[K12OSN] My vision needs feedback.

[Terrell Prudé, Jr.]

On Fri, 2005-09-23 at 06:55 -0700, Rob Owens wrote:

> I will again plug a piece of software that I've only
> read about and never tried.  It's called tsync and it
> is designed to automatically syncronize files on
> separate computers.  If there is no network
> connectivity between the computers for a period of
> time, it will wait until it has network connectivity
> and then it will syncronize automatically.  This could
> be used for syncronizing the home folders on the
> laptops.
> 
> The laptop thing is a cool idea, but others have
> pointed out some practical problems, such as cost of
> repair, theft, etc.  Why not instead outfit the entire
> school with recycled thin clients and provide a
> mid-grade linux desktop to each student for their
> home?  You could also have a "computer store" at the
> school where the kids can purchase hardware upgrades
> that have been tested specifically for use on their
> system.  This will help to prevent your seniors from
> having to use obsolete equipment (by the standards of
> the day).  Seems to me that for the same price as "a
> laptop for everybody", you could have a thin client
> for everybody plus a home desktop for everybody. 
> Desktops are cheaper to upgrade and less likely to get
> dropped or stolen.
> 
> Students with home internet access can have their home
> desktops synced with /home at the school.  Students
> w/o internet could use usb keys.  Or perhaps it would
> be a good idea to negotiate with a local ISP for a
> student discount on internet service.  (Or maybe the
> school could run it's own ISP?  I'm not sure if that's
> possible or if it's just a dumb idea.)
> 
> -Rob
> 


Actually, my district is its own ISP, and it works out pretty well.  We
provide DSL, ISDN, and dial-up access.  The ISDN is for those places
that aren't in range for DSL.  We also have a VPN Concentrator for those
with cable modems to be able to log in (we provide a preconfigured 3DES
IPSec VPN client).

I agree; the thin clients in the school, coupled with desktops for the
home, seems much more manageable, and less expensive, to me.  You can
get brand-new cheapie PCs with GNU/Linux or FreeDOS for $199.  Of
course, they need more DRAM than the stock 128MB, and 512MB upgrades are
less than $100, thus giving them 640MB, which as we all know, ought to
be enough for anybody.  :-)  The 40GB disk drives that come with them
are much more than large enough.  Thus, for less than $300, they have a
pretty sweet setup.  You can image them with whatever distribution that
you please, at that point.

Furthermore, if you have a VPN concentrator of some sort (we happen to
use Cisco's 3030, but any will work), then students can simply VPN in
and sync their work at home with their homedirs on the school server.  I
do this kind of thing all the time; it's very handy.

The thin clients can be had practically for free.  Dell Optiplex GX1's
make great thin clients.  Once the BIOS is flashed, which is very easy
to do, they support PXE booting quite nicely (early BIOS versions had
broken PXE-boot code, see).  Companies and school districts all around
the USA are dyin' to dump these things without paying disposal fees.
Even on eBay, they can be had for between $5 and $20.

Dude, your options are many and varied.

--TP
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