[Technical] Linux at a Sydney school

[Peter Wood]

Hi all,

The evangelical nature of some of the recent posts has been a little disturbing.

> > > However, Ian, there seems to be a far greater degree of Linux 
> > > and OSS adoption in the independent school space than in the 
> > > public space. This is because DET has established mechanisms 
> > > which keep those environments much more Microsoft oriented. 
> > > Free thinking independent schools are more able to move 
> > > beyond Microsoft when they want to, by comparison.

I suspect that some [few] schools are choosing open source OS's on the desktop because 
the cost factor. To infer some movement against the evil empire would, I think, be 
premature.

> > > Yes, no doubt, Microsoft has most of you by the short and twirlies ;-)

I don't feel that this is the case. My tech staff is capable of rolling
out OSS on every desktop in the place. In fact we run Linux boxes in house for some
applications. A turning point is coming [Put that down with "nobody will ever need more than 
64K of RAM"] but it isn't quite here for us yet. To accuse schools of some sort of intellectual 
laziness because they stay with the status quo is unproductive. The fact that the department 
channels its funds into Microsoft products [not something I necessarily agree with] has 
nothing whatsoever to do with my choice of OS. Indeed removing the financial imperative frees
us to make decisions based on other factors.

> Then start looking at reducing those desktop support calls by replacing
> those Windows desktops with locked down Linux. We can show a 90% reduction
> in desktop support costs by taking this single step. Go figure.

This preoccupation with locking down desktops isn't necessarily a useful model for all 
schools. Some kids will break software whether on purpose, some accidentally. I want them 
to play with the settings. If that's a problem we ghost the machines. 

Roland's use of machines with a linux/Windows option is something we're looking at also.   
We're in exciting times and still trying to think "freely". 

Regards,

Peter.

Peter Wood
Apple II Coordinator
Princes Hill SC
Carlton North