[Technical] Linux

[Jim Maunder]

At 05:59 PM 16/05/2005, you wrote:

>Is anyone running their network or desktops on Linux rather than Novell
>or Windows. If so what software do you use to run with it.


See this one 
http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/page/linux_case_study_orwell_high_school.html 
for a bit of info.

We tried one computer lab with SuSE Linux in a dual boot setup in Term 1 
this year. We have a French immersion stream here and the teacher who runs 
it wanted to immerse the computers as well. The cost of the French language 
pack for WinXP was apparently a bit steep, so after a bit of testing we had 
Linux running in French with French Open Office. I had previously got a 
SuSE Linux desktop testbed setup with NCPFS and NovelClient so it would 
login to our Novel network etc - works pretty good, so now I had the fun of 
doing this again but in French (which I learnt about 45 years ago).

As far as the technology goes the setup was ok. The network manager got the 
Linux classroom PCs to print to a couple of network printers, but I dont 
know if they were via the Novel print queues or via a TCP/IP queue. 
However, we have now abandoned that arrangement, instead we got the French 
language pack for WinXP,  the French version of StarOffice (free to schools 
and has a more extensive gallery of clipart - so important to girl 
students), French versions of Inspiration and MicroWorlds.

Last year I fiddled with Xandros 2, and got it to mount Novel network 
drivers - it has NCPFS and/or IPXUTILS built in - but not the NovelClient. 
Xandros is about the closest to Windows in look and feel that I have seen, 
and the new version 3 is easy to setup. We heard that someone in the 
eastern suburbs - somewhere in the Dandenongs? - had set up a classroom of 
Xandros desktops.

Recently I asked my work experience student to see if he could find Linux 
equivalents to the curriculum software used here - did not get very far. 
But it looks like browsers, email, 'Office' suites are no problem, except 
that ther is no Linux equivalent of MS Access. 'The Gimp' is probably an ok 
alternative to Photoshop, 'Freemind' (to which we were allerted last term) 
might be an ok substitute of Inspiration (if I could get it working.) The 
problem seems to be all those things like 'Violent Earth', 'Dynamic Coast', 
'Macbeth', 'LogoWriter' etc. but maybe these could be persuaded to work 
under Wine or Crossover.

Hope this helps - it is an interesting project, and would certainly reduce 
licencing costs for non-govt schools.

rgds
Jim



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Ruyton Girls' School
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Jim Maunder
Ruyton Girls School
Melbourne, Australia