[K12OSN] Linux cut off

[k12osn at collinsoft.com]

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004, Bill Kendrick wrote:
> On Fri, Nov 12, 2004 at 12:16:33AM -0500, Jason wrote:
> > I wonder what they would say if they found out that the two high schools 
> > that have Macs which have OSX which are based on Linux?
> 
> Well, they're based on BSD, kinda, not Linux.  But yeah, a lot of the
> Mac is based on Open Source stuff these days.  (Safari is based on KHTML,
> which is the rendering engine developed for the Konqueror web browser!)
> 
> Macs are nice and all, but damned if they aren't /expensive/.  I'm shocked
> that schools, what with their tiny budgets these days, are still using them.

You'd be surprised at the price we buy them. New eMacs are $650. They're 
pretty nice machines and have everything built in (they even include 
av-out. A $12 connector and I can plug the eMac into the classroom TV). We 
have a standard image and can have a machine on the network and ready to 
go in about 15 minutes. Macs last forever, I have them on a 5 year 
replacement plan, and still have machines in place 6 or 7 years going 
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.

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. :-)

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.

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. 

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?

-- 
Ryan Collins
Technology Coordinator - Kenton City Schools
http://www.kentoncityschools.org/