View Full Version : Major Oppurtunity to Convert School to Ubuntu.
ssj6akshat
April 10th, 2010, 06:19 AM
Actually our school computers got wrecked by malware yesterday.So I told teacher about Ubuntu and how it will be able to satisfy our needs for free without legal concerns.He was interested and asked me to bring Ubuntu CD.The computers originally ran OpenSuse but were loaded with pirated Windows so I think Hardware Compablity might not be an Issue.I will post if the conversion was successful or not after school is over.Wish me good Luck
l-x-l
April 10th, 2010, 06:22 AM
Please do.
NightwishFan
April 10th, 2010, 06:43 AM
Exactly where Ubuntu should shine is where it can be legally deployed en mass. Cut costs on software and office a great deal, and even have the ability to purchase a support contract (if that fits your budget). Please keep us informed. If you get the machines working with it, some pictures would be great as well.
RiceMonster
April 10th, 2010, 06:51 AM
Make sure the computers don't require any Windows specific software.
Megaptera
April 10th, 2010, 08:21 AM
Might it help to show these other users?
http://www.focus.com/fyi/information-technology/50-places-linux-running-you-might-not-expect/
madjr
April 10th, 2010, 04:12 PM
Make sure the computers don't require any Windows specific software.
actually you can substitute almost every "windows" software
http://alternativeto.net/
http://www.osalt.com/
also, if they find the change to gnome too drastic, you can always try kubuntu (since is similar to win7 but uses less resources). in fact you should have both live-cds ready and let them choose. 2 alternatives (bigger menu) is always better than 1
remember it can take a week or 2 for teachers and students to get used to a new change (but for the better)
oh , and install the restrictive-extras packages
RiceMonster
April 10th, 2010, 04:18 PM
actually you can substitute almost every "windows" software
And often, these "substitutes" do not meet people's needs.
undecim
April 10th, 2010, 05:42 PM
I would bring them several CDs to try if I were you:
Ubuntu
Kubuntu
Xubuntu
and of course, Edubuntu.
And don't forget to mention that it's possible to buy support contracts if neccesary, or use the community-driven support forums.
madjr
April 10th, 2010, 05:44 PM
And often, these "substitutes" do not meet people's needs.
at a school there's not that much "special need", is all about the basics. ubuntu does the basics (and more) just fine IMSHO :)
getting the basics right, nice looks, ease of use and marketing your product strong points instead of just focusing on your weaknesses does wonders. heck just look at mr. apple
I would bring them several CDs to try if I were you:
Ubuntu
Kubuntu
Xubuntu
and of course, Edubuntu.
And don't forget to mention that it's possible to buy support contracts if neccesary, or use the community-driven support forums.
if the machines are old i would try lubuntu
inst edubuntu an add-on now ?
agnes
April 11th, 2010, 03:25 AM
The computers originally ran OpenSuse but were loaded with pirated Windows
Don't understand. They dual-booted OpenSuse with Windows, or OpenSuse was there before, then Windows?
If the latter, ask first why they ditched OpenSuse.
OpenSuse isn't less user friendly than Ubuntu imho, so might be a Linux-problem-thing.
orlox
April 11th, 2010, 04:43 AM
You should consider using 10.04, that is coming soon. An LTS is very useful in these kind of environments, and 10.04 is certainly a big improvement over 8.04.
gletob
April 11th, 2010, 06:41 AM
Sounds like a great idea, and it's great to get your school away from pirated software.
EDIT: Whatever dude.
NightwishFan
April 11th, 2010, 07:29 AM
edit
gletob
April 11th, 2010, 07:33 AM
PLEASE! I only corrected it because the spell check was bugging me to. GET OFF MY CASE!
Sorry, sorry!! I never correct grammar, ever! But incorrect etymologies just bug the living daylights out of me.
TheNerdAL
April 11th, 2010, 07:35 AM
Order in the court! :lolflag:
Man, I want my school district or school to switch to Linux, we still use Windows XP even though some computers have Windows Vista stickers on them -.- I was about to get my teacher to try it out on her computer but she didn't want to.
NightwishFan
April 11th, 2010, 07:38 AM
It's fine, I am not mad. I just absentmindedly fixed it with the spell check, it shows "masse" as an error.
Megaptera
April 11th, 2010, 07:44 AM
Bear in mind that some organisations 'sign-up' with Microsoft for extended periods so switching to Linux might not be possible 'til contracts have expired.
However, that's a big plus 'cos it offers time for linux to be run on a 'trial' and 'testing' basis and to run courses to familiarise new users with the linux o/s that's been selected.
lisati
April 11th, 2010, 07:50 AM
Order in the court! :lolflag:
Man, I want my school district or school to switch to Linux, we still use Windows XP even though some computers have Windows Vista stickers on them -.- I was about to get my teacher to try it out on her computer but she didn't want to.
My laptop has a sticker "(Vista) Home Basic", its Vista partition is really Home Premium. :)
Edit: apply grammar policing to myself :)
NightwishFan
April 11th, 2010, 07:54 AM
My school had an unreasonably high budget, yet it was using 2000 on all the desktops. Pity I did not use Linux way back then or I would have made the IT team try to pin an ignore button on me. (I did not like the staff).
Khakilang
April 11th, 2010, 08:05 AM
Best of luck to you. This a great opportunity to spread the usage of Linux.
ssj6akshat
April 13th, 2010, 05:50 PM
I did It!!!!!!!
I had a hard time convincing them but the only feature that made them move away from pirated software was Apt(and yeah trusted repositories).
They found apt awesome that it can install a large amount of packages with little user interaction.Later that Day one oversmart guy tried to install porn games on it but it didn't work(no WINE installed):lolflag:
Celebration Time :guitar:
sydbat
April 13th, 2010, 06:04 PM
Bear in mind that some organisations 'sign-up' with Microsoft for extended periods so switching to Linux might not be possible 'til contracts have expired.Not quite. Large organizations get bulk licence deals to use Microsoft products on all their machines, but they do not have to use those Microsoft products at all. However, most large orgs tend to use those products because they paid for them. They are reticent to change to something else that might challenge their wisdom over money spent.
And ssj6akshat - good for you.
NightwishFan
April 13th, 2010, 06:12 PM
Hey, glad it worked out for you. Good work. :D
orlox
April 13th, 2010, 06:12 PM
I did It!!!!!!!
I had a hard time convincing them but the only feature that made them move away from pirated software was Apt(and yeah trusted repositories).
They found apt awesome that it can install a large amount of packages with little user interaction.Later that Day one oversmart guy tried to install porn games on it but it didn't work(no WINE installed):lolflag:
Celebration Time :guitar:
Which ubuntu version did you used??
ssj6akshat
April 13th, 2010, 06:17 PM
Which ubuntu version did you used??
9.10.No issues because it was linux compatible hardware:)
Megaptera
April 13th, 2010, 06:21 PM
Well done!!
ikt
April 13th, 2010, 06:39 PM
at a school there's not that much "special need", is all about the basics. ubuntu does the basics (and more) just fine IMSHO :)
Not necessarily, I understand there is plenty of school specific software out there that mixes with professional software (adobe suites/microsoft office) that has no decent equivalent on linux.
Directive 4
April 13th, 2010, 07:30 PM
well, i'm doing a Msci, and i have no need for anything other than linux.
madjr
April 13th, 2010, 09:39 PM
Not necessarily, I understand there is plenty of school specific software out there that mixes with professional software (adobe suites/microsoft office) that has no decent equivalent on linux.
what do you mean?
these are basic schools, not some "special 3D CAD / graphics design modeling career" or something similar where you need some specialized software.
schools just show you how to type and do some basic spreadsheet, why do we need a full Microsoft office suite for that?
google docs, openoffice and even abiword/gnumeric can do that just fine
most of the time when they do have some weird software, is more of some economic interest from one member of the school board, than real need. So yes, i do agree that is better to stay away from those
madjr
April 13th, 2010, 09:48 PM
I did It!!!!!!!
I had a hard time convincing them but the only feature that made them move away from pirated software was Apt(and yeah trusted repositories).
They found apt awesome that it can install a large amount of packages with little user interaction.Later that Day one oversmart guy tried to install porn games on it but it didn't work(no WINE installed):lolflag:
Celebration Time :guitar:
thats cool, are you going to upgrade later to 10.04?
also remember to add a second guest account for the students, so they dont get the main account passwords
install lockdown for gnome
you can lan chat and send files with empathy
and apt is great but also show them the software center, they need some visual aid at first. specially useful for finding educational software.
sdlynx
April 13th, 2010, 09:59 PM
I doubt that Ubuntu will be able to serve the needs of people using the computers at school.
Sure, it's got a word processor, presentation maker, etc.
But what it doesn't have is the capability to install certain other software that teachers may need. Also, at least at our school, grading is done through a program that runs on Windows, so that program would have to be exchanged for another that runs on linux.
madjr
April 13th, 2010, 10:31 PM
I doubt that Ubuntu will be able to serve the needs of people using the computers at school.
Sure, it's got a word processor, presentation maker, etc.
But what it doesn't have is the capability to install certain other software that teachers may need. Also, at least at our school, grading is done through a program that runs on Windows, so that program would have to be exchanged for another that runs on linux.
is not like is going to be ALL the computers head on
it's just some at the computer lab, some will be dual-boot and some may be windows only
if they find that linux is better for them, then they will go find themselves a grade solution for linux
tom66
April 14th, 2010, 01:20 AM
Congratulations.
We have some Linux PCs in our school, about 9 or 10. But they are running on crappy hardware (old Dell Optiplex boxes - probably Pentium II) so everyone avoids them. There's also about 100 thin client PCs around the school running a compact variant of Linux. But most of the main PCs, run Windows, and they are vvveeerrryyy slow and continuously break down.
Crunchy the Headcrab
April 14th, 2010, 01:25 AM
At my old school the CS/IT department was very Linux friendly. We used dual booting machines that could run either Linux or WindowsXP Pro. They taught us programming in Python! We also had a bunch of Macs for the VT crowd.
My current University is very Windows centric. I'm not saying there aren't any, but I haven't seen ANY macs or dual booting windows/linux machines. It's all Windows all the time.
dmizer
April 14th, 2010, 02:35 AM
I doubt that Ubuntu will be able to serve the needs of people using the computers at school.
Sure, it's got a word processor, presentation maker, etc.
But what it doesn't have is the capability to install certain other software that teachers may need. Also, at least at our school, grading is done through a program that runs on Windows, so that program would have to be exchanged for another that runs on linux.
If the whole school will be using it, then there's no need for proprietary gradebook solutions, as there are plenty of open source solutions, as well as open source and proprietary web based solutions that could do the job just as well or better than Windows based proprietary solutions.
Besides, according to the first post, the school was originally configured for Linux software anyway. This doesn't seem to be a big move for them. All it's really doing is moving them away from pirated Windows.
mkendall
April 14th, 2010, 10:26 AM
But what it doesn't have is the capability to install certain other software that teachers may need. Also, at least at our school, grading is done through a program that runs on Windows, so that program would have to be exchanged for another that runs on linux.
Grading, or the collation of grades? I use a Calc spreadsheet for my grading.
ikt
April 14th, 2010, 06:03 PM
what do you mean?
these are basic schools, not some "special 3D CAD / graphics design modeling career" or something similar where you need some specialized software.
So you agree ubuntu is great in primary schools because it handles basic functionality quite well however in high schools and uni/tafe situations it is not optimal because it can't run specialised software.
dmizer
April 14th, 2010, 10:35 PM
So you agree ubuntu is great in primary schools because it handles basic functionality quite well however in high schools and uni/tafe situations it is not optimal because it can't run specialised software.
Even in specilized situations, it's not like Ubuntu can't be used at all. Use Windows where it is needed, and use Ubuntu everywhere else. Windows and Ubuntu are perfectly capable of working together. This is not an all or nothing situation.
ssj6akshat
April 19th, 2010, 09:59 AM
Guys,Don't worry all we need is C/C++/Java IDE,TuxPaint,Extreme Tux Racer and Chemistry software that is NOT shareware and we already have them and we also installed Gnome-Activity-Journal to monitor the activities of students(whether they are working or watching p0rn) and we also have Gnome-Nanny to minimize unwanted websites.I feels so great to see your work not destroyed very few days :)
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.2 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.