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Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management)Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management)Posted Sep 4, 2008 19:48 UTC (Thu) by kerick (subscriber, #53036)Parent article: Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management)
I have yet to see a regular school sysadmin who could administer those
boxes. That isn't to say there aren't any, but I haven't seen anyone capable. Such a sad state of affairs. Just so my comment seems a tad more credible, I do work for the state as a Unix admin and I know quite a few people that admin the school system.
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Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management) Posted Sep 5, 2008 15:14 UTC (Fri) by jd (guest, #26381) [Link]
Given the simplicity of Webmin and Linuxconf, I would consider it deeply disturbing if an administrator could not handle Linux. Neither requires command-line knowledge. These days, both Gnome and KDE offer admin tools of varying degrees of power as well. I honestly think that the days of such excuses being believable are numbered.
Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management) Posted Sep 5, 2008 15:24 UTC (Fri) by dmaxwell (guest, #14010) [Link]
There aren't many of us but I am indeed a K12 sysadmin. Linux isn't happening in any big way on our clients but we do make heavy use of it for servers. Unfortunately while broad category software like computer management, browsers, and office suites aren't major problems schools use TONS of pedagogical software that is Windows or OS X only. Add IEPs (Individualized Educational Plans) which have the force of mandate for Special Education and you are looking at a very difficult time meeting end user demands solely with Linux. At best, the most that will ever happen in the foreseeable future here is a Linux /BSD lab.
Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management) Posted Sep 5, 2008 18:06 UTC (Fri) by mhr3501 (guest, #53771) [Link]
I agree. We don't seem to be many but there are some of us. Perhaps the largest concentration (that I'm aware of anyway in the US) are those that participate with the k12ltsp project.
I am part of a group which administrates around three dozen Linux servers. We have Novell groupwise on SuSE (which incidentally is the one part of our Linux implementation I wouldn't recommend to anyone though not because of anything with Linux), web services, proxy and filter services, and a bunch of file & print servers including about two dozen domain controllers/members.
OTOH we can get virtually nobody to look at a desktop. Recently we've seeing what seems to be the beginnings of resistance even to our server implementation and can no longer get folks to consider free/open options to commercial software. The reason may not be popular with some.
There is simply too much money available.
At least for things other than staff.
Staff indeed gets cut to the bone (you can count our staff members to run our city wide network & server infrastructure on one hand) but we buy lots of OTHER STUFF all the time thanks at least in part to USF, government money and millage increases. Our operations team tried to push simple things like Open Office and the Gimp etc. on our windows desktops. It was determined everyone needs MS Office (and Photoshop if graphics are necessary).
Folks who believe schools are underfunded need to understand that the complaints from schools about underfunding seem to come up when the schools can no longer afford the top of the line or easiest method - not when they can't get it at all. Staff is the exception. That, as I mentioned, is often cut to the bone. But there is simply plenty of money for the other stuff.
Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management) Posted Sep 5, 2008 21:37 UTC (Fri) by dhess (guest, #7827) [Link] OTOH we can get virtually nobody to look at a desktop. Recently we've seeing what seems to be the beginnings of resistance even to our server implementation and can no longer get folks to consider free/open options to commercial software. The reason may not be popular with some. There is simply too much money available.Sorry to hear that. Fortunately, my experience has been the opposite. This summer I've been volunteering in the GNU/Linux lab at a San Francisco 5-8 middle school, and it gets a fair amount of use. My understanding is that the school has very little money available for equipment. There's a Mac lab of approximately 12 computers, and there are a handful of Windows machines in a few other classrooms, but that's it as far as machines running proprietary OSes. On the other hand, the GNU/Linux lab has about 30 machines, all but 3 of them donated by ACCRC; the other 3 were paid for by the meager $10k the school received from a recent Microsoft vs. State of California settlement. Given how little money they have for equipment purchases, I think it's significant that the school was willing to use that money to purchase hardware for the GNU/Linux lab. The lab is 100% operated and maintained by unpaid volunteers, especially the efforts of one guy who, by my estimation, probably puts in at least 30 hours a week helping out, including assisting teachers during lab time with the students. His persistence and evangelism are directly responsible for the lab's existence. Students are in the lab 3 days a week. I haven't attended a class session, but I gather that there are at least 3 or 4 teachers who are enthusiastic about the lab and make good use of it. The kids use the machines in the lab for creative writing, online research for homework and reports, and music composition, among other activities. The school is located in a relatively poor neighborhood, and many of the students who attend are underprivileged. At least some of the administration and teaching staff appear to have an appreciation for the "freedom" part of free software, and I think that's part of the reason why the lab is a success. Anyway, not all schools have "too much money" for technology. Those that don't are probably good candidates for using free software. But because most people lack the expertise it takes to install and maintain a lab full of computers, let alone computers running GNU/Linux, someone needs to step in and provide that expertise to these schools. Some of the teachers also need assistance locating and installing educational free software, especially the teachers who aren't predisposed to free software in the first place. These are all areas where the free software community can help out, especially those who aren't coders and are looking for a way to contribute.
Linux in U.S. Schools: Why the Resistance? (IT Management) Posted Sep 5, 2008 16:48 UTC (Fri) by tzafrir (subscriber, #11501) [Link]
This simply avoids the question. Such a sysadmin can't support a windows network as well without some second-level support. Where's the second-level support for Linux?
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