-----Original Message----- From: kevin.taylor@powerconv.alstom.com [SMTP:kevin.taylor@powerconv.alstom.com] Sent: Friday, September 22, 2000 9:52 AM To: Schools List Subject: [suse-linux-uk-schools] Linux Internet Appliances using 486 PCs [snip]
This is exactly the sort of thing that got me into this area in the first place. I have 10 of those in my spare room !
I would really like to do this with some of my 10 at my daughters school, but there are a number of fundamental problems that stand in my way :
A quick and simple question. Have you spoken to said school? I've had this speaking to other parents - they have thrown away kit because they assumed that the school couldn't use it.
1. I cannot support it full time (I have another job :-)
Depending on the use they wish to put them to, this probably wouldn't be a problem. If they simply wish to run server setup's they tend not to need any support after the 1st week. Client PC's could be designed so that a system reset is as simple as inserting a floppy. I know that at Leeds Met Uni they simply insert a boot floppy and the whole installation is overwritten from a single image on a secure server. This is possible because all student files are kept on one file server that is backed up regularly.
2. They would need to buy a single top-spec machine as a server (and all their money/machines are tied up)
Yes and no. If they want one file server, this could be done using a modest spec Pentium (Celeron/PII). The slowest part after all is the NIC. If they wish to run X then again a lot of the work is done at the client which I use(d) 486's for. If the wish to use VNC then more work is done by the server (memory/processor intensive).
3. They would be doing things on their own, as all their central IT support is Windows based.
Catch 22 here I'm afraid. Until more people use Linux, you won't get support centres supporting it. However, as I said earlier, with a good setup this isn't as important.
I am not sure how the OSS model, of sending stuff around the world electronically could relate to hardware though :-)
We could perhaps take the view that a series of single distributions could be developed to do a single thing - and that thing only. This could be used to turn a single machine into an internet 'appliance' with minimal fuss.
There's nothing to stop anyone rolling their own dist.. A colleague of mine has already done this using a RedHat dist. as a base. He simply add/removed rpm's as he saw fit. This would greatly ease the install for a teacher/technician as they could just follow the on-screen instructions and take all defaults.
I have seen reviews of 'network-area-storage' devices, 'internet ready' cameras, 'web-server-in-a-box' devices, all based on Linux, with admin via the web.
I would be interested in adding to the smoothwall idea.
Kevin.
----------------------------------------- Gary Stainburn. Work: http://www.ringways.co.uk mailto:gary.stainburn@ringways.co.uk REVCOM: http://www.revcom.org.uk mailto:gary.stainburn@revcom.org.uk ----------------------------------------- Murphy's Laws: (327) Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will use it. -----------------------------------------