All the main OSs use files, folders a taskbar/dock and a system tray. f**k it's not really that hard to change. We are seeing software for linux from the likes of adobe and google more and more, see where this trend si going?The students won't be using vista once they graduate.
In the UK, nearly every school or college I've been in use Dell computers. My (tiny) primary school had a couple of Dells, high school had hundreds of them, my college had Dells for everywhere bar the graphics/video/music department (Which I was in)Apple are increasingly popular in media-related places as Apple are introducing more incentives (like student discounts) and such, but Dells are used everywhere else.. Aside from banks, which seem to use IBM boxes mostly.As for the list, looking at the "Pros" list alone isn't a good enough reason - You need to look at the disadvantages: The most obvious being:Installing Linux (or any other OS) over the currently-used OS is going to cost a *lot* of money.Support, www.ubuntuforums.org doesn't count for corporate support. The RHEL stuff is more like it, but if I'm not mistaken, using that would end up almost as expensive as Microsoft..The fact kids use Windows at home - Okay it's slightly chicken-or-the egg, but that egg has already hatched: The fact is, kids use WinXP at home, and using anything else is just going to be confusing and annoying for them. You, as a competent computer use may scoff at the idea of Linux being "hard to use", but your average computer-using person can just about use Windows for basic stuff, making them use two different OS's is just going to confuse them further. And what about all the teachers who are trained on Windows-specific applications? Yes, you could retrain them to use Linux, but thats just more cost for something thats apparently support to be "cheaper", and yes, you could run the applications in WINE, but that's not stable, consistent, reliable or the same as running it on the actual Windows OS..Thats not to say a new school, college or business shouldn't consider LInux - using it from the start will pretty much cancel out all the above Cons (most of which revolved around cost for changing OS/changing support/retraining staff etc), the only one remaining being users being used to a different OS, but if they are shown to use OpenOffice from the start, they will be quite happy clicking a different set of buttons, just so long as they are not looking for their beloved "start" button on this damn new "Linux" thing
In the eyes of the school boards in small communities (including my hometown) sports entertain and build character while computers just crash and waste time.
Teachers also like to use the software included with curriculum. Not a Linux cd, but a Mac/Windows CD. Sure, you could install it in WINE, but you don't have that guarantee that it will work each and every time.
"not specifically tailoring to my needs"You cannot seriously claim that Microsoft software is "tailored to your specific needs". They are rather one-size-fits-all packages.
keyoSep 25, 2007
All the main OSs use files, folders a taskbar/dock and a system tray. f**k it's not really that hard to change. We are seeing software for linux from the likes of adobe and google more and more, see where this trend si going?The students won't be using vista once they graduate.
Closed AccountSep 25, 2007
In the UK, nearly every school or college I've been in use Dell computers. My (tiny) primary school had a couple of Dells, high school had hundreds of them, my college had Dells for everywhere bar the graphics/video/music department (Which I was in)Apple are increasingly popular in media-related places as Apple are introducing more incentives (like student discounts) and such, but Dells are used everywhere else.. Aside from banks, which seem to use IBM boxes mostly.As for the list, looking at the "Pros" list alone isn't a good enough reason - You need to look at the disadvantages: The most obvious being:Installing Linux (or any other OS) over the currently-used OS is going to cost a *lot* of money.Support, www.ubuntuforums.org doesn't count for corporate support. The RHEL stuff is more like it, but if I'm not mistaken, using that would end up almost as expensive as Microsoft..The fact kids use Windows at home - Okay it's slightly chicken-or-the egg, but that egg has already hatched: The fact is, kids use WinXP at home, and using anything else is just going to be confusing and annoying for them. You, as a competent computer use may scoff at the idea of Linux being "hard to use", but your average computer-using person can just about use Windows for basic stuff, making them use two different OS's is just going to confuse them further. And what about all the teachers who are trained on Windows-specific applications? Yes, you could retrain them to use Linux, but thats just more cost for something thats apparently support to be "cheaper", and yes, you could run the applications in WINE, but that's not stable, consistent, reliable or the same as running it on the actual Windows OS..Thats not to say a new school, college or business shouldn't consider LInux - using it from the start will pretty much cancel out all the above Cons (most of which revolved around cost for changing OS/changing support/retraining staff etc), the only one remaining being users being used to a different OS, but if they are shown to use OpenOffice from the start, they will be quite happy clicking a different set of buttons, just so long as they are not looking for their beloved "start" button on this damn new "Linux" thing
fr34k5h0wSep 25, 2007
In the eyes of the school boards in small communities (including my hometown) sports entertain and build character while computers just crash and waste time.
fr34k5h0wSep 25, 2007
Teachers also like to use the software included with curriculum. Not a Linux cd, but a Mac/Windows CD. Sure, you could install it in WINE, but you don't have that guarantee that it will work each and every time.
init100Sep 25, 2007
"not specifically tailoring to my needs"You cannot seriously claim that Microsoft software is "tailored to your specific needs". They are rather one-size-fits-all packages.