime for Mac OS or Windows for doing DTP and film.
-- Por mais que eu ande no vale das trevas e da morte, meu PowerMac G4 Não Travará!!!
1. Make a good login. Kerberos auth to a LDAP ...and..
2. Keep windows- and linux-passes synced to LDAP.
3. Home folders must be auto-mounted. Same folder as in Windows.
4. Be sure to keep the home folders fast in linux. Try DFS or similar on Windows servers to share them (Windows 2003 R2 DFS works great).
5. Be sure to set somebody that actually know how to repackage RPM's to distribute them. You want to configure everything so it works the best way for your educational needs (plugins, settings etc).
6. Try using the same installation procedure for both Windows and Linux, so you can change OS fast on a classroom. PXE, boot a Win-PE or similar. Symantec Ghost can be used for installing both small windows images or linux images. After imaging, be sure that the OS can configure itself automatically without any user input (e.g. get computer name from DNS etc).
7. Do not select nerds that mostly don't like Windows to do this!
Looking at the software my family uses (mom, dad, grandparents, brother, inlaws) all of them could probably switch to linux except for my brother (games). Most of the software they need seem to be:
1) Browser (covered by linux)
2) Email (variety of options on linux)
3) Office (open office or something similar)
4) IM client (is there a good linux IM client that interacts with windows messenger?)
5) Greeting card software (anything good on the linux end?)
6) Family tree software (same question)
So Linux has caught up to the Mac circa 1984?
I kid, but I couldn't help but think of the Mac commercial with the little girl operating a Mac...or was it a Lisa?
Hmmm Heh - I don't know. I was like 4 years old then.
My main point was that people can learn and get used to whatever they're given. Most modern OSes are pretty good that way. The main problem is that many adults are technophobes, or, more likely, change-ophobes. They don't like anything "different". Kids aren't like that.
As my wife shows, adults who aren't afraid (or who couldn't care less) can also switch with minimal effort.
I can't use Windows anymore - there just too much missing in Windows. For example:
- virtual desktops - just LOVE them
- gnome-vfs - seemlessly edit files/watch vids/listen to music over ssh/ftp/smb/whatever
- powerful terminal for automated tasks - not much to explain
- software with clean interface - don't you just hate those vendor-specific apps on windows of which everyone looks as if it was from a different story?
- no bloatware out-of-box - when you buy laptop you usually get system preloaded with trials, demos, etc. and with 'rescue disk' which also rescues all the demo software. so either buy another copy of windows to get a clean desktop at the beginning or just spend a lotta time cleaning up the crap
- on linux, all my config files are stored in my home directory, and pretty much forces me to store all my data in one place - I know this can be set on windows, too, but it's extra effort
It took me a long time to switch from Windows to Linux and feel comfortable.
But it would take me _MUCH_ longer to switch back.
I disagree . Why would an employer find it less attractive when someone also knows Linux , aside from Windows . The more you know the better . to use only 1 OS , that would be fanatic . and could you clarify the part about 'they seem to be detached from the reality of the end-user' ? Linux works fine for most end-users .
Slipping shoelaces ?
Do you think this linux revival in American schools has all to do with the funding (and lack thereof)? Because linux gives two advantages: Using old hardware longer and use cheaper (note: I'm not saying free) software. I don't see any other advantages.
----
How do you switch to linux? Simple: Start simple. Use it for word processing and surfing. Work from there to some more unfamiliar ground.
Oh please wise one, define those games that you play so the world can acknowledge your vast superiority in game choice.
And while you are at it? What defines refined taste in games? I think taste for games, music, beauty, is mostly subjective.
I think kids should be taught as many operating systems as possible. Sure I use Linux, Mac, and sometimes frit around with the BSD(free).
Some windows only games are good.
And sometimes, just sometimes, a net connection and windows will inspire someone to code, learn linux, and I would bet 80% of the newer users here started with windows.
Baby steps.
Puto
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
I have some personal insight with the kids using Linux. We have four daughters ranging from 3 to 10. All of them want to be on the computer, and particularly the Internet. Well it certainly cuts into Dad's time grinding to a new level on WoW when they want to play dress up their Stardolls or feed their Neopets. (Okay, kidding there, sort of.) To solve the never ending fight for computer time I took some old, non-XP friendly computers and installed Kubuntu. All of our computers, Kubuntu or XP, have Firefox for browsing and OpenOffice for documents. Guess what? The kids could care less which computer they use and barely even noticed a difference until I pointed it out. Our eldest looked at me when I explained she was using Linux, got a puzzled look and said "So?" Enough said. My wife has had more trouble adapting and for the most part avoids the Linux boxes only because "its different" even though she admits she can still do all the things she normally does. Exposing the kids to a variety of systems only gets them more attuned to the underlying similarities so that they are less inclined to be intimidated by something new as much of the older generations are.
interesting note on that. If you can prove to microsoft that you did not boot up the OS on that brand new computer, you can request to get the cash for the OS back (i.e. the $100 you will have to pay) so there is still a sizable cost difference.
Perhaps there were only a few problems for linux all along. Now that Firefox, Open Office, Gimp, Gaim, Thunderbird, and various media players work fine I don't know of any major issues. Wine picks up almost any slack left over. The only thing I have booted Windows for is to sync my Palm Pilot (which Linux could do if I originally set it up on Linux), to sync my TI-84, and to flash a new BIOS (which I have done once since buying this PC). I wish my school would use Linux since it would no doubt run faster on their old PCs.
The Gospel according to lolcat
I replaced about 5 Windows machines with 8 Linux computers at an after school program (http://asianyouthservices.org/) and it is working quite well. I have half of them setup to dual boot in case they need it. The one computer that was booted into WIndows worked fine for about 6 months, but then it got really bogged down. The kids just tend to mess with all sorts of things on the machines and tend to mess things up after a while. I have found that Windows is harder to completely lock down than Linux. I have it setup for them and it resets all the settings back to the normal settings each night. It saves their documents and that is all. They can mess with anything during the day and the next day it will work. I've had several of these machines running for two years and have not needed to touch them since day one. Granted, they are pretty much only surfing the web and writing documents, but the Windows machines couldn't deal with that for more than 6 months.
I am not saying that it is impossible to set up the Windows machines to run the same way and have it reset all the settings each night. But, given that this is a non-profit organization, none of the software to enable this is cheap enough to justify. Everything I did was completely free. It did take a fair amount of my time to set up, but seeing as how I am a volunteer there, I feel good about it. I would much rather donate a few days of work time to get a solution that works than pay for the software that would have it work the same way. This may not be true of everyone, but in my case it was.
So, I agree, Linux can be set up to work just fine in a average person's environment if the person is not hard set in their ways and is willing to try something new. Will Linux work just like Windows? No, but then why should it - it's different, better in some ways and not as good in others, but perfectly able to be used for productive work.
Well, I think the problem here is that you're not picking a target. Let me.
Are you worried about a *nix-raised child being unable to handle a Windows desktop because the office uses only Word/Excel/Powerpoint?
Maybe you mean that someone raised to administer a *nix machine/system wouldn't be capable of understanding how to use a sophisticated OS like Windows?
Maybe you are concerned that someone who is raised in a *nix environment will be incapable of writing software for the Windows platform?
I can't speak about the third---I don't write code---but sweet enola gay son those first two suggestions are obvious moose-kaka. I mean, are you really suggesting that someone who understands how to use Open Office couldn't figure out MS Word? (Or OMG they use firefox on BOTH platforms.) Or that someone who knows how to use the zsh shell will be incapable of getting up to speed with an ugly-ass GUI?
Do you not see how ridiculous that sounds? If the computer-illiterates around me can figure out Windows and get their work done (and they do!), then I'm pretty sure that someone who understands how to use *nix should be able to get up to speed.
"Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under." - H.L. Mencken
Which is why the obvious solution is to purchase thin clients instead of PCs. Heck, if you are careful to buy motherboards that support PXE you can even buy cheap barebones computers without an OS or hard drive and use them for thin clients. If you are really looking to go cheap get yourself a pile of donated Dell or HP machines, pull out the hard drives and throw them away. Now connect them to a Linux terminal server and enjoy.
Instead of hundreds of boxes to administer you have one server (possibly two for redundancy). If one of the clients breaks you send a monkey out to throw it away and you pull another preconfigured box off the shelf. Since anything faster than 700Mhz or so is fast enough and since donating to schools is a tax write off you probably never will run out of potential thin clients.
A single beefy server on a switched 100M network can handle hundreds of clients (assuming everyone doesn't try and watch a video at the same time), and Linux provides more than enough software for the average school kid to get their work done. Want faster computers? Simply upgrade the server and everyone gets a boost.
I agree that Linux doesn't really save you that much if you are talking about purchasing new computers (probably running Windows) and installing Linux on them. Although these days it is not that difficult to find inexpensive new computers that don't come with Windows. If you are set on rolling out PCs the real cost savings come from axing MS Office, not Windows.