Help me making a letter for director of my highschool to use Ubuntu in all computers.

[rEbyTer]

Help me making a letter for director of my highschool to use Ubuntu in all computers.

I think this is a good idea , and from the time when I made it I will really think how to make this true.

I want to send to director of my highschool a letter in which i will be granted to install ONLY open source software on all computers and delete evrything closed-source and MS based.

I want to mention in that letter the software which includes and the equivalent names for software that were on windows...

Also it's good to mention the 24h/7d support on ubuntuforums.org . the security , the hardware compatibility , the minium RAM which works ok.. and also on computers which have >512MB ram to install #!CrunchBang Linux.. Or Xubuntu (i don't used it so i don't know if it will work...)

Other things that i have to include are some related to open-source-closed-source productivity.

The 60% of computers are 1.4Ghz Intel procesor and 512RAM . in winXP computers are running in software mode, so i don't know if they have video devices..

The rest of 40% of computers are Intel Core2Duo Cpu's at 1.6.Ghz , the video device is working properly (I tested it :) with livecd) They're just perfect for ubuntu...

Also it is very important to mentions that linux is very secured in way that you are protected even you don't have a antivitus software.

All your posts will be thanked... Please help me with that letter, I'm just a child and i DO NOT understand some things so i can't write that letter ....

Also i'm working at my own article aiming at opensource vs. closedsource. , read it here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=5540368) , your help is welcome.

[Delever]

1. Make sure you don't ask to do that.
2. Make sure it is his idea.

I would approach it this way: at first, communicate with teachers and get it installed in at least one computer. Again, those two rules, and link in my signature.

Then, when they find that it is possible to do everything needed in ubuntu (office teaching, free pascal, any other thing), it would be possible to demonstrate that it's working, and teachers will help themselves.

However, I would leave some computers with MS Windows, because, you know, there are still some Windows computers left in outside world.

Good luck.

[Lod]

Also it's good to mention the 24h/7d support on ubuntuforums.org . Personally I wouldn't mention this. It sounds like the forums are some sort of paid helpdesk who has to give support and guarantees a solution. Remember we're only volunteers and there is no way we can guarantee the problems will be solved. Just giving help.

If you want it anyway make it clear there is a big community with a lot of knowledge who are trying to help.

[Delever]

If there is trouble to get started, you can ask to do research project, which may sound like:

"Possibilities of using linux for education"

and take it from there :KS

[rEbyTer]

Your answer is awesome. Thank you...

Everytime from now on i'll take my 5'25" external rack with an old 20GB HDD to work with linux..

. AND I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND IT TO MY FRIENDS/TEACHERS. I'll just give them a livecd if they are curious....

Grateful thanks for tellimg me this... If you weren't I would be on a wrong way...

[iamBevan]

However it turns out, best of luck :D - You've got an awesome idea fella

[mozetti]

In my opinion, you'd be doing a disservice to the students of the school by removing all closed source and MS software.

Whether you like it or not, the majority of the business (education, entertainment, non-profit ....) world uses MS and closed source software. If you don't teach the students to use it then you're putting them at a disadvantage to everyone else going into college and work environments.

However, it would give them an advantage if they learned both MS and Linux. So, my advice would be to go easy on the crusade and try to get things running side by side. That way you can also show them that everything they use in the pay-to-play closed source and MS world has a free and open source alternative.

[Iceni]

ot but I was in the library the other day, the library in a small town in norway, and to my surprise all the public computers runs debian/kde! I was very happy.

[tiachopvutru]

I agree with the others that you should try to take things slowly. I think Delever's suggestions are good. Also, since you should keep Ubuntu and Windows side by side, maybe make only the lower-specs computers your target.

[az]

I think you should point out the strengths of free/libre software. For example, the lower cost of obtaining and maintaining it, the better use of resources (it runs faster than other operating systems), security and customization. You can mention the rights and freedoms that are given away when agreeing to the EULA of most proprietary software. You can mention how F/LOSS preserves these rights.

Bearing this in mind, there are many situations where a migration to free/libre software is not the best move.

Perhaps the best approach is to examine where the strengths can best be used where there is no drawbacks. Perhaps 20 or 30 percent of the computers could be switched to booting linux. Perhaps another 50 percent of the computers can run a few free/libre applications on top of a non-free operating system?

I would then suggest that you continue to try to convince the administration to adopt free/libre solutions where it makes sense to do so. Perhaps you can see the number of computers which run free software double every year or so, depending on the needs of the users and the advances in the software.

[Lexicon101]

Though I don't really care what anyone else uses on their computer (unless they're my friend and I want to make a suggestion), I would still love to see a news story saying "In other news, a local school has made the switch to linux!"
(or hear about a school teaching blender modeling classes..)

[cardinals_fan]

It would be a major disservice to all users of these machines to remove all proprietary components. FOSS as a philosophy must be discovered, not forced. And, like it or not, many Microsoft products are the current standards.

[Lexicon101]

I'd be pissed if I couldn't watch youtube.

(or, for that matter, vimeo..)

[babarehner]

on the duocore machines try Ubuntu on top of Virtual PC 2007. Both are free and it appears that solution could keep a lot more people happy and in the loop.

[lisati]

Try to avoid messing with their machines without their knowledge (or permission) - it's probably better to show them, with a copy of a LiveCD if necessary.