Edubuntu Server

[Gavin McCullagh]

Hi,

On Wed, 09 Jan 2008, Uwe Geercken wrote:

> Iam very excited, as I got the go-ahead and have ordered the parts  
> for the server for our local school.

Congratulations.

> btw: is anybody interested to get a documentation/tutorial from A to  
> Z? so screenprints, list of parts, setup, etc.

I daresay that would be useful alright.

> the other thing I thought about was to install the 64bit version of  
> edubuntu on the server. would that be something you recommend to get  
> additional performance out of the system. or - taking possible  
> problems - would it be better to stay with 32 bit? would there be a  
> limitation on the client side, if I have a 64 bit server running?

Opinions vary but for me, I'd go with 32-bit edubuntu on 64-bit hardware
for now.  My reasons include:

 - Adobe flash plugin is only available on 32-bit (yes you can maybe get it
   working on 64-bit using 32-bit firefox but it's very messy).  Gnash only
   sort of works now.
 - Java only seems to be packaged well on 32-bit (I'm running gutsy 64-bit
   and there's no Sun Java Plugin, though there is the gcj one)
 - Any other proprietary software you need may be quite awkward on 64-bit
   (hardware RAID reporting software, ...?)
 - You will need to build a 32-bit chroot environment for the thin clients,
   though that's not a big deal.
 - 32-bit is better tested in general.  Not to say that 64-bit is untested
   by any means, but 32-bit is still what most people use.

As I say, I'm using a 64-bit desktop myself, but I'm not sure I'd give it
to a school full of non-technical people.  You can if you need to install
the 32-bit -server- kernel which will give you use of the extra memory
above 4GB.

Later on, when 64-bit is less of a minority thing and you have free time
you can reinstall with the 64-bit version.

I guess you could call this the conservative view of things.

Gavin