Re: [school-discuss] Which is the fastest Desktop distro for schools?

[Arjun Asthana <arjunasthana@gmx.net>]

Hi,

On Thursday 04 November 2004 09:53, you wrote:
> On Wed, 2004-11-03 at 06:07, Arjun Asthana wrote:
> > We are trying to promote Linux in schools. We have tied up with AMD to
> > provide PCs at low costs.
> >
> > We want to find the fastest desktop distro so that the users can feel the
> > value of Linux.
>
> Two really important questions:
> 1. What kind of specs do the computers have?  CPU, memory, et al.?

In India the normal conf is 800-900Mhz, 256Mb ram, 16-32 mb video card, 15" 
monitor.

> 2. What do students and teachers want to do on the computer?  Any
> specific proprietary applications you need to replace?

Well, yes. But there is wine.

> I'm not sure what the fastest desktop distro would be, but a few things
> to look for:
> * Kernel 2.6: It runs noticeably faster than the 2.4 kernel on the same
> hardware; at least it does on every machine I've used.  You might be
> able to further improve performance by building a custom kernel for your
> computers, but it's a major undertaking for anyone who hasn't built a
> kernel before.

This is our first goal already.

> * For top speed, avoid GNOME and KDE.  Try a lightweight window manager
> like FVWM.  You can still use GNOME and KDE applications while running a
> different window manager.

We are thinking of using IceWM. I currently use on my machine and it is fast 
and can look like the stupid's OS as well (you guessed it: windows)

> * Productivity applications are tricky; OpenOffice is notoriously large
> (and thus rather slow), but no other programs are as complete.  You
> might be able to get away with AbiWord and Gnumeric for basic
> word-processing and spreadsheets, but I'd keep OpenOffice available in
> case they fall short.

We are including both siag, OO.o as well as the specific apps like abiword, 
magic pt, etc.

> Not knowing your specific needs, I'd recommend Debian/testing ("Sarge")
> or a distro based on Debian/testing.  Installation is fairly simple

We were thinking of debian, but were unsure of what type to use. Thanks.

> (although not quite as simple as Fedora Linux), and the apt-get tools
> make it very easy to add the applications you need and keep your systems
> up-to-date.
>
> ---
> Lincoln Peters
> <sampln@sbcglobal.net>
>
> One can search the brain with a microscope and not find the
> mind, and can search the stars with a telescope and not find God.
> 		-- J. Gustav White

-- 
Thanks,
 Arjun