[K12OSN] Given this situation, why bother continue with LTSP?

[R. Scott Belford]

The Prof wrote:
> Hello,
> have been able to afford to upgrade all the clients to XP.  I think
> that if we had a lab of pentium 4 machines and a dual Xenon SCSI
> machine as the server (that's the type of hardware he can get us) that
> it would last us for a long, long time.

If your Church does not need this gentleman's money for any other more 
noble reason, and he understands the functionality of free hardware and 
software, then why fight it?  The above server can dual boot, and those 
P4 machines will likely pxe boot.  The workstations can triple boot as 
clients, XP machines, and gnu/debian/ubuntu.  Offer choice through 
redundancy.

> 
> Administration:  Currently with a linux lab I am the only one who can
> administer it because no one knows how or is interested in this
> 'new-fangled stuff'. If it was a Windows lab, that responsiblity could
> be spread out among at least a few people who have this ability,
> lightening my load. In addition, most of the admin/setup/etc. is done
> for free as we volunteer our time.  So it isn't like we'd cost more
> because of the increased work to them :)

The Admin argument is FUD.  If you can add users, printers, update 
software, and manage files in windows or mac, then you can do the same 
with FOSS distros like the K12LTSP.  If your volunteer resources cannot 
do this, and you do not have a way to train them up, willingly, then 
perhaps it is not time.

If your volunteer admins are managing a PDC, customized desktops, etc, then

a. They can certainly hang with the K12LTSP
b. They may yearn for a few, yet-to-be matured customization tools.

> work.  When I walk into BestBuy or open the paper I see the computers
> are being sold with Windows XP. So why are you forcing this
> non-Windows stuff on me? So what if it is less administration? Why do
> I care?  That's the dilemma.

If you have end users that feel that they are being forced, then I would 
caution you to save your resources for a bigger battle.  Successful 
deployments of FOSS are not about advocacy or Ripping and Replacing. 
They must be the result of informed, end-user demand.

> 
> As sad as it is to say, MANY people do not view education and school
> as a way to increase their child's capability of thought, but as a way
> to get a professional high-paying job. And I'm not about to take on
> the ideology of an entire culture. :)

If they know that FOSS is an engine for Economic Development and a 
platform for Educational Entreprenerialism, then they are informed and 
free to choose something else.  If they don't know this, or that the 
very high paying jobs come from supporting and programming, not using, 
software, then you have some informing to do.  Dropping names like 
Novell, BEA Systems, CA, IBM, Oracle, HP, etc. help those who see money 
in education.  Challenge those individuals to do some research before 
they limit the opportunities of the youth they purport to protect.

Oh, will this kind person donate free software to the underprivileged 
patrons of your church, or will they have an artificial barrier to entry 
to their tech future?

> 
> Joseph

--scott