[SLUG] Re:Library summary v2.0

[Bob Garrood]

Hi

John's draft of Linux for artists looks good to me (non artist), but I think 
the positions of the web addresses is an issue.   I always look up footnotes 
in books.  I can't resist them.  I see that this may be a minority view.  
Electronic documents seem to me to be rather different.  You surf from site 
to site, and forget, en route, what you were looking for.   So my idea is 
that people come into the library, pick up the handouts, take them to the 
library computer, log on to Slug website, find an html version of the 
handout, click onto points that interest them and then use the <- to go back 
to the handout.  So the references to websites should be in the text, not in  
a footnote at the end of the text.

I think this could be made clear on the business card size handouts that we 
make available.  Which I volunteer to produce.

Here is Linux in Education, v2 text

Linux, free software and education

Free (open source) software, and Linux especially, is great for anyone in 
education, and great for anyone with a child in education.  Most of our 
schools and colleges don't use it.  This is a shame.  Free software has at 
least as much value as commercial software and costs about half as much.  
BECTA, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency says so.  
The fast growing economies of the Pacific rim use it. Our children will have 
to compete in a world that uses it.  You can use it with, or without , 
installing the Linux system on your computer, but the best way to exploit 
free software at home is by installing a Linux operating system.  You can 
find plenty of information from FLOSS.

Free/libre open source software

FLOSS exists to support software, especially in education that is both free, 
as in free beer, and free (libre), as in free speech.  You can find out about 
FLOSS on http://www.schoolforge.org.uk/index.php/Try_FLOSS_Now .  
They will tell you how to use free software in education with or without 
installing Linux.  If your system only runs Microsoft Windows, you will find 
plenty of programs that are free and invaluable, both for the hard-up student 
and family on a budget.

Firefox is an open source web browser, that has more features and is far more 
secure than Internet Explorer.  Millions have already downloaded it.

OpenOffice is an office suite that looks like Microsoft Office.  Many think it 
is about to replace Office. It does all the same things, it is totally 
compatible with Office, and, in its latest version puts out files that are in 
OpenDocument format.  This is the standard recommended by BECTA, the UK 
authority for what goes on computers in UK schools, so if you have it in your 
home you will be ahead of most local schools.  More on BECTA later.

The Gimp is a program for manipulating images.  

There are many more.  Use the FLOSS website to search the web for your 
particular interest.  For example try 
http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm .
This allows you to download an entire maths textbook, if you want one. 

You can best use free software if you install a Linux operating system and 
FLOSS will help you with this.  If you install Linux as a student, or as a 
family with students who need educational  support then a distribution that 
uses the KDE window manager is a good idea because KDE has a project called 
Kdeedu devoted to educational software.

KDE

Almost all Linux distrubtions come with the KDE window manager.  KDE has a set 
of programs  called Kdeedu.  This is an expanding collection of programs 
which contains various language games and activities, a touch typing tutor, a 
planetarium, a program for plotting graphs, an elementary  and much more.  
Look out for Kdeedu when you install.

Don't be a Dummy!

Plenty of books are available free online.  For example try  
http://documentation.openoffice.org/
Information is free online.  You need never pay £40 for unopened books again!

BECTA-what open source costs schools

A report produced by BECTA last May concluded that both primary and secondary 
schools could provide computer software for their pupils by using Open Source 
at about half the cost of commercial suppliers like Microsoft.  There is a 
short account at:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39197751,00.htm

The report stresses the importance of training for the teachers who use the 
software.   This reduces the need for specialist technical support.  The full 
report is available at: 
http://www.becta.org.uk/corporate/publications/documents/BEC5606_Full_report18.pdf

Why schools don't use open source software

You might expect that low cost would make schools enthusiastic about free 
software.  Very few are.  One reason is that they need to bid to become 
specialist schools.  The sponsorship they need to do this often locks them 
into a single commercial supplier for their most important software.  You can 
find a report on this at: 
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/03/11/ms_specialist_schools_deal/ 
Another reason is that using this software properly needs training, and it is 
hard for schools to find time.

Schools that benefit from Linux networks

Even schools with lots of computers find it hard to give their students much 
'hands on' experience.  So they need more computers.  Orwell High School in 
Felixstowe found itself unable to provide all the computers it needed.  To 
exploit free software to the full they use Linux for networking and operating 
systems.  Linux provides the best and most widely used software for 
networking.  It can allow you to use older computer systems that might 
otherwise clog up landfill sites.  They can become thin client servers.  
These are computers that are used as terminals which can connect to a much 
more powerful server computer.   Because they work without their own hard 
disc they are less liable to failure.  This make them cheaper and more 
reliable.  You can find a full account at: 
http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/page/linux_case_study_orwell_high_school.html    

Bob