Edubuntu 8.04 query

[CLIFFORD ILKAY]

Bret Busby wrote:
> We were looking for a live Edubuntu CD iso image, to download and write, 
> and demonstrate to a relative who is a deputy principal (and, it would 
> be a good opportunity, in another state of Australia, where the state 
> government is reported to be going to spend 25 million AUD to supply and 
> install software on computers for students and teachers).
> 
> However, from what we found on the Ubuntu web site, a person has to 
> download a Ubuntu Live CD image and write that, and, then, download and 
> write a second CD image, that is Edubuntu add-ons, so that it appears 
> that a person cannot demonstrate Edubuntu, without installing Ubuntu on 
> the system on which Edubuntu is to be demonstrated.

Given the stakes, it seems like an insignificant effort to have to
install Ubuntu and then install the Edubuntu add-on packages onto a hard
disk. I would not demonstrate from a live CD because it will usually be
slower than running from the local hard disk. I'm not so sure that even
installing locally is enough to impress.

Depending on the priorities of the decision makers, perhaps you could
demonstrate an LTSP system. Using Pentium 2 machines that people want to
throw out as perfectly feasible thin clients is impressive to an
administrator who sees the potential for saving money by recycling old
equipment. Or, you could demonstrate how you can do hands-off
installations on a lab full of computers in another room without setting
foot in that room. You can certainly do hands-off Windows installations
but try doing them across the Internet on a lab full of machines in
Alice Springs when you're sitting in Melbourne. Without  knowing what is
important to the decision makers, you could be wasting your time and
even hurting the chances of getting Linux accepted so you should try to
find as much about what their priorities are as possible and enlist the
help of people who can help you address those priorities.

By the way, I gave up on the idea of deploying Edubuntu or any form of
Ubuntu in a small school that I'm helping after I started looking more
closely at how to automate installations. I managed to get preseed
installations working but it was more difficult than it should have been
and even then, it was rough around the edges. I've settled on Fedora
because the systems deployment tools are much better than Ubuntu, at
least for now. Granted, you can provision Ubuntu machines using Fedora's
Cobbler <https://fedorahosted.org/cobbler/> but I've found that things
like FreeIPA are an adventure on Ubuntu and kickstart, the Fedora/Red
Hat counterpart of Debian/Ubuntu preseeding, is much simpler and
better-documented.
-- 
Regards,

Clifford Ilkay
Dinamis
1419-3266 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON
Canada  M4N 3P6

<http://dinamis.com>
+1 416-410-3326
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