On Wed, 2003-12-17 at 08:48, Anselm Martin Hoffmeister wrote: > Simon Haynes wrote: > > > > I've been lurking for about a week, and I need a little help. > > I've installed a small LTSP setup at my kids' school. (1 server, 2 terminals) > > The plan is to swap over their existing Win 98 machines bit by bit until they have > > 15-20 machines connected. > > So far, so good. The terminals are lightning-quick compared to those running > > Win98 locally, the IT teacher is onside and keen to get more converted over and > > the kids are using OpenOffice.org without any training at all. > > So much for the intro, now for the question ;-) The headmaster is hosting the > > principals of 20 other schools in February, and they've specifically asked to see > > his new Linux setup in action. He would like me to do a quick talk on the > > benefits, cost, any downsides and so on. > > > > This is a great opportunity to promote Linux and LTSP at a grass-roots level > > (they're all Primary schools), and I don't want to blow it. Does anyone have any > > pointers for me? I don't want to get overly technical, even though these > > principals run small schools and probably have to maintain their computers > > themselves. I feel that stability, cost, re-use of existing hardware are probably > > the biggies, but is there anything else I should mention? > > What seems to "talk people into using LTSP" (in the very positive sense) > is - besides being Linux freaks, which sometimes can be helpful: > > a/ legality - Enforcement of Linux usage after more pressure for a > correct Microsoft license policy, and let me tell you they had lots of > Windows installations... > > b/ security - Ever tried to get a Winblows 2k3 server tight? Pain, be > told, sweeted by the fact that the only reasonable docs I found was a > book I was given more or less by coincidence. A printed book. Kind of > changes after being used to "man this-command" (I even tried "loadkeys > de" at the dosprompt today instead of "keyb gr" :-) > > c/ Plannability - Who knows what M$ calculates next for software > changes? Looking back 10 years, which operating system had more system > design breaks or version incompatibilities that led to costy software > upgrades (comparing Linux to M$ software)... > > d/ Speed of the terminals, as you mentioned: Hardware costs > > e/ Support costs (as teachers usually work for $0 in their own school's > internet rooms, at least here in Germany it's quite often that teachers > have to keep the lab running in their spare time without any help - and > a 400 EUR budget *per year*) - LTSP has a very active user base, and > though several problems are not solved in community, many common > problems can be looked up in the mailing list archives; questions on the > list are answered within two days or so, for free. > > f/ I setup a WinTS lab (16 places total, one server) recently. 'Nuff said. > > That's just some points I'd give in an oral, informal debate. Perhaps > you caught something you can use. > > There are also several PDFs about LTSP setups, I think mentioning cost > calculations etc. Have a look on the ltsp.org website.
Coming from a totally different background in India I would venture to say: 1. Re-use of all existing hardware...so no need for new hardware roll out. 2. Ease of upgrade and maintenance .. all needs are on one ( or few) servers. -- Sudev Barar Learning Linux ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: IBM Linux Tutorials. Become an expert in LINUX or just sharpen your skills. Sign up for IBM's Free Linux Tutorials. Learn everything from the bash shell to sys admin. Click now! http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=1278&alloc_id=3371&op=click _____________________________________________________________________ Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
