Fw: Ubuntu for School (epic93dude at gmail.com)

[Joseph Hartman]

Hi Epic,

Your convincing job is not going to be easy. For a single lab you might have
some luck. You would want to make sure the hardware was up to snuff, but
there are schools all over who use Ubuntu routinely. I'm sure you could find
some case studies online to back up your points. If they bring up security
let the list know. There are tools to block nefarious users from aspects of
the system that you can use.

However, in the situation of a larger IT deployment, the fact is that
Windows oftentimes is easier to manage than Ubuntu. For all its faults, MS
knows enterprise needs and does a decent job of giving admins the tools they
need to manage largescale operations. Managing hundreds or thousands of
machines is very different from managing dozens.

That being said, it can be done, and it can be done well. But what your IT
guys will want is called Landscape
http://www.canonical.com/enterprise-services/ubuntu-advantage/landscape

I have never used it personally, but I've investigated it thoroughly and
spoken to the US sales rep from Canonical about getting it. From what I have
seen on youtube and such it is the tool that provides parity (more or less)
with Windows management software like Group Policy, etc.

The problem is that it is quite expensive. I believe I was quoted at
$60/host/year which is completely unscalable, and quickly gets more
expensive than Windows management techniques. I tried to convince the sales
rep I spoke with that Canonical should give Landscape away to schools to
foster adoption of Ubuntu among the youth of America, but I don't have the
time to pester my way up to the decision makers about this.

I do happen to be in a position to convince dozens, and possibly hundreds of
schools to adopt Ubuntu though, but only if they knew there was an efficient
and easy way to manage the machines such as Landscape. Therefore, this might
be an opportunity for you as a student to take on the daunting task of
convincing a major global IT company to give away some of their proprietary
technology to schools. It would sure help me out if you succeeded. -Joe
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