hi all
interstingly enough, the debate here which seems to between the need to provide Computer Science or ICT raises many of the issues that have affected UNIX in the past and why it lost out to Windows. It also highlights why
Not forgetting that at least part of the reason Windows is so common involves the use of questionable (if not illegal) selling tactics by Microsoft. i.e. dictating to PC builders how they can and can't supply their machines and pricing based on criteria other than volume.
infact Open Source / Linux - based solutions will not be adopted by the majority of schools.
The R&D work at Becta on Open Source has probably come accross less than 500 schools (out of 27,000) in the UK using Linux (and 150 of those are in
Depending on your definition of "using"? By at least one measure the figure would be close to 100%.
Powys). Much of the development seems to be secondary and independant schools, with only the LEA mentioned above deploying it as a 'black-box' solution into primaries.
The lack of IT support for school technicians (where they exist) and the
"support", ah that'll be saying how great the latest version of xyz Windows software is :) (Or even how NT is better than Netware.)
pressure of other commitments, make 'hands-on' system development impossible
Looking after Windows takes up a lot of time, as does dealing with some very stupid suppliers. e.g. CASCAiD who's KUDOS 2000 would take ages to install on a network (since it requires a complex setup on each workstation) whilst they do in fact have an updated version of the old software which is far far easier to install on a network.
Drawing this together the issue is then how to bring the benefits of Open Source to a community (schools), without the techie bits? It's had me
The problem here is that open source is being expected to be considerably less "techie" than Windows. Since it is not being hard sold to people who expect someone else to deal with the complexities. The difference is wilst with open source you can can actually see what is going on with many Windows programs you can phone their so called "technical support" and the person on the other end won't have a clue or will pass the buck...
thinking for months and i'm still working on it, however the Open Source for Education Toolkit (osetk) is a start, need to get something together for it though.
-- Mark Evans St. Peter's CofE High School Phone: +44 1392 204764 X109 Fax: +44 1392 204763