[ale] Linux in Atlanta's public schools

[Jay Lozier]

Hi,

One problem I have seen with many "users" is a fear of computers and  
learning about them. Learning how to use FOSS OSes and apps I has pushed  
to learn more about the workings of computers, programming than I already  
knew. It is does help to understand how computers work and become  
moderately self-sufficient as far as handling issues.

As far as technical support with Windows or MSOffice my experience is that  
MS is happy to charge you money to assist you. And there usually is no  
reliable documentation available to fix the issue for free. However, with  
a Linux distro I have noticed the answers to similar questions are readily  
available including step-by-step instructions to fix the issue. The time  
spent is probably a net wash but the cost is still lower with Linux.

On Thu, 04 Jul 2013 22:52:51 -0400, Sergio Chaves  
<sergio.chaves at genco.com> wrote:

> Man, listening to all these stories REALLY gets me P#$%d Off!
> It is incredible that these so called public servants hold their  
> positions solely to reap >benefits at the expense of all the young  
> students!
>
> On a much smaller scale, I used to work for, hmmm... lets say one of the  
> biggest toy >retailer company.When crunch time arrived at the beginning  
> of recession, all the staff was asked to provide >cost saving ideas to  
> help the company navigate through the rough times. Obviously, I took  
> >that opportunity to introduce Linux as a viable alternative to our  
> "current" Windows XP >system.
> At our facility, we had over 200 PCs, all running full versions of XP  
> and Office. The PCs >were used primarily for the users to build use  
> simple spreadsheets that OpenOffice would >handle it perfectly.
> I setup a server with LTSP on it and also installed a full functioning  
> version of the >OpenBravo (http://www.openbravo.com/ ) WMS system, which  
> IMHO ran circles around our home >brewed WMS.
> After the demos and everything else worked flawlessly, and all the cost  
> savings were >evaluated, the very first question I heard was " So, who  
> do we call for support on open >source software?". Before I could finish  
> my sentence, once they heard the words >"community", forums, IRC, etc.,  
> one of the main figures there told me how much my efforts >were  
> appreciated but if they could not pickup the phone and call for support,  
> it was no >good. Absolutely incredible!
>
> On another note, a few months back I asked for help here on the list  
> about PCs, Monitors, >etc. to get PCs down to Haiti for a Christian  
> Mission.
> I was able to install stand alone versions of SkoleLinux (Debian EDU) in  
> French - I do not >speak or understand French :-)   - on 07 PCs, along  
> with the Creole version of BibleTime.
> I elected not to tell anyone that Linux was the OS and everything was  
> cool. After it was >noticed that it was not Windows or Mac installed,  
> the PCs, as far as I know, were still >not in use. Just sad...
<snip>

>
>
>
-- 
Jay Lozier
jslozier at gmail.com
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