As someone who knows nothing about education my $0.02 might not be worth even that but...
Seems to me that this whole discussion has been focusing on the issues of installing and running a real computer system with cost savings, support, applications, overseas junkets, system administration etc, I.E the same issues any business faces. Given that this whole thread started because of a stance by the Parents and Citizens perhaps the issue of "education" is being overlooked. You don't need to compete against the existing system you can put Linux boxen into schools as educational tools. They don't have to be reliable, they don't have to solve any particular computing problem that the school might have, they can just exist as educational tools that the students can pull apart and put back together again. Their whole purpose is to educate. The angle to take is to support the Parents and Citizens in their stance. Help them to demand that the Dept and schools provide their children with an education, as opposed to just training as corporate fodder. How can they learn how a computer works if the software licence forbids them to touch it. Where as with Linux they can pull it to pieces, re-compile it, modify it in anyway they care to try. So I suggest that SLUG should approach the P&C and offer our support to them, give them the information / ammunition to bring Linux in as an educational tool rather than head butting it with the schools and Dept to try and get them to change their installed systems. Rgds Pete -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
