In sales parlance, a vertical solution is one that covers all the components needed (application set\Hardware set) to perform a business task, i.e. HP has a vertical business solution, it sells: PC's, printers, switches, servers and software. In education a "vertical solution" could be defined as a set of software pieces that encompass all of the tasks an Educator is confronted with daily, i.e. a teacher needs an attendance module, grading module, course management, reference materials management and reporting\assessment module, etc. A school needs a desktop OS, server OS, web applications, e-mail, firewall, etc. With SLE, openSUSE and the EDU-CD we can provide all of the above and more. The EDU-CD adds to the standard business solution provided by Novell those tools necessary by compiling the various open source components like : Centre\SIS, Moodle and openbiblio and more onto one OS and makes them easy to install and configure, thus creating a "vertical solution". I would like to see programming enhancements to these offerings which make them more compatible with "No Child Left Behind" and those similar standards\requirements across the globe as we move forward. I think that we could entice the programmers involved in the different OSS projects for schools to combine their talents here and make these programs and the EDU-CD a standard for world wide educational environments. Think about the promise of an Open Source project that helps educators evaluate the progress of students and the effectiveness of their curriculum as compared to achievements and curricula of other students and schools on an international scale. With Moodle as the core curricula management tool, courses\assignments are internationalized simply by sharing them as modules in the Moodle forum, enhanced locally and returned back to the community in the epitome of open source. I believe that great teaching exists all over the world but the ability of the best teachers to effect the largest group of students is stifled by the boundaries of the physical classroom. We, the technical support group of those teachers and school administrators, can and should do everything in our power to tare down those walls as has been done by the technical support groups of the international business world. -- James Tremblay Director of Technology Newmarket School District Newmarket,NH http://en.opensuse.org/Education "let's make a difference" -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-edu+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-edu+help@opensuse.org