I may be a little late in this conversation, but I'm the systems administrator for the Vermilion Parish Library and I currently run a (modified) K12LTSP server that is pushing netscape only terminals so people can search our web-based catalog. I am also running a few test gnome/kde terminals in my office, and our site http://www.vermilion.lib.la.us on a Mandrake box.
I would roll out more terminals when we move into our new building in about a year, but there are going to be a few speed bumps along the way (such as guest accounts for walk-ins and things like that). The building we are currently in is 50 years old and we are in the process of building a new 26,000 square foot facility. Kris Wotipka and myself have been playing with the K12LTSP for about a year now, and it has defiantly come a long way in such a short period of time! Here are some details on what i'm trying to do over here. http://melancon.org/linux/linuxlibrary/projects/newlibrary/index.html A vast majority of the libraries in the state are running Linux web servers. The computer staff at the state library took all of the older computers that were left over from a major upgrade and sent a mandrake web server with frontpage extensions to almost every parish. Mine has an uptime of about 296 days right now. Guess how many times we have had to reboot the NT library automation server :) A lot of people in the library system are aware/using open source software. For example, myself and the state library are using an open source mysql/php driven inventory management program called IRM on our web servers. What I find that is lacking is the knowledge of how to administer a unix like environment. Unfortunately thanks to the Gates foundation, most of the libraries out there are windows driven. If you want to see a die hard linux library check out John Morris at the Beauregard Parish Library http://www.beau.lib.la.us/ John's page http://www.beau.lib.la.us/~jmorris John's ALA talk on what he's using linux for (a good read!) http://www.beau.lib.la.us/~jmorris/linux/ala-talk/ Hope this gives a little insight into the tech side of your local library. Adam Melancon, CCNA, A+, Network+ Systems Administrator Vermilion Parish Library http://www.vermilion.lib.la.us 200 N. Magdalen Square PO Drawer 640 Abbeville, la. 70510/70511 337-893-2655 _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx
