[K12OSN] synergy between the K12LTSP and Skolelinux

[R. Scott Belford]

Watching the growing smbldap thread and pondering the questions posed in 
the Network Design thread have revealed some synergy in the OSS 
education community.

All of us know that the K12LTSP is an amazing, out-of-the box, 20-minute 
install of a fully functional, standards-compliant, NCLB beating 
computer lab.  It is a perfect solution for workhorse computer labs. 
However, when it comes time to scaling, one has to look outside of the 
box for solutions.

Some of you may know that Norway, led by the tireless lobbying and 
managerial efforts of Knut Irvin (among many others), is way ahead of 
America in the responsible adoption of thin-clients.  This project, 
Skolelinux, is designed out of the box to scale to multiple campuses or 
classrooms while preserving passwords, home directories, and profiles.

Debian-stable based with a debian-testing version in the works, the 
magic of their install is that you can set up a main server, a terminal 
server, and/or a workstation.  The main server functions as a proxy, 
ldap, and home directory server.  Authenticating off of this server and 
serving thin clients are as many Terminal Servers as one chooses to 
install.  Furthermore, there is a workstation profile for stand-alone 
computers still requiring central authentication and profile control.

The developers have integrated webmin into the project, and as one adds 
users to this interface, the ldap server is updated.  Where the K12LTSP 
lacks, Skole excels.  Where Skole lacks, the K12LTSP excels.  From 
tirelessly watching both this and the debian-edu thread, I just wish I 
was a developer.  So often both projects are working in parallel.

Between the two projects are perfect solutions both to Sharon's question 
  and for those of you wanting the roaming profile thing but needing a 
friendly, easy, and 'windows-like' gui.

Food for thought.

--scott