Re: Yet Another Proposal: a "docking station" for educational apps

[arma@seul.org]

In message <3551DFE2.B090C7E5@csrlink.net>, dloss@csrlink.net writes:
>This sounds like a very good idea for the school community.  I'm not sure
>how well it would work for the home user, though, as it would require an
>educational administrator to set goals and to review progress.  I doubt that
>that's going to fly with the parents who just want educational
>"edutainment" programs for their kids.  Having said that, "simple, end-user
>Linux" doesn't specify that the end-user _has_ to be a home user, does it?
>I think this would work quite nicely on a server with the database directory
>mounted on each machine in a school computer lab.

Actually, there are several other distribution projects (like k12-linux)
aimed at producing a linux that a school server like the above would run.
Perhaps we should spend a bit of effort trying to coordinate with those
distribution projects (Omega: you have the URLs?) On the other hand, there
must come a time where we quit debating and start actually doing. If people
are writing things in C or perl and need complex subroutines written,
especially things that do complex pointer/string manipulation, let me know
and I'll make it happen. I'm too busy this days to do anything more global
than that, though. :(

In any case, producing software like that is probably a good idea anyway,
if it isn't around already.

As for the term 'end-user', a clip from the SEUL manifesto (on the web page):

 The end-user (as we use the term) is a person who just plain uses Linux,
 and the applications and accessories produced for it. His main goal is not to
 use Linux for the purpose of creating more Linux, whether for himself or
 the public (e.g. hacking around in his config files and scripts, or writing new
 Linux applications for redistribution, respectively). Thus he is at the "end"
 of the production line. He wants compiled code, in the form of an intuitive
 graphical icon on his screen, which he can click on and correctly expect it to
 do what it seems like it should.

 Beyond this, there will be variations in plan, and we will branch out to cater
 to different segments of the end-user populace. These will include such
 areas as the professional/scientific users, business users, home users, and
 educational users. We'll need to consider factors affecting each of these as
 we weigh the value of targeting various features toward them.

--Roger