Ian Lynch made some valid points, but one thing to watch for when "costing" and comparing the value of say Windows installations with Linux based installations within a school is skills. With Windows at this time it is very easy to find the skilled staff to act as technical support for a networked environment, and this cost can be factored in to the whole equation. With Linux (at this time) awareness of the skills needed, training and technicians are far behind the Windows equivalent and so when comparing the two the figures may be slightly skewed in favour of the Windows base rather than your desired outcome- Linux. A raising of awareness of Linux support services, the training of technicians on two or three day courses with refreshers and a synopsis of available manuals, newsgroups and consultancies helps to reverse some of the fears schools and managment may feel when faced with the famous Microsoft TCO argument. Supporting schools with Linux implementations is not just a consultative process but a local one too; schools need trained staff and technicians as well as available resources for tapping into the information they need when they need it and this can appear in things like driver support, network troubleshooting, setting up LANs and WANs and hardware choice. Anyway, just my 2p. Ian made some sound points though. Paul