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kspncr
September 5th, 2008, 08:16 PM
I'm an undergrad at the University of Washington. I just came from the Odegaard Undergraduate Library, which is the home of hundreds of computers. What did I see? Techs installing Linux on a fair number of computers there. gOS. Not my favorite distro, but not too bad. They're getting some done in time for Fall quarter, I assume.

I walked over because I almost couldn't believe it. I was just recently thinking how great it would be if they had Linux on some of the computers in Odegaard. I went over to get a closer look and one of the techs said "I'm sorry, these computers aren't ready to be used yet."
"That's cool, I just wanted to get a closer look."

I don't know exactly how many are going to run gOS because they're still working on it at the time of this posting (I'd estimate about 25 or so were being worked on). Before, about 85% of the computers (all Dells) ran Windows XP and the other 15% Mac OS (Tiger, I believe).

I don't know who made this decision, but I think it's great. The student body is like 35,000 here and that library is PACKED during school hours, just not so much during the summer. Thousands of people will have the chance to get a taste of Linux. Who knows, maybe some of the computers will have different Linux distros. All I know for sure right now is gOS.

I guess I never really looked into whether or not they'll help you if you run Linux. Turns out they do. (http://www.washington.edu/computing/linux/)
phrostbyte
September 6th, 2008, 01:46 AM
That's amazing considering the close proximity you are to the "evil empire" :)
cardinals_fan
September 6th, 2008, 02:35 AM
<offtopic>
I'm a sophomore in high school, and the University of Washington is on my [long] list of schools to consider. What is campus life like there? Are any programs particularly good/bad?
</offtopic>

To address the topic at hand, it's nice to hear about an active Linux community. gOS is probably the last distro I would have chosen, but to each their own.
kspncr
September 8th, 2008, 05:25 AM
<offtopic>
I'm a sophomore in high school, and the University of Washington is on my [long] list of schools to consider. What is campus life like there? Are any programs particularly good/bad?
</offtopic>

To address the topic at hand, it's nice to hear about an active Linux community. gOS is probably the last distro I would have chosen, but to each their own.

Campus life is awesome at UW. There are always things going on and something new to do. I'm starting my third year there. There isn't any program here that's particularly bad, I'd say everything is just as good as anywhere else, if not better. Our medical program is definitely one of the best in the country. Living in the dorms is getting more expensive though, but don't let that stop you from considering UW. There are plenty of affordable apartments near campus.

And yeah, I think I agree that gOS definitely isn't the no.1 choice for the library, but I don't think it's the worst. And I thought about it a little more, and it makes sense to me that they would try gOS since UW is fanatical about being "green" and gOS is the green OS. At least I think I heard that somewhere.
-grubby
September 8th, 2008, 05:33 AM
Yay, Linux in my state. /me also has been considering going to WA Uni
zmjjmz
September 8th, 2008, 05:51 AM
Which gOS is it?
3.0?
2.9?
Space?
2.0?
1.0?
smartboyathome
September 8th, 2008, 05:53 AM
Hm... I'm looking at colleges since I'm a junior, maybe I will give UW a chance, especially since it is in my state and is home to Jake Locker (local celeberty, lol).
kspncr
September 8th, 2008, 10:44 PM
@zmjjmz: I don't know, we can't use those computers yet as they're still working on them. Right now they're taped off with caution tape. I'm assuming the latest.

@smartboyathome: Yeah, I think we're two of the few that actually knows who Jake Locker is. Almost met him once. Friend of a friend.
ad_267
September 8th, 2008, 11:05 PM
Are they dual boot or gOS only?

At my Uni most of the computers I've used (in engineering and biology departments) dual boot with Ubuntu or Fedora but students nearly always run Windows.
smartboyathome
September 10th, 2008, 04:53 PM
I would hope they are Linux only. There is a lack of colleges with Linux-only labs in the U.S., but this seems like a good sign as to show Linux is definately growing. :D

@kspncr: You almost met him once? Awesome! I never met him, though I never went to the same school as him either. :p
Ms_Angel_D
September 10th, 2008, 05:19 PM
YAY FOR UDUB Now I'm really glad I ordered those Huskies checks from the bank!!!!
kspncr
September 10th, 2008, 09:58 PM
Are they dual boot or gOS only?

At my Uni most of the computers I've used (in engineering and biology departments) dual boot with Ubuntu or Fedora but students nearly always run Windows.

There's still no way to know, buddy. I'll let everyone know when they're up and running for everyone to use: version, dual-boot?, etc.