Multiple Desktop Users on a Single Machine?

_Sharp'r_ asks: "I'm trying to design the least expensive way to make OpenOffice, email, and a web browser available to students in a new charter elementary school. In my past experience working with charitable computer donations, I can usually get three to four working computers out of five donated 'broken' computer systems, usually with plenty of monitors, keyboards and mice left over. I'd like to use one computer for multiple students by attaching multiple monitors, USB keyboards and mice. What drivers/OS versions support multiple local input devices and monitors that can be attached to a specific login session? Will this require virtualization? Is there a config I haven't found that you can use to assign these devices to specific ttys? Have you done this before?"

Comments

Use the real deal

[Anonymous Coward]

You can always use Windows. It's a great solution, since it addresses the major flaw with Linux, in that it isn't Windows.

Just use the "Fast User Switching" feature in Windows XP. Nothing extra is required to be set up, you install Windows and you are done.

You might also want to consider using MS Office instead, since you will be gimping any real world education students get- if it comes down to a corporation hiring two people, and one of them doesn't know how to use MS Office... you have just made the decision to not hire your student a very simple one.

Since you are using all donated equipment, it's pretty likely some of the PCs will have OEM Windows licenses pasted on them. So it doesn't even cost you any money to use Windows, and you can probably even get MS Office licenses pretty cheap (or free), especially now that Office 2007 is out. Just use Office 97/XP/2003, they are all pretty much the same for the most part.

Don't shortchange your students by settling for second best. It will only hurt them in the long run.