On Wed, 19 Sep 2001, Adam Cripps wrote:
We're a small primary school who are just about to start work on a new ICT suite. The funding at the moment only covers building and furniture, not hardware or software. This is really a plea for information/experiences that schools have had with implementing Linux as an operating system - do schools use it solely as a server, or as workstations with server (thin-client)? What setup do schools have, and what software did they opt for? What is the range of software available for Linux for primary children (I've looked at Fensystems.co.uk and at the moment am a bit disappointed) - will it meet the curriculum requirements for KS1 and KS2?
Woodlands Junior School down in Kent now have a thin-client Linux system. You are, AFAIAC, welcome to arrange a visit sometime to see it in action. The setup is two servers, 33 dedicated thin-client terminals and somewhere between 10 and 15 legacy RM Window Box machines of various ages, onto which we have installed Cygwin/XFree86 so that they can also be used as thin-client terminals. As for primary software: you will no doubt have read the statement that heads up all the Resource Library search pages: "The Resource Library is currently under construction, and currently contains records for only a few out of the hundreds of packages that will eventually be included. The records that are present may be incomplete." FYI, we have already added all the spelling and maths packages from www.linuxforkids.org into our standard distribution, and these will filter through into the Resource Library when time permits. The linuxforkids packages were added at the request of the IT co-ordinator at Woodlands, and we expect to add more packages as they are found. Take a look at www.linuxforkids.org, or search Freshmeat.net for keywords such as "education". I'm sorry for your disappointment. Perhaps you might consider sending direct feedback? On the funding side: from what I can recall, Woodlands have paid for furniture, server hardware, internet connection and technical support (managed service). Some client hardware was purchased as second-hand kit (not from us) but this has proved to be a poor investment - the bought units were IMO overpriced and have been the least reliable of all the client terminals. Michael Brown http://www.fensystems.co.uk/