[K12OSN] Any LTSP/Linux ideas?

[William Fragakis]

> > This is a school environment with about 60 desktop computers.  The
> > question is coming from the administration -- they have been using
> > Windows since the 3.11 days and so I believe it's just a matter of
> > inertia.  I am also a volunteer and I'm not really sure if I'd like to
> > continue as a volunteer if they do switch over -- the administration
> > of it would be too much effort I fear.
> > 

Joseph,
I've been involved with K12LTSP/K12Linux since Fedora 5 (what year was
that?) - from a primary school conversion to, today, running my wife's
medical practice on K12Linux running Scientific Linux.

Stories like mine are pretty common. In reading your post, I'm guessing
something else is up than just considering costs, etc. The
administration is not only used to Windows but used to the old desktop
model of computing. Word processor, a few apps and a browser to look at
"educational sites".

This reminds me of the resistance we encountered because "everybody uses
MS Office at work and kids will need to learn it to get jobs".  What
people could see was only in their near experience. They'd forgotten how
Office supplanted Word Perfect and couldn't imagine something like
Writely/Google Docs or even how Office would change it's own interface
significantly in future versions. 

Desktops still have their place but our kids are moving into a world
where the "cloud" is their desktop - everything from Google docs to
online apps and web sites that do much of the processing done by
desktops in the past. Intel's Chromebooks, smart phones, smart TVs and
tablets are examples of devices that enable users in the new
environment. 

In my mind, the move to the cloud has made LTSP more, not less,
relevant. What is important today is to have an inexpensive
web/network-enabled device that is easily configured, supported and
managed. LTSP does that; it does it very well. Many of the barriers we
had to overcome in the past simply are going away. Proprietary
technologies like Flash and Silverlight are dying or dead as the move to
smart phones has forced providers to adapt HTML 5 whether they like it
or not. 

Good luck,
William