Re: [school-discuss] School Admin Software

["Matt Oquist" <moquist@xxxxxxxxx>]

Alan,

Another thing you might consider to keep GNU/Linux on the desktop is running a Windblows(TM) terminal server. We do that for our accounting system, and that works great (except for printing, which is a pain, but workable).

VMWare is definitely the best other thing to consider IMO, so I think you're headed in the right direction.

Now some general rambling commentary:
This space seems to me to be most desperately in need of a kick-ax Free Software solution. I know Les has been active for many years on OpenAdmin, and another project I continue to watch is SchoolTool. Part of the problem is the combination of high-stakes and niche-market; a school's not going to think twice about something that isn't "proven" to be dependable, and there just aren't enough users of such systems to make it a very exciting place for most of the talented FOSS developers.

But, FWIW, I know of a school system that bought one of the most expensive proprietary solutions on the market within the last two years, and already has been forced from one platform (Mac, where it was native) to another (Windows). At this point, if the server goes down this "state of the art" SIS has to be restarted *manually* via a complex multi-step process in a *persistent Windblows(TM) login session*. It's good they shelled out the big bucks for the quality software. *shakes head*

I would really, really like to see a consortium of schools/districts/states coming together to fund development of that kick-ax Free Software solution that everybody could then use. The taxpayers would be spending less money overall if this happened and was managed successfully, but this is a type and degree of forward thinking that we definitely don't have at this point (IMO). In fact, I would rather see such a consortium come together to fund an existing project (such as the two I mentioned above).

Enough rambling. As things are now, FLOSS advocates almost always seem to lose this battle, and that's very frustrating. I sympathize, Alan. Good luck.

--matt

On 10/11/07, Alan E. Davis <lngndvs@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

An update:

I have gotten vmware to run on my laptop, still trying to get wireless to work.  Wine would be much better.  We are using something called, I think, gradequick.  The consultant who came to the school was running virtual machines and demoed it to workshop participants.  I think he was running XP, VIsta, and SUSE.  He claimed we will be able to connect to the server from vmware.  The wireless eludes me so far.  Thank you for the encouraging news.

Alan

On 10/12/07, Gary Frankenbery < gfranken@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sunday 07 October 2007 09:30:54 pm Alan E. Davis wrote:
> One of my worst nightmares has befallen my school: a proprietary, Windoze
> only administration package is being implemented: Rediker.
[SNIP]
> Do I have a prayer of getting Rediker's school software running
> on CX Office? Vmware?  Is VMWare suitable for basically emulating Windows
> XP in a window, to run this one program?  Maybe even Wine is good enough?
> I have used Wine?
>
> So my question to the list is this: has anyone any clues about how to start
> the latter?

Alan,
We too use a Windows based proprietary student administration system called
SASIxp. The teacher component clients are Integrade Gradebook and CLASS.xp.
We run these from our Netware server.

These programs would not run under wine until just recently when wine version
0.9.45 was released. This newest version of wine supports Classxp.exe and
Integrade.exe perfectly.

I have installed ncpfs (netware core protocol file system), and I make an IP
connection to our netware server as follows:

ncpmount tcp -A 10.5.0.4 -S D7ADM -U
gfranken.GPH /home/gfranken/Desktop/HSOFFICE

Explanation:
tcp - make a tcp connection to the server
-A 10.5.0.4   - ip address of the server
-S D7ADM  - server name
-U gfranken.GPH  - user name dot context
/home/gfranken/Desktop/HSOFFICE  - mount point

I've set-up an icon on my Linux desktop that runs:
wine /home/gfranken/Desktop/HSOFFICE/GPHSASI/SASIxp/CLASSxp.exe

Unfortunately, I don't know whether Rediker will run under wine. But there may
be hope.

CLASSxp and Integrade were the only programs that tied me to running MS
Windows. Since I can now run them under wine, my teacher workstation lives in
linux all the time, and I'm a happy camper.

Of course, in the longer term, I hope to get our School District to jettison
SASIxp for student record keeping and go to an open source solution.

Regards,
Gary Frankenbery
Grants Pass High School
Grants Pass, Oregon
gfranken@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

--
Alan Davis, Kagman High School, Saipan   lngndvs@xxxxxxxxx  

"It's never a matter of liking or disliking ..."
       ---Santa Ynez Chumash Medicine Man

--
Open Source Software Engineering Consultant
http://majen.net/