[KLUG Members] Lindows

[Adam Williams]

> > > >>I was at a conference for K-12 technology folks this past week and one 
> > > >>of the sessions was on Lindows.
> > > > Excellent, at least Open Source got a mention.
> > > Open Source got a LOT of mentions, both at presentations and in casual 
> > > conversation.
> > > >>Anyways, the interaction in the room was great with a lot of good 
> > > >>questions and answers. The presenter had tried Mandrake, Red Hat, and 
> > > >>other distros, but from an "end user" perspective, was most impressed 
> > > >>with Lindows.
> > > > Was he being serious?  May glances at Lindows have using resulting in a
> > > > case of spontaneous wincing.
> > > He was very serious and given his scenario, it might just work. I work 
> > > for a much larger district, so there will be different challenges. For a 
> > > fat client, it doesn't seem too bad.
> > Does the NDS client support Debian/Lindows?
> NetWare has this thing called Native File Access, where they provide
> compatibility at the server with nothing required at the client. It works pretty
> good too, at least the CIFS and NFS does. I've not tried the Appletalk piece. No
> Novell client needed. 

I was thinking for authentication, etc...  Do they handle that
transparently as well (even on WinY2k?)?  If so that IS really
impressive.

> ...
> > > you have diddly for a budget, and things are going to get tighter yet 
> > > this school year, Linux makes great sense.
> > Nothing motivates like neccesity.  What ever budget they do get for IT
> > will probably be sapped to zilch by this insane plan to give sixth
> > graders laptops (when most teachers can't figure out how to use one; 
> > and what is the life expectancy of a dell laptop in the hands of a sixth
> > grader - is that expressed in weeks or months?).
> Oh man, don't even get me started on that one. :) 

Ok.

> And who says it will be Dell? 

I thought the State Of Michigan had signed some kind of contract with
them, could be wrong as I only heard that from some TTI guy.