[K12OSN] M$ access from K12LTSP

[dahopkins at comcast.net]

Norbert,

> Bottom line if anyone has experience with any of the above 

The rdesktop solution connecting to a Windows Terminal server is exactly the solution NCS is currently using.  It works well, except for sound.  It does allow NCS staff to interact with the state which is rather MS-centric at present (and some web-based applications will only work with IE).  Also, it allows for other MS-only applications to be used. Overall, it has worked well and will continue to be used, but ... caveats (issues I have had this year):

1) Teachers and staff aren't always comfortable with the thin clients because of perceived inability to save data to a floppy or USB flash. Mtools works, but is just different enough to make things interesting, especially since I do not know any good way to save to a local floppy from an rdesktop session.
2) Some packages that teachers want (Accelerated Reader/Math) don't work in this setup because of software and/or hardware issues. Others can behave a little flaky (WinSchool Egrades), not a show stopper, but ... different.
3) Users tend to forget that they are actually running on the server (which is good) and think that they should have access to all the hardware on the thin client (like cdrom, local disk, plug-in USB camera, etc) and just have it work like their PC at home.  Many can be made to work, just not quite transparent yet.

Sincerely,
Dave Hopkins
Newark Charter School
Newark Delaware