[K12OSN] Linux cut off

[Jason]

Hi Ryan,

At one HS we have a Mac lab of about 30 Emacs and in the rest of the 
school there are about 5 or 6.  I'm glad the tech teacher pushed to have 
the Macs.  They are great graphics machines.  He even has a G5 with LCD 
screen.

There were all authenticating to a G4 running Mandrake 9.1 through SMB. 
  When the lab was Imacs I found a login script from a university that 
when modified to the server the student would double-click the icon and 
after authentication their home drive would show on the desktop.  It 
worked well on the Emacs as well.

It was then decided that the Emacs should authenticate to Server 2003 
<shivers> but with Jaugar we couldn't get it done though it's supposedly 
possible.  So now someone has to make a decision, spend $1800 or so to 
upgrade all machines to Panther (which one tech had on the AD after some 
work) or do something else.  I thought that the Emacs could connect via 
LDAP to the linux box which could be joined to the AD instead of 
upgrading but it's out of my hands.

> strong. OS X Server licenses are $500 for unlimited connections. I'd would 
> probably move to Linux for file servers if Apple hadn't made the tools for 
> server and user management so good. We have an unprecedented amount of 
> control over what our users can and cannot do, managed either by machine, 
> group or individual user. The time saved more than makes up for the $500 
> every 2 or three years.

I've very interested in trying OS X Server.  Do you know if it would 
syncronize to Active Directory?

> But, as always, use the right tool for the job! That's why our business 
> application/keyboarding lab at the HS is a LTSP lab. :-)

One elementary school running it as an innovative project and possibly 4 
other schools including a secondary school (which should make it fun!). 
  I'd like to propose to my son's school a LTSP lab for the younger 
grades (JK/SK etc).  They have a room that would work and with free 
computers from Computers for Schools it wouldn't be to much of a cost.

> I have no idea why so many people are hellbent on Windows, and will not 
> even look at an alternative. I've been slowly moving most of our software 
> to OSS (Firefox and OpenOffice.org mainly), and try to look for web based 
> solutions for individual software needs. For the elementary there are a 
> ton of Flash sites that mimic most of the Jumpstart/Reader Rabbit stuff, 
> and I don't have to worry about licensing or installation.

<Sigh> Some people don't like change.  Everyone drives GM or Ford so why 
try Kia?  If you show people how well Open Source software works even 
for Windows it would get them to look at things a different way.  Our 
board didn't even consider Open Office until the Ministry of Education 
licensed Star Office.  Some don't think outside of the box :)

> OT: We had a girl graduate last year from our high school who got a job 
> (over people with associate degrees from tech schools) specifically 
> because she had Mac experience and knew html. 

A good example.  I believe students/users who have experience with 
different computer types/OS the better they will do when looking for a 
job.


> 
> Teach students the tool, not the machine. We don't teach students to only 
> drive one manufacturer of car, so why should the computer be different?
> 

Mind if I quote you?  :)  I also like the concept thought someone 
brought up before.

Jason