[Ubuntu-PH] To Linux or Not to Linux

[Jerome Gotangco]

Nice link. A few years ago, Canonical was doing work with Intel
regarding the 1st generation Classmate PC to have Edubuntu run which
competes directly with the XO-1 laptop of OLPC. I personally know the
lead developer involved on that and it was a pretty successful project
so its possible to have Edubuntu run on Classmates with a few tweaks
to the software. This should be straightforward even to the 2nd and
3rd generation Classmate PCs.

Another interesting fact is that Sugar has already decoupled with OLPC
so there is a lot of work to have an education centric environment
running on Linux via Sugar to any machine out there, and even on USB
via SoaS (Sugar on a Stick). There were various hacks to Sugar run on
Classmates before, but because of the newly formed Sugarlabs
foundation, Sugar should be very easy to integrate to any computer,
along with major Linux distros.

For a large scale education standpoint, both Edubuntu and Sugar has
its merits, so people who are involved in such should look into each
in detail on what fits for them.

Jerome

On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 12:23 PM, Yosif ali Roque Morales
<queroph at gmail.com> wrote:
> From my favourite Blogger Christopher Dawson
>
> February 18th, 2009
>
> To Linux or not to Linux?
>
> Posted by Christopher Dawson @ 9:36 pm
>
> One request that actually made it past the budget gods for FY10 was 60
> convertible Classmate PCs (30 for each of two schools). These will replace
> aging stationary labs in the schools, freeing up needed space and allowing
> for redeployment of the older computers for individual classroom and student
> use. This leaves me with a question to answer, though: Do I use Windows XP
> Home or Edubuntu?
>
> The teachers largely favor Windows. It's familiar and they'll have enough to
> do learning the new applications and integrating the tablets in class, let
> alone learning a new operating system (or so they say). Yet Intel has
> assured me that there will be an equivalent software stack between the two
> operating systems, I've found that our RTI software runs quite well under
> Wine, and Edubuntu itself has quite a body of educational software available
> in its repositories.
>
> I have yet to test Edubuntu on the Classmate. That will be happening soon
> and obviously I need to put it through its paces before I make a decision.
> We know that XP is pretty snappy on the little machines, though, and new
> firewalls with some pretty heavy duty gateway anti-malware should keep them
> running safely without performance-sapping client-side anti-virus (we,
> unfortunately, won't be able to send them home, meaning that the firewall
> and weekly scans with ClamWin should do the trick).
>
> On the other hand, XP Home is remarkably dated and Windows 7 will not be
> available by the time we purchase the netbooks. Windows 7 would carry its
> own learning curve anyway, making it less attractive by the teachers'
> original argument. Edubuntu, particularly as based on Canonical's Netbook
> Remix, is new and shiny, inherently secure, and quite mature.
>
> Something important to remember, however, is that *buntu is about as easy as
> Linux gets. In fact, it's about as easy as desktop computing gets. The
> students won't have an issue no matter what I put in front of them. I think
> the teachers will be pleasantly surprised at the usability and features in
> Edubuntu.
>
> Barring any unforeseen problems in testing, it's going to be Edubuntu in
> kids' hands. The convertible Classmate really represents a whole new way of
> integrating computers into classroom instruction. As we train teachers to
> utilize all of its capabilities, we'll ensure that they are comfortable with
> the new OS as well.
>
> Christopher Dawson is the technology director for the Athol-Royalston School
> District in northern Massachusetts. See
>
> --
> Yosif Roque Santos Morales
> ====================
> School Administrator
> Asian Academy of Business and Computers
> Professor, Sociology, Strategic Studies and Islamology
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> Linux machine # 365046.
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>
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>



-- 
Jerome G.

Blog: http://blog.gotangco.com