This whole MS thing is turning into a right mess. On one side you have all the techy types who know whats good for them, ie Linux, or anything apart from BSOD MS, and on the other hand you have the Government, Teachers and Pupils who mostly fear change, even if it will save x amount of quids.#
Actually the pupils arn't really an issue here, more likely to be their parents who'd make an issue of it. Also you've missed off LEA advisors from the list..
The bottom line is, this is a personal opinion so disagree if you like, that although Linux is technically more attractive in reality it is a daunting thought to most people. For the simple reason that nearly everyone who has
But this attitude only exists in respect of computers. To the end user there is not a huge amount of difference anyway.
bought a PC in the last 3 years will have an MS product on it, meaning they know their way about it, Internet Explorer, MS Office, etc. Sadly the
No they *think* they know what they are doing with it. Since multi-user support is something of a kludge in Windows. A workstation on a network operates somewhat differently from a standalone machine.
educational support for Linux is lacking and all the popular packages available for MS are not available for Linux.
If you've dealt with quite a few supliers you might well come to the conclusion that "support" often may as well be lacking.
I have had this argument so many times with a lot of people, they all seem to agree that they havent got time to change over to a system that might not look the same, behave the same as their beloved Windows.
Which is a nonsensical argument considering the number of times Microsoft has changed...
After talking to Microsoft yesterday, they are attempting to respond to the Linux "threat" by offering cheaper licencing and customisable School Agreements, but they still feel that they are under no serious immediate threat.
How about documentation and systems actally designed with central (rather than end user) administration in mind... -- Mark Evans St. Peter's CofE High School Phone: +44 1392 204764 X109 Fax: +44 1392 204763