[svlug] Montezuma's revenge?

[Ray Olszewski]

At 11:46 PM 11/6/98 -0800, Rafael Skodlar wrote:
>The more I read the more interesting it gets:
[rest deleted]

Having followed the links you provided, I have to agree. The Mexico project
sounds a bit optimistic but not impossible. Better than the Wired story you
pointed to (which has some of the airhead quality typical of Wired) is the
"Scholar Net" project's own site, at URL

http://luthien.nuclecu.unam.mx/~arturo/scholar/

The scope of the project is better described, the cost comparisons and other
details are clearer, and its dependence on "Real Soon Now" Gnome apps is
explained in a more forthright manner. Definitely worth a look -- this guy
(Arturo Espinosa) seems to know enough about what he's doing to have a real
shot at it.

The Oregon link is also very instructional. Good guidence on how a school
can start to use Linux, though some issues that are problems in school
settings are a bit papered over (mostly I'm thinking about the perpetual
upgrades and the lack of a single, accepted GUI).

Doing something similar around here, though, calls for more than having an
InstallFest at a school. Someone needs to think through issues of hardware
reliability in low-cost servers and workstations; sysadmin training in
account management, resource management, and security; developing
recommended configurations to support particular sets of curriculum needs
(e.g., math, writing, AP computer science, historical research); and
probably a lot of other things that don't occur to me right now. In some of
these areas, Linux is clearly better than Win9x or NT; in others, maybe not.
But in all of them it is unfamiliar to many who will need convincing based
on an honest presentation of benefits.

The limitations of supporting schools through a program that requires staff
participation outside normal working hours (e.g., Saturday InstallFests)
also need to be addressed.

Whoever it was (are you there?) who posted a message a few weeks ago about
doing conversions of old '486s to Linux for his school could probably tell
us a lot about the real needs and problems schools face with respect to
using computers productively and how that interacts with their use of Linux
in server or desktop applications. Maybe there is a real, feasible project here.

------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"---
Ray Olszewski                                        -- Han Solo
762 Garland Drive
Palo Alto, CA  94303-3603
650.321.3561 voice                               ray at comarre.com
650.322.1209 fax                 http://www.comarre.com/ray.html
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