KDE Linux reaches 52 million Brazilian kids
Apr. 24, 2008
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS9016897370.html
Brazil's Ministry of Education ("MEC") is installing Linux in labs used by
52 million schoolchildren, reports KDE developer Mauricio Piacentini.
Piacentini's blog post describes MEC's "Linux Educacional 2.0" as "a very
clean Debian-based distribution, with KDE 3.5, KDE-Edu, KDE-Games, and
some tools developed by the project."
Piacentini's write-up suggests that Linux Educacional 2.0 includes some
enhancements over normal KDE 3.5 that came about as a result of usability
testing of the first version. Chief among the enhancements is what appears
to be a launcher, located in the top middle of the desktop. The launcher
appears to resemble the AWN (Avant Window Navigator) used by the
Everex-sponsored gOS desktop.
Piacentini says that typical labs use one server and seven satellite PCs,
each of which supports two KVM (keyboard, video, and mouse) stations.
Thus, most labs have 15 available workstations. For labs in rural
locations with limited electricity, a single server can support up to
seven KVMs. There's also a set-up with a large TV monitor for special
needs children. Some 29,000 labs will be completed this year, with 53,000
labs set up by the end of next year.
MEC has also used Linux in an "integrated projector," described as a
single hardware unit that integrates a "projector, CPU, bundled content
and DVD player," Piacentini writes. He adds, "With it, digital content
will no longer be restricted to the info lab, and will be usable by
teachers in the traditional classrooms as well."
A separate "one computer per student" (Um Computador por Aluno, or UCA)
MEC computing initiative aims to roll out some 150,000 PCs, with KDE and
Linux also likely tapped for that effort, Piacentini writes. His blog
posting can be found here. MEC maintains a page about its Linux
distribution, and educational available for use with it, here (Portuguese
only).
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