Linux in Italian schools [LWN.net]

Linux in Italian schools

Posted Sep 8, 2005 9:30 UTC (Thu) by alspnost (guest, #2763)
Parent article: Linux in Italian schools

Thanks Jon - great article. So you really do speak Italian? A beautiful language, if not the most globally-useful, but I'm impressed!

It's great to see projects like this. There are some parallels with a current project close to my own area in Suffolk (UK), which is described here:

http://www.cutterproject.co.uk/

I'm actually trying to get involved with that, because it would be great to see Linux and free software spread further within schools in my region. Interesting work, and for a cause you can believe in.

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Linux in Italian schools

Posted Sep 8, 2005 13:37 UTC (Thu) by erwbgy (subscriber, #4104) [Link]

Indeed. This is the summary of their talk at the UKUUG Linux conference:

Mike Banahan - Cutter Project
Experiences of a large linux deployment in education

Orwell High School in Felixstowe has some 1000 pupils with a range of ages and abilities. In September 2004 the school took a big-bang approach to its provision of ICT services, switching from fat-client Windows PCs to a predominantly thin-client, Linux-based delivery system.

The school now experiences dramatically higher availability levels and estimates its cost savings at approximate GBP 30,000 per year.

This talk outlines the experiences gained from this approach as well as giving a technical overview of the software and architecture employed. An existing case study on the Cutter Project website (www.cutterproject.co.uk) will be expanded upon and the political and cultural lessons learned will be given prominence.

Linux in Italian schools

Posted Sep 16, 2005 19:43 UTC (Fri) by mikebanahan (guest, #32508) [Link]

Wow - I'm flattered to be quoted. So as not to hijack the thread, I'll say that experience in the UK is that FLOSS provides excellent answers to most teaching requirements,based on only on what I know from Felixstowe, but also a range of similar solutions that are outlined on Schoolforge. The total-cost-of-ownership figures from the UK Government agency BECTA are illuminating too.

There are inevitably some packages that require retention of some Microsoft provision and a total FLOSS solution is a bold step.

Interestingly, the big savings that I have seen are not on software licensing but on technician support. Felixstowe has reached its government 1:4 destop-to-pupil target but only requires one technician to maintain it. Other similar schools using mainstream fat-client desktops typically require three technicians - hence the substantial year-on-year cost reduction. Salaries cost even more than licences.