May 2002 - openSUSE Edu - openSUSE Mailing Lists

Re: [suse-linux-uk-schools] Meeting yesterday and welcome to new members of the list
by Philip Hands 07 Jul '03

07 Jul '03

Roger Whittaker <roger(a)suse-linux.co.uk> writes: > I've just subscribed various people to the list - please post a > message to say hello and introduce yourselves. Hi, If you were at the meeting, I was wearing a Debian t-shirt (with a red swirl logo on it) --- there's a photo at the top of this article, where I'm wearing similar stuff (except for the penguin ;-) http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/articles/issue6/lu6-Editorial-A_patently_bad_ide… I'm a Debian GNU/Linux developer, and run the UK Debian mirror, and am responsible for producing the Debian official CD images: http://www.uk.debian.org/ http://cdimage.debian.org/ I have only a peripheral interest in educational matters, in that I've been frustrated in the past in my efforts to provide free computers (which were otherwise destined for a skip), but I can certainly contribute on a technical side, and having been involved in Debian (which is completely voluntary, like OSIE is expected to be) since 1996 I may be able to make some suggestions about how to ``organise'' such a thing. For those of you who've not come across Debian before, we're a world-wide voluntary organisation (read, chaotic jumble of mailing lists) that puts together a Linux distribution (and soon a HURD distribution) and gives it away. Debian doesn't pay people to do this, and doesn't sell what it produces, and in most legal senses doesn't really exist (i.e. the machines in the mirror network mostly belong to people like me, rather than to Debian, and the bandwidth is donated rather than paid for). This probably gives a pretty good feel for what Debian is all about: http://www.uk.debian.org/social_contract which you will notice leads into the The Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG), which is where the Open Source Definition came from. My internet machine, that hosts the Debian UK mirror, may be of use to OSIE, since it has about 30GB of spare disk, and a 20Mbit/s connection at a well connected ISP. This machine could act as either a primary host or mirror site for the web site, and could do DNS secondarying etc. as well. Something I'd be interested in working on (although perhaps a SuSE list is not the right place to spend too much time discussing this ;-) would be producing Debian CD images, tuned to the needs of educational users. Debian has accumulated some funds in the UK, and have been looking for a worthwhile cause to spend them on (we never really need to pay for anything that actually makes Debian work, so don't have much use for money), so we could probably afford to have a few thousand CDs pressed, and send them out to schools that are interested. Cheers, Phil. -- Say no to software patents! http://petition.eurolinux.org/ Philip Hands. +44 (0)20 7744 6244 philip.hands(a)uk.alcove.com Alcove UK --- Liberating Software --- http://www.alcove.com/ http://www.hands.com/ phil(a)hands.com http://www.uk.debian.org/

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RE NHS Meeting - Bill and Tony
by Alan Harris 18 Sep '02

18 Sep '02

Hi all thought this might be of interest to some of you :- <my email> > Subject: Microsoft and the British Government - Possible Anti-Competitive Behaviour > Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001 15:04:20 +0100 > From: alanh(a)bryngwyn.carmarthen.sch.uk > To: Erkki.Liikanen(a)cec.eu.int > > Hi, > > I write regarding the current negotiations between the British > Government and Microsoft in which, to date, Microsoft have been awarded > a contract to supply the National Health Service with some 60 Million > (£)'s worth of software licenses. > > I would be grateful if you could inform me of the current state of the > anti-competition investigation being undertaken by the EU against > Microsoft, as it appears that more such deals (like that for the NHS) > are in the pipeline. As the commisioner with responsibility for the > Information Society I am sure that you are well aware of the potential > for damage being created by such actions. > > Many Thanks > > Alan </my email> <commisioners response> > Subject: RE: Microsoft and the British Government - Possible Anti-Competit ive Behaviour > Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 14:08:31 +0100 > From: Erkki.Liikanen(a)cec.eu.int > To: alanh(a)bryngwyn.carmarthen.sch.uk > CC: Mario.Monti(a)cec.eu.int, Marc.Van-Hoof(a)cec.eu.int, Olli.Rehn(a)cec.eu.int, Per.Haugaard(a)cec.eu.int > > Dear. Mr. Harris, > > I pass your letter to my colleague Mario Monti and his cabinet. He is > responsible for this issue. > But still, during investigation I don't believe much more can be said what > has been in public. > > with best regards > > Erkki Liikanen > > ******************************** > Mr. Erkki Liikanen > Member of the Commission > tel. +32-2-295.79.57 > fax +32-2-295.85.61 > erkki.liikanen(a)cec.eu.int > secretary; kirsi.larjava(a)cec.eu.int > tel. +32-2-295.14.40 > http://europa.eu.int/comm/commissioners/liikanen/index_en.htm > </commissiones response> There may be hope for all of us then? Alan ----------------------------------------------------- Alan Harris Network Manager Bryngwyn School Tel : 01554 750661 Fax : 01554 758255 E-mail: alanh(a)bryngwyn.carmarthen.sch.uk ----------------------------------------------------- Notes: 1. The contents of this email may be snooped on by interested government parties for unknown purposes! Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, 2000. 2. The opinions expressed in this email are personal and may not be shared by Bryngwyn School. -----------------------------------------------------

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RE: [school-discuss] Becta feedback
by Chris Puttick 31 May '02

31 May '02

Teachers in the UK are being expected to do less and less work by government. As your package does not fit neatly into the UK national curriculum (i.e. you haven't pre-defined for them what the package does in NC terms), they're not (with some notable exceptions) going to be interested. Given the position of BECTa,they really should take the time to evaluate these packages, but don't. Has anyone had something excepted? My contributions were also turned down. I will be raising the issue with BECTa, but an ex-BECTa employee now employed by RedHat may be of more assistance in this area, as I do not know who to target. Malcolm? I forwarded your exchange to a UK based list that may have people better placed to define gcompris in NC terms. Cheers Chris -----Original Message----- From: Bruno Coudoin To: Schoolforge Sent: 5/29/02 1:31 PM Subject: [school-discuss] Becta feedback I asked BECTA to include gcompris in their database. They refused and I don't understand why. Could somebody explain me why, below is the trace of our email exchange. Thanks in advance, Bruno. ----------------- Dear Bruno, Many thanks for your recent message regarding an entry on the Becta Educational Software Database. In order to meet the criteria of the Becta Educational Software Database, we do ask that any materials referenced through the service are not just relevant to subjects studied in the UK, but that they are also appropriate for the English National Curriculum. Therefore unfortunately we are unable to include this product on BESD. Regards Becta Educational Sofware Database Team > -----Original Message----- > From: Bruno Coudoin [SMTP:bruno.coudoin@free.fr] > Sent: 28 May 2002 14:07 > To: besd > Subject: RE: gcompris proposal > > > I am french and not a teacher neither part of the french education > system so I can't give you any cross reference between gcompris and > the > British Curiculum. > What I can tell you is that in france, gcompris is used in school > for > what is called Cycle 2 which is about 5, 6 and 7 years old. > > Gcompris includes a large number of activities and you can also > check by > yourself how suitable it may be for your organisation. > > For My official contact information, I am M. Bruno Coudoin, my > personal > adress is 6: > Rue des Amandiers 31700 Blagnac France. > > Thanks for your time evaluating gcompris. > > Also, please consider that as a free software, gcompris can be > improved > by your organisation itself or by asking a third party software > engineering company with no license cost. You can also ask me for > changes and improvement but since it is a non paid project, it can > take > times. > > Best Regards, > Bruno. > > > Le mar 28/05/2002 à 11:53, besd a écrit : > > > > > > Many thanks for your recent enquiry regarding the Becta > Educational Software > > Database (BESD - http://besd.becta.org.uk). > > > > BESD aims to provide an independent, comprehensive on-line > database for > > educational software for the schools market. The database > complements the > > roles of the National Grid for Learning (NGfL - > http://www.ngfl.gov.uk) and > > the Virtual Teacher Centre (VTC - http://vtc.ngfl.gov.uk), which > provide a > > signposting service to web based content and resources. BESD > currently > > provides a mechanism for teachers and support organisations to > find > > curriculum-based software which can be purchased on disk, CD ROM > or DVD ROM, > > or downloaded from the web. Subscription on-line services where > internet > > access is required for use are not included. Can you please > inform us what > > National Curriculum subjects your software covers, and supply us > with full > > contact details. > > > > Regards > > > > Becta Educational Software Database team > > > > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: Bruno Coudoin [SMTP:bruno.coudoin@free.fr] > > > Sent: 27 May 2002 18:21 > > > To: besd(a)becta.org.uk > > > Subject: gcompris proposal > > > > > > > > > I am the author of gcompris > (http://ofset.sourceforge.net/gcompris) > > > > > > This is a freeware education application (Under the GPL > License). > > > > > > Please, consider including it in your database. > > > > > > Thanks in advance, > > > > > > Bruno. > > > > > > > > >

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Star Office No-cost Licensing for Education and Research Institutions
by Phil Driscoll 31 May '02

31 May '02

http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/edu/scholar/staroffice.html -- Phil Driscoll

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more KDE help for our LTSP setup
by Phil Driscoll 29 May '02

29 May '02

Could any of the KDE gurus help with this one. We've now got our menus exactly as we want them except for the fact that we can't work out what config files we need to change to remove the following: Lock screen Run command SuSE Menu SuSE Work Menu Settings All input gratefully received. Our ltsp setup goes live after next week's half term break. I'll let you all know how it goes! Cheers -- Phil Driscoll

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FW: Putting Security First in eGovernment
by Chris Puttick 28 May '02

28 May '02

Thought this might be of interest... -----Original Message----- From: Taylor_Johnson(a)researchgroup.co.uk To: Tony_Larks(a)researchgroup.co.uk Sent: 5/28/02 4:17 PM Subject: Putting Security First in eGovernment Putting Security First in eGovernment free Breakfast Briefing at the Savoy Hotel, London in association with Peapod and SecureGov.org 6th June 2002 | 0830 - 1030am You are invited and welcome to attend the first in a series of Peapod and SecureGov.org Security briefings. On the 6th June, Dr Simon Moores, Office of the e-Envoy Advisor and Chairman of Security First (formerly Security Forum) will chair a session where you will hear from Security Champions' from the Public Sector talking informally over breakfast about the importance of Securing ESD projects and the need to put Security First in eGovernment projects. >From the outset when it comes to joining applications, systems and departments you need to build upon a secure infrastructure from the start. Security is not a utility, nor an add on and when bolted on later is never sufficient or reliable. This is your chance to network with others who have experienced the pain and to learn from their mistakes. To reserve your place, contact Tony Larks on 020 8917 9402, mailto:tony@peapod.co.uk or visit http://www.peapod.co.uk/securegov/ ### This is the first in a series of National Briefings on the subject of Security in the Public Sector, we will be publishing our plan shortly. If you are interested in a meeting near your locality please let us know.

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RE: [suse-linux-uk-schools] Samba Question
by Chris Puttick 27 May '02

27 May '02

For future proofing, i.e. working towards long-term benefits, consider LDAP as your master auth database, using a Samba DC to integrate it into your NT network (or directly from W2k). With the NGfL funding, having a cross-authority directory will pay dividends later. -----Original Message----- From: Gareth Edmondson To: Alan Davies; suse-linux-uk-schools(a)suse.com Sent: 5/25/02 12:14 PM Subject: Re: [suse-linux-uk-schools] Samba Question Hyia Alan, Thanks for the reply. Several months ago, I did begin messing around with Suse7.2Pro, the WinBind module and Samba. I got as far as messing the PAM modules up before having to rebuild the machine. Heheheheheh, I didn't bother with it again for a long time. Now being up to Suse8.0, my curiosity is once again in full flow - (exam season). I will keep playing on my test machine to see what I can come up with. Best wishes for now, Gareth -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: suse-linux-uk-schools-unsubscribe(a)suse.com For additional commands, e-mail: suse-linux-uk-schools-help(a)suse.com

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Disk writes for logger
by Derek 27 May '02

27 May '02

Hi, I know someone told me ages ago about this but I've forgotten:- I have a clean install of SuSE7.3 on a "new" server. Even before configuring it, every four seconds or so it does a write to disk. My guess is that it is some form of logging but I've tried disabling various processes without stopping it. Any ideas - it isn't a problem so much as an annoyance! -- Best wishes, Derek

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Fwd: [seul-edu] Education's move to Linux; looking for your experiences
by paul sutton 26 May '02

26 May '02

Can anyone help these US users out, I guess Uk experiences are just as important than those in the US/ Paul ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: [seul-edu] Education's move to Linux; looking for your experiences Date: Wed, 08 May 2002 11:18:51 -0400 From: Tina Gasperson <tina(a)newsforge.com> To: schoolforge-discuss(a)seul.org, seul-edu(a)seul.org Doug Loss recommended I send my question to both lists, hence the cross-posting. I'm looking for examples, experiences, statistics, and happy stories about your findings in the aftermath of Microsoft's latest license push in the schools. Have you seen an increase in inquiries for free software/open source alternatives? Any testimonies or "case studies" out there? Any general impressions? Does anybody think Microsoft's actions may have had a negative effect on Linux in schools? I'm putting together a story about the positive effect (if any?) Microsoft's "crack downs" have had for Linux in education. You can reply on list or to me directly - I think on list replies might generate some good discussion though. If for some reason you need your comments to be unattributed, please do reply to me privately at tina(a)newsforge.com . This story is going up by the end of the week if the journalism gods smile on me. Thanks so much, Tina Gasperson news editor / reporter newsforge.com linux.com 813-626-4407 -------------------------------------------------------

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Now for the GNUs
by thinge 25 May '02

25 May '02

Dear all...an event not to be missed. I hope that I am not intruding on this group with this FREE invitation, I'm sure that someone will say if I am. I have recently joined the group...watching and learning mainly - this meeting with Richard Stallman may be of interest, short notice I know....there are 5 ish places available on a first come first served basis - please contact me if you wish to attend - entry without pre-registration will not be allowed since this is a government building. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Digital Divide is widening both in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, aided and abetted by the costs, supportability and sustainability of the current commercial software business models. Are there alternatives? The debate on 'Open Source' and 'Licence free' free software is quickening - Richard Stallman believes that free software is the alternative and has been instrumental in it's creation and nurturing the debate over the last decade - see below.. IMFUNDO 'ICT in EDUCATION' TALK SERIES Imfundo and the Internet Learning Trust are pleased to invite you to a talk by Richard Stallman. Title: Free Software in Education: freedom to learn, learning the value of freedom. Time: Friday, 7 June, 9.30-11.30 AM Venue: Main Conference Room 3W11, Department for International Development, One Palace Street LONDON, SW1E5HE Directions: http://www.imfundo.org/contact/contact1.htm Summary: A talk by Richard Stallman, Creator of the GNU system (GNU's Not Unix, http://www.gnu.org/) and the GNU General Public License (GPL http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html), and founder of the Free Software Foundation (http://www.gnu.org/fsf/fsf.html). The GNU operating system, together with the kernel, Linux, are responsible for a worldwide surge in non-proprietary, free software. Reaching maturity in the North, where free software is challenging user-restricting (and expensive) proprietary platforms, these developments hold enormous promise for the South. You are kindly requested to confirm attendance by replying to chrisjhart(a)btinternet.com or chris(a)thing-e.co.uk For more information on Linux and Open Source Software in Education visit http://www.imfundo.org/kb/ref/opensource.htm Chris Hart - Director Internet Learning Trust Address: 4th Floor 97-99 Dean Street, London WC1D 3TE Home/office: +44 (0) 20 8540 9546 mobile: +44 (0) 7789 845466 web: http://www.internetlearningtrust.net mail: chrisjhart(a)btinternet.com

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