The biggest problem I foresee with Linux run locally is that when the bell goes, they save what theyre doing and switch off. The shutdown process is a bit of a bind.
No problem when they are diskless terminals, except that we have found that StarOffice and Netscape often leave rogue tasks running on the server. In the case of StarOffice a user cannot start a new one while an old one is running. Roger wrote:
I guess that others will be interested in the diskless X terminal stuff (and possibly details of how it was made to work).
and I wrote to him:
The X terminal stuff was fairly straightforward. A boot ROM in each machine causes it to load a kernel from the server, after which it operates as an independent Unix host but running only one application - an X server that connects to applications such as Netscape running on the server. Swap files for each client are held on the server's scratch directory.
The vmware implementation was much more complicated: luckily I had the help of an old boy from Cambridge who wrote a couple of necessary scripts (necessary for the multi-user aspect to operate automatically). But you really must try vmware (www.vmware.com).
and he wrote back saying could he post it to the list, so there it is. To be more accurate, the X terminal stuff was very difficult but done with ease by my guru: the multi-user vmware implementation was much more difficult and took him several weeks. I am convinced that diskless terminals getting all their applications and configuration from central servers are the key to a school system. Our BBCs were diskless terminals. Most of our problems arise from "thick clients": the diskless terminals we have require negligible maintenance. -- Christopher Dawkins, Felsted School, Dunmow, Essex CM6 3JG 01371-820527 or 07798 636725 cchd@felsted.essex.sch.uk