[Technical] Linux

[Jim Maunder]

At 11:23 AM 17/05/2005, you wrote:
>On Tue, May 17, 2005 at 10:55:47AM +1000, Jim Maunder wrote:
> > [snipped]
> >
> > >...
> > >
> > >What proportion of staff objected?
> >
> > Our Prep to Yr 6 girls had no trouble with Linux - in French! ;-)
> >
>
>Interesting.
>
>Can you reconcile the perspective that some industry pundits have which
>essentially states that people are not migrating to Linux because it is too
>hard for normal users?

No. I reckon that Windows (tm) is too hard for the normal user as well! In 
a workplace, some techo has to install the software and apps, then 
configure it all to suit the local environment. It does not matter if it is 
Windows or Linux - normal users usually don't have to do this. In both 
cases they have to be shown how to logon, how to get to their network 
resources, how to use the proprietary software (if any). In either case 
they might need a little support while they get used to the office suite 
and/or email client. My only reservation is that out of the box (ie 
untweaked), Linux runs appreciably slower than Windows on the same 
platform. However, most Linux distros come with just about every 
application a user would need, saving the techo the trouble of installing 
them post OS installation. But I must admit that if something goes rwong 
Linuxwise I have no idea about what to do - I can set it up and use it, but 
that's it.

Young students are not afraid that what they do might break something like 
some grown-ups are - they just follow the teachers' instructions for a bit 
and then pick it up from there. To them it is all new. In our case we had 
only one teacher (the French immersion teacher) using Linux, and she took 
it home on her laptop and sussed it out herself.


rgds
Jim


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Views, opinions, etc. expressed reflect those of the author and not
Ruyton Girls' School
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Jim Maunder
Ruyton Girls School
Melbourne, Australia