[Opensource] Getting rid of Windows on your R61 Lenovo

Wed Oct 14 13:37:41 EST 2009

Details of the LUV workshop are here Brett. Chocolates seem to be the
current currency. It is a really friendly crowd ;-)
     http://luv.asn.au/2009/10/17

A learned colleague in NSW endlessly sings the praises of UNR .. reckons it
is the best thing that Canonical have ever assembled. :-)

Regards Roland

2009/10/14 Brett Groves <groves.brett.g at edumail.vic.gov.au>

>  Funny you should say that Roland, we have a young lady in our junior
> school who has a disability similar to that of
> Thalidomide victims and has trouble writing for extended periods. She cant
> carry around a laptop we discovered, it's just too heavy, but boy can she
> fly on a netbook. I bought her an Acer netbook with the atom processor, but
> I was very worried about locking down the unit using Windows without having
> to go to all the hassle of making a new image and making it a domain
> connected machine. I loaded UNR (never seen it prior to that) and thought it
> was simply stunning. So fast and a beautiful interface. That was the final
> straw that made me decide to change over my R61.
>
> What is the 'LUV Saturday workshop'?
>
> You would be very welcome to come anytime Roland, we are just at one of
> those critical junctures at the moment deciding between laptops, desktops
> and student owned netbooks (e-Learning plan is now on it's 9th iteration
> lol) and perhaps leaning toward a complete paradigm shift in the way we do
> business, perhaps putting our head in the cloud(s) lol.
>
> Cheers
> Brett
>
> Roland Gesthuizen wrote:
>
> Bravo Brett! Well done mate. You can now easily imagine how fast and slick
> it runs on a Netbook (special ubuntu netbook mix). Sure it will not do
> everything but hey, it does what it offers and it does this really well.
> Others have pointed this out to me before. Come along with your R61 and
> share your work at the LUV Saturday workshop :-)
>
> I am delighted to read how you used Virtual Box. In a pinch you can copy or
> move a VM from one computer to the next. We have a standard image that we
> can now easily share with staff by just copying the file and making some
> minor tweaks. Did it for a couple more staff today. It is a great teaching
> tool for students and I note that it is even standard on the Dept Apple
> MacBook images.
>
> Would love to drop past and see what you are up to at Croydon SC. :-)
>
> Regards Roland
>
> 2009/10/12 Brett Groves <groves.brett.g at edumail.vic.gov.au>
>
>> Greetings all,
>>
>> Luckily I'm already bald or I would have torn out any hair left since I
>> got my new R61 Lenovo a few months ago and have had to struggle with the
>> joys of Vista. Blue screens, slow, "Windows has detected the cursor has
>> moved, would you like to restart now" type messages.....I had had enough. So
>> I set aside some time over the hols to look at Ubuntu.
>>
>> Tried the alpha version of the new 9.10 release and it was lovely and very
>> easy to configure but doesnt yet support virtualbox (more on that in
>> moment).
>>
>> I loaded as a final option instead version 9.04. I actually really didn't
>> need to set aside much time at all. It was unbelievably easy to configure
>> for EduPaSS wireless, the network share drives are ridiculously simple to
>> map, in fact the whole process has been quite pain free...a revelation!
>>
>> So now my laptop runs at least twice as fast, never blue screens hasn't
>> crashed yet, and installing programs like Rolands suggestion of Kdenlive was
>> trivially easy.
>>
>> I also installed a program called virtualbox. This is a very nifty piece
>> of software (IT teachers take note if you want to build disposable servers
>> with your students, much easier than VMware for a pseudo IT teacher like me)
>> that allows you to install a 'virtual' copy of Windows. Windows and Ubuntu
>> can be seamlessly integrated using an add on called guest additions. So now
>> I have XP and Ubuntu running side by side for those programs like Markbook,
>> FirstClass, VBnet etc that don't have a Linux version but are needed for the
>> day to day life of a teacher.
>>
>> The one and only grumble is I have had little trouble getting Flash to
>> work in Firefox, handy for youtube, teachertube etc. I am confident though
>> this can be sorted or if not I know it works out of the box on Ubuntu 9.10
>> which is available as general release in 17 days.
>>
>> Overall I'm incredibly happy with the project and the change, so if you
>> are as frustrated with MS as I have been don't just put up with it, there
>> are many better alternatives out there and I expect that Ubuntu is just one
>> possibility.
>>
>> If anyone would like assistance in making the switch just drop me an
>> email, would be very happy to help.
>>
>> Brett Groves - ICT Coordinator - Croydon Secondary College
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
> http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au
>
> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
> change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret
> Mead
> _______________________________________________
>  http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe
> Open Source Mailing List kindly supported by
>  http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment
> Authority and
>  http://www.vitta.org.au - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers
> Association Inc
>
> *Important - *This email and any attachments may be confidential. If
> received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before opening
> or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of any
> loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the sender
> or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any attached files
> our liability is limited to resupplying any affected attachments. Any
> representations or opinions expressed are those of the individual sender,
> and not necessarily those of the Department of Education and Early Childhood
> Development.
> _______________________________________________
>  http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe
> Open Source Mailing List kindly supported by
>  http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment
> Authority and
>  http://www.vitta.org.au - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers
> Association Inc
>

-- 
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
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