Re: White Horse

[EAMorical@aol.com]

Just some thoughts. I just came across the Chinese-HOWTO
(http://www.ssc.com/linux/LDP/HOWTO/Chinese-HOWTO.html). I assume you are
familar with it. I can see I'm going to get an education. I was curious who is
going to do the translation and how many people are involved? This would give
me an idea of what is realistic. Also I've been thinking about copyright
issues. Most documentation is copyrighted. This means getting permission to
translate. I have started to think about what general categories one would
want documentation for. For a start I came up with the following list:

About "free" software
About Linux
Linux Distributions
HowTo do a Linux install
HowTo use Linux
HowTo install/use for each application
Hardware issues

If I have read things right, you wish to start the translations in 3 or 4
weeks. Also you will need to have your network up and running by then. Have
you purchased your new computers yet. You asked for some help in planning.
Here are some thoughts. First, let me state how I see your network
functioning. You will start with an intranet eventually connected to the
internet with a T1 line. The intranet will consist of 4 old P100 computers in
classrooms connected together with 8 new computers in a computer room. What's
not clear is whether one of the new computers will be the file server
mentioned. Also what about a print server. You could use the fifth P100 for a
print server or save it for a firewall computer when you connect to the
internet. At this point you need 12 ethernet cards and an ethernet hub. There
are 12 port hubs but I would recommend a hub with more ports both for
expansion and for connecting to the internet computer. If you use the fifth
P100 as a firewall between the intranet and the internet, it will require two
ethernet cards. If there isn't room for two more cards, you can take something
out since all this computer will be doing is checking packets. Finally you
will need a computer for your web server which sits outside of your firewall
computer. The web server will have both a T1 card and an ethernet card to
connect to one of the ethernet cards on the firewall computer. Thus the setup
looks as follows: ( Internet )----( T1 card web server ethernet card )----(
ethernet card firewall computer ethernet card )----( ethernet hub )----( 12
Intranet computers each with an ethernet card ). This set up requires a T1
card and 15 ethernet cards. you asked about network cards. Looking through
posts on ethernet cards,I picked one that seems to give a good overview. It
was posted on 12/18/98. An excerpt follows:
>We use 3c900 (Vortex) cards. They seem rock-solid, fast, and stable.
>Get the latest drivers from cesdis: http://cesdis.gsfc.nasa.gov/linux/drivers
For a T1 card, everyone seems to be recommending Sangoma
(http://www.sangoma.com). They have T1 cards with integrated CSU/DSU.
You asked about, "what the File Server should look like". Try
(http://www.riverdale.k12.or.us/linux/k12linux/) and pick "Step by Step School
Server". They have been setting up servers in schools. You also asked about
setting up a network. Try posting to the (linux-list@ssc.com). There are a
number of system administrators subscribed who are very willing to answer
questions. Ask here and someone will try to find the answer.

On another note, I think it's important to think out how one is going to use
the computers, not only today, but into the future. The 9-13 year olds is a
nice age range where I believe the mischievousness can be solved by involving
them in something truly worthwhile. I was thinking back to what I was doing at
that age. As I remember I was taking everything apart to see how it worked.
Anyway I live in an area where the schools are under extreme pressure to turn
out students capable of using technology. Thus the students are required to
put on multimedia presentations using the latest technologies as well as be
involved in cooperative internet activities. They are graded on how many
technologies they can correctly integrate into their presentations. I was
looking at your initial goal of having the students compose documents that can
be combined to form web pages. This is good in that you are getting the
cooperative interaction among the students. In the local schools the students
would be combining pictures, sound, etc. in to the documents. I'm raising
these issues so that you might think ahead of what all you might want your
computers to be capable of. Anyway ask questions and I'll try to answer them. 

1999 The Year Of Linux
Make It Happen

Bob