Two students complete their assignments on our standard
Dell linux workstations.
One student using Windows and one using a free version of Linux. Educational outcome: equal.
Can you tell which is Windows and which is Linux? We have successfully developed Linux workstations for our Open Lab at Nathan Hale High School. After running these machines for several months, we are very pleased with the results. We have achieved our goal of implementing a very secure Linux desktop configuration which generally requires no learning for users to transition from the more familiar Windows environment (see the screen shots below). Frequently, students sit down at these computers and use them without seeming to notice that they are different from our other machines.See Screenshots Below:
Our Linux Project:
Screen Shots
Why Are We Developing This Capability at Nathan Hale High School at This Time? In three words: Security, Stability, and Savings. However, a more detailed answer might look like this:
1) Advances in Open Office now make it a reasonable substitute for use of Microsoft Office in many environments. Compatibility with Microsoft Office file formats is now quite good (although not perfect). In addition, the Crossover Office application from Codeweavers provides the possibility of running Microsoft Office reliably on our Linux machines.
2) The KDE desktop is not only easy to use, but the new 3.0 version offers "Kiosk Mode". With a little tweaking, this provides outstanding out-of-the-box security.
3) Mozilla, the Netscape open source project, has surpassed the 1.0 stable release phase. It's more pleasing than Netscape because it lacks the commercial junk that Netscape includes these days.
4) Not only are the OS and software good, they are also free and therefore represent a responsible use of a school's precious dollars. We can propagate our systems by simply copying our Linux harddrives. At present, we will be experimenting with just four machines.
5) Complying with recent forced audits mandated by a large software company has caused significant hardship, and drained precious resources from a number of school districts. This experience has shown many of us the strength of Open Source software which can be copied over and over and used on multiple computers without fear of such an audit.
Some Details
* Our configuration is "self-healing": if the computer is rebooted, the default user's environment is completely recreated. This allows users the freedom to alter settings without inconveniencing the next user and also protects tech support personnel from having to deal with sabotage by unscrupulous users.
* We are experimenting with Crossover Office from Codeweavers(See screenshots) This allows Linux to run Microsoft Office successfully. While this product is not free, it does allow schools to use their existing MS Office licenses if they wish. So far our experience with Crossover Office are encouraging: it appears that MS Word works fine. We have had a few glitches with IE and setup procedures.
Some Realities
In developing this system we have chosen to implement the simplest possible configuration: A standalone machine which browses the Internet and has standard office capabilities. These functions represent about ninety eight percent of the use to which our Open Lab machines are put. However, Windows-based PCs can run a variety of software that Linux will not be able to use any time in the near future. In addition, Networked workstations offer advantages over standalone machines. Linux has very sophisticated networking capabilities and interacts with Windows networking well. We have chosen to not do this (yet), for the sake of simplicity and to skirt security issues which might arise using networking protocols. However, others have done this. See K12ltsp.org which uses a networked system that has reportedly been distributed to over 5,000 schools. See also, the excellent article in eSchool News about the growing Linux use in schools:http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=4058
Clearly, any use of Linux in a Windows world would have to be done strategically with specific building needs in mind. The rather astounding nature of the savings ($0 for all software and upgrades), excellent security, and the stability of the Linux operating system are powerful forces driving one side of this equation.
We wanted to prove that it could be done, and done well
Tony Hand
Technology Coordinator
Nathan Hale High School
Seattle Schools
Any statements made on these pages are the opinion of the author