LINUX Will Save Schools Millions, But With a Twist

LINUX Will Save Schools Millions. but not for the reasons
that everyone is thinking.

As an operating system, Linux is becoming a popular
substitute for Microsoft Windows(tm), and is getting a lot
of positive press right now. With no licensing costs, many
are finding it a good alternative as an operating system
for computers.

However, just saving on licensing fees isn't going to make
it worthwhile for schools to take advantage of
Linux--realistically, it would not be worth the work of
conversion and retraining, especially since you are still
maintaining individual computers. But there is a form of
Linux that will to save schools millions of dollars: the
Linux Terminal Server Project, or "LTSP."

We were introduced to LTSP three months ago, and, in turn,
wrote to our readers about what we were learning. Since
then we have studied the technology, given many
demonstrations, are finishing test installations at a small
university and three school districts, and have agreed to
help the Canadian government install LTSP in 1,700 schools
in Africa (a total of 34,000 individual computer
workstations).

I would personally like tell you more about this
technology, or find an opportunity to demonstrate it to
you, as we are looking right now for schools to serve as
demonstration sites around the country.

LTSP will make a significant difference for schools and
students for four main reasons:

1. You can use your older, obsolete computers, and they
will perform like Pentium 4 machines. This means that you
can now also accept donations of equipment that previously
you would have turned away because of compatibility or
speed issues. It also means that you are no longer, in
practical terms, limited in the number of computers you can
easily deploy in classrooms.

2. You will decrease your computer maintenance
dramatically. There is no individual pc maintenance--no
virus programs, no defragmenting of hard drives, no
individual computer configuring, and no troubleshooting.
The hard drive on each computer is removed, so you reduce
heat and energy consumption, allowing the computers to last
longer. Should a computer fail, you unplug it, plug in
another, and within a few minutes you are up and running
again--no software installation, no configuration. All
system maintenance is done on the server, and there is
nothing students can do that will mess up a computer. As an
added bonus, students can log into any machine in your
network and have access to all their own work.

3. You will have more software choices for less money. LTSP
is fully compatible with Windows(tm) software, which can be
accessed through a Microsoft Windows(tm) server or in a
variety of other ways. Or you can use OpenOffice (which has
also received great reviews lately) and the other Linux
software and avoid any licensing costs. My children now use
LTSP computers at home, and they don't have any idea that
they are not using Windows(tm)--it looks the same to them.


4. You will save money. Not only are LTSP installations
significantly cheaper than installing new computers, but
they will last longer, require less maintenance, and as a
client-server technology, may qualify for E-Rate funding.

Used Computer Magic, Continued...

Last month I wrote about the Academic Computing Environment
(ACE) Linux server solution that can convert obsolete PC's
into high-performance student workstations. (See
www.PCS4Schools.org/newsletters.htm .) I continue to be
very impressed with this technology.

Two weeks ago I brought an ACE Linux server with me when I
visited with the head of Canada’s Computers For Schools
Program (they have supplied one-fifth of the computers in
Canada’s schools). As a test, we hooked up a Pentium 1,
200MHz computer that had 16MB of RAM. Unbelievably, it ran
faster than any of the other computers that we had tested
(including a P3-933 with 256MB of RAM). I can only say that
I was shocked.

Maybe excited would be a better description. For me, there
are two great benefits of this technology: first,
potentially saving *millions* of computers from landfill;
and second, being able to provide significantly greater
computing resources to schools and districts that are
struggling financially.

A few quick things to note... Because the hard drives of
the older machines actually get disabled or discarded in
this solution, the computers don’t generate nearly the heat
they normally would. This means that the PCS will run
better and last longer. Also, of significant note, this
solution is Microsoft™ and Windows™ friendly—there are
multiple ways to run your favorite Microsoft™ programs,
including using your current licensing or setting up a
Microsoft™ server with server-based applications.

And last, but not least: because ACE’s Linux solution is a
server/network upgrade, it can qualify for E-Rate funding.
ACE will help any school or district in this category to
install most (if not all) of the school- or district-wide
computing resources that they need, even in situations
where there might not be any technology funds available
locally.

Linux for Schools--Magic or Not?

ACE (Academic Computing Environments) has been sending an
email to the school community about a program they have for
converting obsolete PC's into high-performance student
workstations for a fraction of the cost of new computers.

In a nutshell, what ACE actually provides is the technology
to have the older PC's run as a "thin-client"--which means
that a server runs the programs and the PCs just display
the video and accept keyboard and mouse input. Because the
server runs a version of Linux, all of the software is free
(including the relatively robust OpenOffice program), there
are no virus issues to deal with, and maintenance time is
substantially reduced. ACE also claims that this system
qualifies for E-Rate funding, so even schools with no
technology budget can implement it.

So, we had two questions. First, does it actually work?
And second, are the Linux-based programs (including
OpenOffice) functional for a school environment? We can
answer the first, you will have to help us answer the
second.

We ordered a demonstration system, and two large boxes
arrived two weeks ago. Inside one box was a pre-configured
new 2.0 Ghz server with two network cards. The other box
contained an old 333 mhz (Celeron) Dell(tm), a 10/100
network switch, ten extra network cards, and ten boot-up
disks. It took us about 30 minutes to get everything
unpacked and to connect network cables in the right
configuration, but then it took all of 3 minutes to boot up
the server and the workstation and be up and running. We
then took an another PII-400Mhz Dell computer of our own,
set it to boot off of its integrated network card, and it
was up and running in even less time. I've never used
Linux before, but I have to admit I was amazed. The
machine booted up and was browsing the web much faster than
our speedy Pentium 3 tech machine. I have set up computers
for years, but never so fast and so easily. I then took an
old PII Compaq(tm) that we'd never even fired up and hooked
it up to the system. It was up and running in about 5
minutes--for some reason the network card it had didn't
work, but when I replaced it with one of the network cards
ACE sent, it fired right up. Again, testing by booting up
and browsing the web showed a significant performance gain
over our day-to-day Pentium 3 work computers.

So, the technology seems to work. More than that--this
aspect of ACE's solution does border on "magic." Without
having to worry about each individual PC's hardware and
software setup and configuration, maintenance, and
troubleshooting, the time savings should be dramatic. Not
to mention no need for anti-virus software or program
licensing for both the operating system and productivity
software--OpenOffice files are said to be extremely
compatible with Microsoft Office(tm). We still have some
questions for ACE, since we couldn't figure out how to save
a file to the local PC's floppy disk, or how to get sound.

We'd like you to help us answer the second question. We're
also looking for a school or district which might want to
be involved in a larger trial-program test. If this is of
interest to you, please send an email directly to me
(steve@hargadon.com) and I'll make individual contact with
you.

By the way, another company, VentureCom, is advertising a
similar "thin-client" system using Microsoft(tm)
technology, which we'll hopefully discuss in our next
newsletter (we haven't been able to get it to work yet).