[Wolves] Linux in schools

[Mike Peters]

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 00:35:46 +0000
Andy Wootton <andy.wootton at wyrley.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> Mark Ellse wrote:
> 
> > Andy,
> >
> > I am very happy to give any help/advice, and even visit the school. 
> > But remember that school licences for Windows are not very
> > expensive. It might be worth trying to slip into Open Source via
> > OpenOffice, and a linux server.
> 
> Yes, that is the way I would like to work. I don't know much about the
> 
> kit  that is currently available yet but I expect a lot of it won't
> run XP. I'm hoping to recycle some of the old equipment as thin
> clients. 

I've set up 3 labs of between 15-20 clients like this, also in a school,
so if you have any questions about this I'll try to help.

I've also migrated MS Office to OO in offices with varying levels of
success. I'd suggest that before the migration you test as much as
possible with real documents before you dive in and install.
Compatabilty between documents isn't as much of an issue as it used to
be but there are differences in usage. The more familiar you are with
how things work the quicker you can solve users problems. If users are
going to accept the new software you need to have a smooth transition.
If you can come up with ways that people can do their job quicker and
easier - writing macros, scripts or showing them keyboard shortcuts,
people will warm to OO that much more. Remember most users don't care
about licenses, Open Source and whatever they just want an easy life. If
you're going to sell Open Source the best way is to convince people it
will make their lives easier or, in the case of management, that it will
increase efficiency/productivity, the free aspect is just icing on the
cake. 

-- 
Mike
Web Site: http://www.ice2o.com
JabberID: mpeters at jabber.org
Registered Linux User #247123

Confidence is the feeling you have before you understand the
situation.