Don't keep Edubuntu dead

[Robert Berger]

Hi,

I'm a rookie with Edubuntu, but let me tell you my story.
I volunteered to help setting up the computer lab + infrastructure in a
school (http://www.athenerschule.gr/).
That's a Greek/German school and although it's private it's non profit.
This means basically close to no money for the machines.

The school already had some old machines and we got more from various
companies and parents.

I'm playing around with Ubuntu/Edubuntu Jaunty

Here are the options I have:

i) LTSP+Edubunutu

Works well 3 clients (I would need 20) and without too much multimedia
due to network and server bottlenecks.

ii) LTSP+Edubunutu - localApps

In case the clients are powerful enough I can run some apps locally on
them. So far with my test setup I could not run Firefox locally on an
Epia with 128MB RAM and no HD.

iii) LTSP+Edubuntu + fat client - rootfs from nfs - everything runs on
clients

I played around with this a bit, but could not get it to work - not even
to attempt to load the rootfs from nfs (but did not try very hard)

iv) clustering LTSP servers (instead of buying one proper machine use a
couple not so powerful ones)
I did not play with this, but there is some work in progess without too
much documentation

v) Life DVD/USB Stick,...
will most likely be interesting after the kids play with the system and
want to play at home as well. Most people here don't know about Linux
and have only Windoze installed.

vi) Install edubuntu on every single workstation.
If there would be a mechanism to make this somehow centralized (like the
approach with roots from nfs) this might also work
The question is how to keep the software versions on all machines in
sync without spending a lot of time for administration.

If you like I can help documenting stuff in parallel with my various
experiments.

What I'm trying to say is, that in my specific case, but I guess that
could be pretty general, someone usually needs to set up some edubuntu
stuff at a school and give the kids a chance to play with it at home as
well without destroying the PC of their parents (before they get their
own machines they can destroy)

The goal should be to make this as easy as possible!

(what's missing is a firewall, which filters out not kid friendly
content from the internet, but I'll use ipcop for this)

Regards,

Robert


Sven-Hendrik Haase wrote:
> Hi everybody,
> 
> In accordance to the IRC conversation I had with some of you , I just
> signed the Ubuntu Code of Conduct.
> 
> I have a couple of things I want to talk about on the next meeting/this
> list/IRC/however you guys see fit:
> 
> 1) Major wiki clean up / scrap wiki to make sure stuff is up-to-date.
> Currently, information for Edubuntu is very, very scattered around many
> different pages/sites with varying degrees of maintenance. Mostly, they
> contradict each other because rather dramatic changes have been made in
> recent (Edu)buntu version which breaks some stuff that was previously
> valid. I therefore suggest settings up a scrap wiki as *the* one
> definitive place for information to rework old information and make it
> work with 9.10. Alternatively, a major wiki cleanup could take place in
> the regular wiki.
> 
> 2) It is of utmost importance to decide whether Edubuntu is to become a
> DVD or not. This isn't just a side decision, this is a major hold-up.
> Going DVD enables a lot of good stuff which is simply impractical on a
> CD. Additionally, Edubuntu should provide an USB image.
> 
> 3) Decide on a release cycle. Release every LTS? Release every regular
> release? Address the target groups' needs properly here. Put together a
> practical software package. Maybe take a look at Skolelinux's installer
> that lets you choose different profiles (even though I think Skolelinux
> is basically in a poorer state than current Edubuntu). This was pretty
> much what I thought up as well as it makes sense.
> 
> 4) Think REAL HARD about integration of management software. There
> should be one definitive, profile-based, pre-installed application to do
> one thing and that application should do its thing best. For example,
> I'd put iTalc on it to give teachers some power.
> 
> 5) Decide definitive goals for 9.10
> 
> 6) If I'm to get active revamping the Edubuntu site and cleaning up the
> wiki, I'll need some kind of write access.
> 
> 7) Think about which kinds of management tasks need to be taken care of.
> Do applications exist for these? If not, plan these applications out.
> For example, is there an application to enable kiosk mode and therefore
> disable a restricted user's (student) access to rearranging the desktop?
> Is there an application for setting up a user's desktop workspace
> without having to login? Is there some way to mass manage users efficiently?
> 
> -- Sven-Hendrik Haase
> 

..."The competent programmer is fully aware of the limited size of his
own skull." - Dijkstra

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