[PLUG] linux for elementary classroom/lab

Matt McKenzie lnxknight at gmail.com
Sun Oct 24 06:35:02 UTC 2010


Hello,

I will jump in.

I worked as a tech for PPS a couple years ago.
I asked the other techs what the district policy was on Linux, since I
wanted to perhaps help spread it if I could.
They run it on a few servers at the district office.  They do not really
support Linux at the schools, unless the school has someone on their own
staff who is willing to deal with it.
They also use (used to anyway, not sure if it is still the case, but very
likely it is) a hard drive imaging system that is based on OpenSuSE.
Their whole infrastructure is Novell Zen, so using Novell Linux (SuSE) makes
sense.

The imaging system is basically a small loader that can have a flag set
remotely (or locally if needed), and when it reboots, it pulls a new OS
image off the network, installs it, and reboots again into the fresh image
(Win2K and WinXP when I was there).  It is quite slick.  In some cases if
the network of a particular school isn't setup for the Zen stuff, a boot CD
and a USB hard drive can accomplish the same thing.  So most if not all
their Windows machines have a tiny sliver of Linux on them, though no one
really knows it ;).  If you run the settings option for the loader before it
boots into Windows, you can see the OpenSUSE gecko before it goes into the
menus.  :)

As far as actually running Linux as a regular OS, a few of the schools had
it when I was there, mainly a few labs that use LTSP for testing purposes
(as in students taking tests online).  A few schools that couldn't afford PC
refresh as often would use donated machines (FreeGeek usually), and just
leave Ubuntu on them.

So overall the official district position on it, when I was there at least,
was "we don't support it, but you can run it if you support it yourself".

As far as maintaining the machines, it is up to the techs to do that (as far
as hardware, or Windows issues), but if a machine is old and out of
warranty, it can be difficult to get it repaired if there isn't room in the
budget.

My $0.02

----------
Matt M.
LinuxKnight


On Fri, Oct 22, 2010 at 10:39 PM, Nathan Young <nathan at ncyoung.com> wrote:

> Hi.
>
> Has anyone used linux on a large scale among lower grades in the portland
> area? I have a few specific questions areas of interest.
>
> Do you know how PPS interacts with linux? I've been told that if the
> district buys computers for the school then they also support those systems
> to a degree, while if systems are donated or bought using PTA funds or any
> other source, the school is on it's own to install/configure/maintain. I've
> also been told that the support forthcoming is not so incredible that it
> forms a strong incentive to stay with PPS provided systems (in other words
> the bar is pretty low and likely to be pole vaulted by one or two involved
> and knowledgable parent volenteers and a few easy to come by corporate
> donation program grants).
>
> ok second question: anyone tried edbuntu.etc?  Or is it better to install a
> recent distro and LTSP and configure from scratch?  Target here is kind of:
> make netboxes out of outdated hardware where:
>  a. teachers and part time admins are sick of maintaining outdated versions
> of the OS and the damn thing can't print or whatever
>  b. not enough seats to go around so students go into the computer lab and
> sit... and sit...
>
> ok third question in this rambling chain: Anyone done this on one or two
> hours of time investment a week?  I've got 6-8th graders, is it insane to
> start contemplating a student run corner of the lab (or just insane to
> think
> that would save time)?
>
> Fourth question (longshot time) Odyssey program at hayhurst anyone? I'm on
> the IT committee and surrounded by windows admins.  We also have someone
> who
> is well connected for hardware donations for next year.  I'm kind of booked
> up working on the website (and trying to have a life), but I'd start laying
> groundwork if I wasn't pissing in the dark.... totally alone...
>
> ----->N
> _______________________________________________
> PLUG mailing list
> PLUG at lists.pdxlinux.org
> http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
>



More information about the PLUG mailing list