[ale] Special interest group formation: Linux in Georgia Schools

[Daniel Howard]

FYI, here's a note I just sent out to all the Georgia LUGs I could find 
contact info on.

Daniel


Fellow Georgia Linux enthusiasts,

My name is Daniel Howard, I'm an Atlanta Linux Enthusiast, and I'm
looking to start an activity oriented towards getting open source
software into Georgia K-12 schools.  You might think this would be
inconceivable, but believe it or not, I and another parent volunteer
have done it at Morris Brandon Elementary School in the Atlanta Public
Schools district.  APS is even listing Linux certification as one of
their criteria for outsourcing PC support services, and here is the
blurb they put in their last Request for Proposal for support services:

"Linux Computers: A version of Red Hat Linux has been successfully
deployed in one APS school. A 1:1 ratio of PC to student is anticipated
at this school within the next school term. This technology is
growing and is viewed as an alternative for extending the life of
certain hardware within the Atlanta Public Schools."

That's our school, and the fact that they're even considering Linux is
no less than a seachange for them.  At one point, we were nearly at war
with them over it.  But now we've been meeting with them and they've
classified our effort as a Proof of Concept project.  Using the K12LTSP
package (based on Fedora), we've gone from only 1-2 working PCs per
class (and working slowly), to now 5-6, with some classes have 8-9.  We
did this by soliciting donated PCs from businesses; a PII 300 MHz PC
works fine as a thin client.

I believe it is now time to take this story to the state level: using
Open Source Linux software and a thin client architecture, old computers
are brought back to life and no longer require any moving parts (no disk
drives), and total cost of ownership is *drastically* reduced.  Entire
countries (like Norway and Korea) have switched their educational
technology to Linux, so why not Georgia next?

So now the request: could you post this info to your respective groups
with my solicitation for volunteers who might like to help evangelize
Linux/thin clients to their respective K-12 school systems?  I offer to
give them ammo, a tour of our school, and whatever else I can afford
time to do to help them pitch Linux to nearby schools.

Also, there is an upcoming Georgia Educational Technology Conference in
Atlanta Nov 15-17, where many educators and administrators from Georgia
will meet to learn about new technology.  I'd like to have a major Linux
presence this year, with a K12LTSP demo/workshop, some papers, and maybe
even an LTSP based cybercafe.  Anyone interested in participating in
that should also contact me, coordinates below.   Thanks!

Daniel Howard
dhhoward at comcast.net
404.264.9123 (office)