[svlug] Mercury News mainstream article about Linux in schools

[James Briggs]

From: Tim Flagg <svlug at linuxmigration.com>

Today's San Jose Mercury News has an article about how Linux can be used in
schools that are short of money, titled "Linux could ease schools' tech crunch".

An excerpt:

But think about Linux. It's a generic term for a number of operating systems
that can be downloaded and installed for free. It runs efficiently on ancient
computers and it is practically immune to viruses (which are primarily written
to attack Windows machines).

Sounds pretty good for Davis and for thousands of schools around the country,
which are struggling to pay for teachers, let alone computers....

---

1) Linux might be ok for general computer use, like surfing the web, but
you first have to inventory what software you need to run before picking
an OS for a school.

It seems like everybody advocates "more computers for schools" or
"let's run linux in schools" without sight of the big picture - why and
how to use computers in a school in the first place.

2) Assuming #1 is answered in favor of linux, what distro can easily be
installed that runs well in 256 MB RAM, my definition of an old PC?
KDE and Gnome don't seem too speedy on 256 MB RAM.

(I used a Pentium IV 1.8 GHz with 256 MB RAM running stock Ubuntu 8.04 in
the lobby of the Grand Men Seng Hotel in Davao City, Philippines. Pretty
sluggish. If there was a computer store around, I would have paid to
upgrade it myself.)

Thanks,
James Briggs
ActionMessage Email Marketing, San Jose, California, USA
james at actionmessage.com
cell +1 408 429 3017
Y!Messenger and Skype ID: actionmessage