Re: Linux Solution (was Ssoftware Page)

[Ray Olszewski <ray@comarre.com>]

If I follow you, you are mainly looking for ways to use Linux on one or more
servers (instead of NT), to support Win98 clients. This is fairly easy to do
-- in fact, it feeds into all the historical strengths of Linux. You could
use a Linux server (or several, if they are older machines, individually too
limited to do all of this on one host) to:

        -- provide NT-style file and print services to the Win98 hosts
                (look into Samba - the SMB HowTo will get you started)

        -- provide automatic assignment of IP addeesses to the clients
                (look into DHCP - I think there's a DHCP HowTo)

        -- receive and store e-mail, which can be accessed remotely 
                using a client like Eudora or Netscape, or by logging
                in to the server and running an e-mail client like Pine
                (use sendmail, exim, or qmail as the Mail Transport
                Agent, and POP3, IMAP, or logins to read the mail)

        -- run your Web site (using apache)

        -- manage your connection to the Internet, if you have one (too 
                many different approaches to this to run through here; 
                tell us how you are connected and I or someone else 
                can give you focused advice)

        -- provide some specialized apps oriented to the needs of
                schools (look at the seul-edu projects page for this)
                - this includes both educational apps and apps 
                designed to support administration.

Linux might also be useful to you on the desktop, but, as you rightly note,
this decision is very dependent on the specific educational apps you want to
run. A goal of seul-edu is to improve the number and availability of
Linux-based educational apps, but admittedly there are, at the moment,
better reasons to stay with WIndows (or Mac OS) on the desktop than there
are to use NT servers.

Hope this quick overview helps. If some of it seems a bit too vague to get
you started, don't hesitate to ask additional questions. This is only an
overview, and one that concentrates on server uses of Linux at that. I
haven't, for example, touched on specialized uses like terminal servers
(managing modem pools), turning old PCs into X terminals, and other
specialized roles that Linux can play today. 

Good luck ... and do let us know how you decide to proceed.

At 08:43 PM 8/10/99 +1200, Trevor & Ellen wrote [in part]:
>I want a computer in each class room ( 4 Rooms) ansd a suite of 5
>relocatable. Have figured this much . What I don't want is to be sening
>money down the gates Black Hole!! Would run win 98 on the machines to make
>use of popular software available here. But do not want to use NT. LINUX
>sounds good but have no experience with it and know nothing about whay
>software is available.

------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"---
Ray Olszewski                                        -- Han Solo
Palo Alto, CA  94303-3603    	 	        ray@comarre.com        
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