--- "adrian.wells" wrote:

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type software tends to have a gnu/linux equivilent. The big problem are these ex teachers sitting in the middle of dartmoor, knocking out pc versions of their BBC micro software for Sup Ed and the like. I'm sure that

*cough* -- and you find something wrong with "View" and "Wordwise"? :) -- Thomas Adam

I suppose that a measure of something's popularity can be inferred by the sort of Google hit's it gets? :-) I remember introducing that to typists! How they quaked! New-fangled computers! And then we had a job prying the Beebs out of their hands! :-) Adrian

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I'm not convinced that thin client is the way I want to go, and still not convinced that most of it's supposed virtues are revenant today. I know

[-snip-] that

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the article says that it's a personal view, but some of the arguments were pretty thin (sorry no pun intended!). Maybe I should read it again. I suspect from this that you may not have actually put your hands on a Linux thin client system yet. If that's so, and if could find the time to visit a thin client lab, I feel sure you would find it a highly relevant solution, with strong arguments in favour of it. They say that seeing is beliveing! :-)

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I've not been to schoolforge for a long time and I have to say, playing devils advocate, the left hand column could have so many more entries and the right hand column could hardly be more sparse, even with the wine entries! Although the software listed is very strong, it's hardly an advert for shedding windows! :-( Thanks for your comments. Schoolforge-UK is a community project, and it's developing all the time. I don't know if you looked at the section headed "Philosophy", but I like Paul Nelson's quote:

"Some educators will cite the lack of traditional educational packages for Linux that teach reading or math with funny rabbits that wink at you and say "Good job!" I just don't think we need to go there. Teachers don't need cute teaching applications. They just need computers that work and provide basic access to the software we all use everyday". I couldn't agree more, it's the teachers that you need to tell. In fact I'd go further; but I'm too tired even to rant! :-) Hard to grasp, but I learnt all sorts of things at school without computers or even much sight of a calculator! And not only that, the focus was on content rather than presentation and when we had power-cuts the teachers didn't run around headless chickens, unable to function.

I need sleep, So later Adrian