Re: Major interview

[Jim Troutman <jlt@pivot.net>]

> Roman Kirsanow has talked to Liz Coolbaugh from Linux Weekly News about
> doing an interview on the state of Linux in education (more or less). 
> He's asked me and Jose Lacal from OpenClassroom to also take part. 
> There hasn't been a date scheduled yet for this interview, so I figure
> we have a bit of time to discuss what things we should focus on.
> 
> OK, folks.  What should our approach be in this interview?  What things
> do we want to emphasize, and what things should we stay away from?  I
> don't think the three of us should repeat each other's words, but a if
> we have coherent and organized ideas that largely reinforce each other
> that can't hurt.

well, I think you would want it to be, in part, an article that educators
could use in support of Linux in education (i.e. to show to their
administration).  That doesn't mean it can't be technical.

I think you would want to give them many real world examples of schools
that are using linux, and what it does for them, and what the benefits are
(cost, stability, features, etc.) for both servers and desktops.  I still
think that wide-spread desktop use for education is still probably a year
away for most....  (depending on how the OpenClassroom project goes, etc.)

I have used linux in K12 education for over 4 years myself, for various
clients.  So far, entirely for server applications (squid proxy server,
firewalls, DNS services, Samba services, Netatalk services, print servers,
and so forth).   I know one district that converted all of their
servers K-12 to linux last year, and they love it and haven't looked back.
I know another that has started using it to teach C programming classes
(students just telnet in from their Macs).

-----
James Troutman, Troutman & Associates - telecommunications consulting
93 Main Street, Waterville, Maine 04901 - 207-861-7067