Re: [school-discuss] Knoppix vs. Freeduc vs. ???

[hilaire <hilaire@ext.cri74.org>]

Hello Salvatore, 

I also want to suggest you to test freeduc-cd, it is a live 
cd-rom based on Knoppix put we have rearange the cd-rom to pack
as much as we can application of interest for education and 
teaching. Thereofre we have on the cd-rom some unique
application as Wims (math. exercice server), Grass, DrGenius,
TuxPaint, Gcompris, integrated dictionnaries and many more....

Check there http://www.ofset.org/projects/edusoft/edusoft.html

You will love it

Hilaire



En réponse à Salvatore Gambacorta <psychdoc@sdf.lonestar.org>:

> I'd like to say hello to this group. Being my first post
> I would also like
> to introduce myself. Like many of you, I'm a parent - of
> two very young
> daughters, whom are proficient in PC usage beyond their
> years, but I'm
> still not sure that's a good thing. Nevertheless, I'd
> like to help
> their school
> out by providing assistance in establishing a PC lab and
> I feel Linux is
> the way to go. I have calculated that 20 donated PC's
> running Knoppix
> would save the school about AU$40,000.00 (new @ retail +
> Windows). I can
> only imagine that you are all here for the same reason -
> in addition to
> any merits the software may have.
> 
> Anyway, I do welcome suggestions and I would like
> assistance in obtaining
> the Glue CD and Knoppix for Kids CD since I don't have
> access to
> broadband. Media and postage costs will be covered.
> 
> Finally, I would like to make a suggestion. It is
> somewhat of an uphill
> struggle to convince people of the availabilty of
> alternative oses,
> particularly if they have grown accustomed to a
> particular platform. This
> is the difficulty some of you are facing when either
> attempting to build
> or purchase a system with linux pre-installed.
> Nevertheless, I have found
> that people get excited when they see what linux can do
> for free. So the
> word has to get out more and advertising something
> that's essentially free
> doesn't really make economic sense. So my suggestion is
> to get the
> local media
> involved. I have struck up an agreement with a local
> paper to write a
> piece about the new lab, the PC's, linux and the school,
> once the project
> is finished. If those of you that biuld linux boxes
> could offer your
> assistance to one worthy cause, it may open the
> floodgate you're seeking, without costing a cent in
> advertising.
> 
> But then, i don't make a living in IT. So don't take my
> word for it.
> 
> Regards
> Salvatore Gambacorta
> Sydney Australia
> 
> 
> On 8 Jun 2003, ian wrote:
> 
> > Date: 08 Jun 2003 11:16:56 +0100
> > From: ian <ian.lynch2@ntlworld.com>
> > Reply-To: schoolforge-discuss@schoolforge.net
> > To: schoolforge-discuss@schoolforge.net
> > Subject: Re: [school-discuss] Knoppix vs. Freeduc vs.
> ???
> >
> > On Sun, 2003-06-08 at 02:11, Massimiliano Mirra
> wrote:
> > > ian <ian.lynch2@ntlworld.com> writes:
> > >
> > > > We are not as big as Dell ;-) But we build PCs and
> I have been thinking
> > > > of advertising pre-installed Linux. The difficulty
> is that advertising
> > > > is expensive and for a small company like us I'm
> not sure its going to
> > > > be cost-effective and a mistake in this line could
> put us out of
> > > > business.
> > >
> > > How about offering the usual machine with an already
> partitioned hard
> > > disk, and giving out a Knoppix CD with it?
> >
> > We don't generally sell a usual machine to
> individuals, we sell in
> > batches of 10, 20, 100 etc to education built to their
> spec. I wouldn't
> > want to get into the "glossy ad in PCW" mail order
> business for windows
> > machines, but we have had the occasional person find
> us indirectly and
> > ask for a Linux pre-installed system. It seems that
> its quite difficult
> > to find PC builders who will pre-install GNU/Linux. We
> will do it, the
> > trick is in getting contact with those who want it
> without bankrupting
> > ourselves with unfocused advertising.
> >
> > >  Or dual boot machines with
> > > Linux as the system which boots by default?  Even
> without advertising,
> > > Linux would end up being booted more often than
> Windows, both because
> > > it's default and because it features hundreds more
> programs than a
> > > bare Windows installation.  And it might help you
> build the experience
> > > about customers' response that you will need in an
> ad campaign.
> >
> > This would be an option if we were selling by these
> methods but we have
> > no real experience of conventional advertising.
> >
> > > > Maybe we should start offering low cost PCs to
> parents through the
> > > > schools.  Anyone any thoughts on this?
> > >
> > > Definitely a good idea.  When something is (or
> appears like) a
> > > requirement from an external entity, most people
> seem to shut down any
> > > judgement capability about whether it's good or it's
> bad, since it's
> > > required anyway.  So they might as well be offered
> something good for
> > > change!
> >
> > Yes, the main snag I foresee is support. If things
> went wrong, they
> > would blame Linux whereas if they go wrong with
> Windows they just accept
> > it as the way things are. Still, I think perhaps very
> low cost refurbed
> > machines with free software might be a possibility
> with options to
> > upgrade to a new one and recycle the old ones again.
> Effectively
> > generate a market like for cars - now the hardware is
> so powerful
> > refresh cycles could become long enough to make this
> work.Its just
> > making a start that is the difficult bit.
> >
> > > Whatever your choice, I wish you the best luck.
> > --
> > ian <ian.lynch2@ntlworld.com>
> >
> >
> 
> 
>