hello all

[Gavin McCullagh]

Hi,

it's not a big deal but for future questions, I think the edubuntu-users
list is probably more suitable than edubuntu-devel.  This is for
development discussion (which you're welcome to take part in if you wish of
course).

Answers below...

On Sat, 19 Sep 2009, tlang80 at gmail.com wrote:

> I'm curious, do people think the thin client set up is best, or is there a
> way for students to log-on to a stand-alone workstation but instead of
> logging in locally they log-in to the server and save all their files to the
> server as well?  

I'm not sure I exactly understand what you're looking for, but this _is_
the thin client approach so yes any LTSP distribution (incl. Edubuntu,
Skolelinux) can do this.  You see a login screen on the workstation but
when you login all of your programs run on the server and all of your files
are stored on the server.

> I know Skolelinux can do this, but I've had many problems with installing
> that, so now I'm pretty set on Edubuntu -- just now sure how fast the
> thin client connection will be as I can't seem a way in the documentation
> to let students log-on remotely to the server at a workstation -- seems
> like you can only do this if you get rid of the hard drive and use it as
> a thin-client.

Again, I'm not completely clear what you're looking for.  To clarify:

 - A normal desktop runs programs on the local computer and can be set up
   to save files either to the desktop or to the server (eg using NFS/NIS).
 - A thin client logs you directly into the server.  That's where your
   programs run, files are stored, etc.  You need not remove the hard drive
   to do this, though you probably won't be using it (except as swap
   perhaps).
 - A thin client with local applications can mix applications between
   running on the server and running on the client, but is still a bit
   complex to set up


Gavin