[Liverpool] Linux Installation

[Andrew Williams]

On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 11:15:54PM +0000, Mike Silvano wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> My name is Mike and I work in a large primary school in Liverpool (500 pupils) we have 70+ pc's & 25+ Laptops & 1 server.

Hi Mike, good to see you posting on the list. 
 
> Numerous meetings with management about Microsoft and the ongoing problems & costing have helped me reach the decision for the school, to install Linux & Open Office. 
> 
> With your support regarding this 'School Linux Project', do you think this is achievable within the time scale of the school opening on 2nd Sept?
> 

Large scale installations are a pain, even doing a mass reinstall of Windows is a pain, 
Imagine getting to one machine only to find out its SATA/IDE chipset isn't 100% fully 
supported by Linux, then you'll start making concessions about the installation.

A mass project needs a lot of planning.

Just off the top of my head you'll be looking at:

* Checking all hardware to see if its compatible
* Decisions regarding how you'll manage user logins to the systems, either via NIS or a LDAP 
  server.
* Central storage, single server with samba/NFS? Or a clustered approach with Coda and their 
  ilk?
* Network settings and routing, especially if your providing t'interwebs on the user PCs
* Update handling, central cloned repository and auto updates?

This along side with the fact you'll be uprooting all of the staff and pupils from Windows, 
which will cause major headaches and pain over the first couple of months. Also, what do you 
do when a teacher wants to bring in a specific educational package to use on the PCs?

I fully support the idea of Linux usage in a school enviroment, it can be done, but it can't 
be a slap-dash decision as it'll have major affect on your users. Much like Simon said, please 
think of the users first. 

-- 
Andrew Williams
w: http://tensixtyone.com/
e: andy at tensixtyone.com
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 197 bytes
Desc: Digital signature
Url : http://mailman.lug.org.uk/pipermail/liverpool/attachments/20090819/9168ecba/attachment.pgp