Re: [school-discuss] Open-source alternatives

[Cameron Miller <cdmiller@adams.edu>]

Michael Dean wrote:
> I am curious.  why use firefox?  Wouldn't it make more sense to  use the 
> full mozilla, I would think a calendar would be helpful, as would 
> perhaps the ability of students to email within their network on work 
> teams ,etc.  Any thoughts on this?
One could use Firefox and Thunderbird, either can use the Calendar 
extension.  The Calendar program is hoping to go stand alone eventually 
with the Sunbird product.  When they are separated, fewer resources 
might be used, perhaps better in a thin client environment.

- cameron

> garry saddington wrote:
>
> > On Saturday 09 October 2004 21:53, Aaron Tyo-Dickerson wrote:
> >  
> > > troy@banther-trx.homeunix.com wrote:
> > >   
> > > > Hello everyone,
> > > >
> > > > Is anyone on the list using completely open-source alternatives in
> > > > their schools? Specifically GNU/Linux and educational programs. I
> > > > would love to hear of the combinations, types of software, server 
> > > > setups.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > > Troy
> > > >     
> > > Thanks for asking this question, Troy, as I have been meaning to join
> > > the conversation with a similar inquiry. I work for a regional public
> > > school consortium in Upstate New York and have been exploring FOSS
> > > possibilities for our area schools.
> > >
> > > We currently have one district piloting several FOSS apps on their
> > > Windows PCs. Their "shortlist" includes OpenOffice, The Gimp and the
> > > Firefox web browser. (Not a very daring move by the standards of the
> > > FOSS community, perhaps, but pretty fringe stuff for this region.) At
> > > the same time, another school district has contacted me with a request
> > > very similar to what you ask here: Can I take a laptop PC, wipe its hard
> > > drive and then created a FOSS-only educational computer?
> > >
> > > While the obvious, short answer is "Yes, simply install any flavor of
> > > Linux and then add some of the standard desktop apps (see the non-daring
> > > list above) and *Presto* an 'educational computer'", the actual response
> > > is "I am not sure." Schools have very specific needs and I have had
> > > difficulty finding FOSS replacements for things like Inspiration, which
> > > we rely on for graphic organizers / concept maps / idea webs. I have
> > > searched SchoolForge and SourceForge and not found a similar product and
> > > would love to know if there is one out there.
> > >
> > > Aaron Tyo-Dickerson
> > >   
> > Try Freemind at http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
> > regards
> > garry
> >
> >
> >  

--
- cameron miller
- UNIX systems administrator
- outhouse attendant
- http://staff.adams.edu/~cdmiller
- http://portal.adams.edu/