[ALLIES] RE: [Lias] windows apps in schools (was: netNOW article)

[Pia Smith]

Hi Simon,

My 2c

On Sun, 2003-04-27 at 11:49, Simon Bryan wrote:
> 
> What other apps run on Linux well, are NEW to teachers and can easily be
> setup and managed on a Linux workstation? This is not a rhetorical question!

<rant>

There is a huge range of apps new in GNOME that make life quite easy.
Basic layout for a machine students/teachers can user would be:

OS: Red Hat/Mandrake/Debian - People have different reasons for choosing
what distro they use, I've recommended these three as they are a
starting point. I personally like Debian the most even though its not as
user friendly as the other two to install. Debian is much more easy to
maintain, there are thousands of apps at your disposal on the web that
are painless and easy to install (apt-get install openoffice.org just
works!), the security is high, and it is easy to install en masse.

Browser: Galeon/Mozilla - Probably the best two options, personal
favourite is Galeon by far.

Office Suite: openoffice.org - Nothing really be said here, you have
excel, word, frontpage, powerpoint and paint substitues. For Gantt chart
software, mrproject in GNOME, for Netmeeting you have GNOMEmeeting, for
myob (though its not as complex) you have gnumeric, or gnucash. The list
goes on. Xchat for an IRC client, evolution for an outlook substitute
(might i add that I find Openoffice and evolutions better than the MS
solutions by far. Easier to use, don't crash nearly as much, Kewl things
like vfolders and stuff). Also remember xpdf for reading pdf files and I
believe openoffice now has (soon to have?) a pdf writer in it? There
exists a pdf converter already but I've forgotten the name sorry. 

Emulator for windows: WINEX 3.0, still in devel, but looks like it will
rock. Also win4lin is an alternative, if you want to spend some money
but get a fantastic alternative, VMware is awesome. You install the
entire OS into a virtual machine, and you can then also run apps under
say solaris, or windows 95, or a range of supported OS's.

Printing utilities such as CUPS.

</rant>

Just off the top of my head, I would highly suggest grab a debian
machine and try "apt-cache search foo" for stuff you want. I simply find
debian so easy to find and install stuff, and it's all painless :)

Oh and, 
> With the 100 apps you distribute, have you done any checking as to how much
> they actually get used? Of course many of them are 'seasonal', that is
> related to certain aspects of the curriculum. Perhaps even a mapping over
> the year as to where the software is used (a use for a Gantt chart?)

The advantage of having heaps of apps available to students is that they play. 
They learn and explore, give them the freedom to isntall stuff and just auto
install the image say on the weekends when the network is empty. The beautiful
thing in my mind about linux for schools is it encourages curiosity and
learning. I _wish_ we had it when I was at school, but alas, it was Apple 2e
systems for us ;) When they screw it up, its fun, its more fun to learn when
things break <grin>


Cheers,
Pia


> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: lias-admin at lists.linux.org.au
> > [mailto:lias-admin at lists.linux.org.au]On Behalf Of Leon Brooks
> > Sent: Sun, 27. April 2003 11:22 AM
> > To: lias at lists.linux.org.au
> > Cc: allies at lists.linux.org.au
> > Subject: Re: [Lias] windows apps in schools (was: netNOW article)
> >
> >
> > [crossposted to ALLIES because I think it's important enough]
> >
> > On Sun, 27 Apr 2003 07:41, Ian Ralph wrote:
> > > A few minutes ago I did a quick count and there are 100  Windows
> > > applications (not including Web based apps, "office" apps or web
> > > browsers) that we distribute for staff and students at my school.
> >
> > Really, the only reasonable prospect for coping with a load like that is
> > to run the vast majority of them through WINE. Even finding someone
> > with the time to do as little as throw each at WINE and see how far it
> > gets would involve several full-time man-months. Which I ain't got and
> > I expect none of you do either.
> >
> > Does anyone know of a suitably motivated retiree who would start on this
> > and document what they're doing?
> >
> > A retiree would be more likely to have the patience to do it well, and
> > the time to actually do it, and having a worthwhile project like this
> > on their plate *will* improve their life expectancy.
> >
> > Cheers; Leon
> >
> > --
> > http://cyberknights.com.au/     Modern tools; traditional dedication
> > http://plug.linux.org.au/       Committee Member, Perth Linux User Group
> > http://slpwa.asn.au/            Committee Member, Linux Professionals WA
> > http://linux.org.au/            Committee Member, Linux Australia
> >
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> > lias at lists.linux.org.au
> > http://lists.linux.org.au/listinfo/lias
> 
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-- 
Pia Smith <greebo at pacific.net.au>