Linux Laptops

Linux and Open Source: The epitome of 21st Century Skills

2008-04-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

I know several readers of this blog are reading it for their interest in Linux and not so much for their interest in education. However, let me speak specifically to the educators for a moment. Besides, this is going to be a long post. A lot of us are looking at our schools and seeking ways to improve the application of 21st Century Skills into our environments. Many of us have recognized that the traditional models of instruction need to be shaken up a little as they are no longer reflective of the world in which we are sending our students. That was never more clear to me than this week. I spent the week in Austin, Texas as a guest of the Linux Foundation at their Collaboration Summit. What I observed and experienced was the most comprehensive actualization of the 21st Century workplace I could have imagined.

Though, at Whitfield, we are merging several notions of 21st Century learning to create one that best fits our school (something I would encourage you all to do) for the purpose of greater clarity, I will use the framework from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (“P21”) as a model for this discussion. The model identifies a new skill set for our consideration and suggests a framework for creating a sustainable environments for this kind of learning. The framework on which the skills are built is very good but will not be discussed in this post. Instead I will focus on the “rainbow” of 21st Century Skills.

Before I get into the model, I'd like to provide a little background on the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit. The Linux Foundation is one of the key bodies dedicated to the support of the use of Linux, an open source operating system. Linux is not owned by a company, like Microsoft or Apple. Instead, it is created and maintained by groups of individuals from around the globe dedicated to making it work. Now, many of these teams include people from companies interested in seeing Linux succeed, such as IBM, Novell, Oracle, Google and Redhat. However, none of them “own” Linux and it can not really be sold. However, several companies, such as Novell and RedHat sell versions of Linux that include enterprise level support. Linux has prolific deployment in data centers. Almost everyone has Linux in their server room. However, most may not know it. It is usually an appliance, like a spam filter or remote access appliance, or a router. At home you may have Linux in your TiVO, television or car. I was invited to the conference to talk about how our students use Linux on their laptops. It was a chance for those who build it to hear how it is used by those who have little to no idea what is “under the hood.” I was honored to be there and they were extremely gracious hosts. However, for me, the magic was watching them collaborate during their few days together to identify issues, hash out conflicts and map out solutions.

OK. How was this 21st Century Skills? Oddly enough, it had very little to do with the technology. Instead it was all the things that show up in P21's Framework. The “rainbow” section of the framework has four parts; Core Content and 21st Century Themes, Learning and Innovation Skills, Information Media and Technology Skills, and Life and Career Skills. I will briefly break down each of those and discuss my observations of each.

The inside of the “rainbow” is Core Content and 21st Century Skills. New information is being created at an incredible rate. However, that doesn't mean we no longer need to learn fundamentals like reading, writing and math. We still need those basic skills as a foundation for new and ever changing information and knowledge. However, those skills can be taught in a cross curricular-manner within the context of a 21st century theme such as globalization.

At the Collaboration Summit, software developers from around the globe came together to discuss development standards. However, questions like legal access to DVD codecs and compatibility and adoption of standards within different media players colored the conversations. It wasn't enough to know “what” to code or “how” to code it. That's the “easy” part! Developers had to take international law as well as regional and global market demands into consideration. Though we all know information doesn't exist in a vacuum, it was instantly clear just how interdependent the discipline of their training was with critical information outside of their formal training. This is where executives from companies from HP and Lenovo would come into play. Also, to add further clarity to some of these issues, the Linux Foundation also hosts another conference dedicated exclusively to the legal issues surrounding the implications of their code. However, the point remains that information becomes significantly more relevant (and complicated) when placed in a meaningful context.

The next section of the model is Life and Career Skills. P21 breaks this down into several areas: flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self direction, social and cultural skills, productivity and accountability, and leadership and responsibility. Every manager wishes his or her employees possessed each of these and launching an entrepreneurial venture without at least most of these is virtually impossible! Watching the developers of Linux employ these skills was simply amazing.

In some ways, it may be more appropriate to consider Linux leaders entrepreneurs than software developers. The operating system is really created of different parts with varying teams that work together, and sometimes compete, to build the comprehensive Linux environment. The Linux community consists of teams such as the kernel team, X.org, Gnome, KDE, etc. These teams work to enhance the user's experience and increase the power of the Linux operating system. Many work on their own for no pay or as part of non-profit groups. Typically, their only compensation is a “free” ticket to meet with other developers. However, several companies pay people salaries to engage with these teams to make Linux more stable and pervasive.

However, with no central management, each of these developers and teams are working together “on their own.” They don't have something like Q4 quotas with the pressure of a stock report to weigh on them. They share in the identification of problems, allocation of duties and completion of subsequent tasks. They work across political, social, linguistic and cultural boarders. They do this out of passion, pride and purpose. Now this is not to say their work will not be identified and yield them a high paying job with companies using or supporting Linux. However, this is typically not the motivation and there are much easier ways to earn that kind of salary.

The next section of the framework is Information and Media Skills. This is broken down into the following areas: information literacy, media literacy, information communication and technology literacy. This area challenges us to understanding different forms of media and how to best interpret and use information that comes from the varying forms of media. What role to books, magazine, newspaper, TV, radio, web pages, blogs, chat, and social networks, etc. play in our lives? What do we need to consider to evaluate the value of a particular message? Though this area was less significant, it still plays out in an interesting way in the Linux community.

People in Linux communities appear to be a tight group at some levels. I think this comes from working hard together over a long period of time. However, a great deal of time can pass before one member of team actually sees another member, if ever! Many times I overheard, “Wow! It's great to put a face with the name!” Most of the time, people are working over the Internet via e-mail, chat, web portals and ftp directories. It requires a different set of communication skills to develop solid working relationships with these tools.

The final section of the model is Learning and Innovation Skills. The P21 Framework further breaks this down into critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and innovation, and communication and collaboration. This, more than any other section of the framework, challenges us to get things done! These are the skills I saw most clearly played out at the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit.

The Linux Foundation is building an ecosystem of computing! It is not an application, a suite, or even just an operating system...they are building an ecosystem! This is not a company, it is many individuals and groups. It does not have an organizational chart, a building, merit based parking or any of the other things we associate with organizations capable of taking on such a task. Instead, brilliant and passionate individuals work, often in their “spare” time, to build this computing environment.

This first requires the ability to communicate and collaborate. The Internet (e-mail, forums and blogs) provide the conduits of communication but people still need to be able to use those tools, and language, to collaborate and get things done. These developers not only collaborate across national and socio-economic borders, they also work across technical boundaries. What are the needs of the hardware, firmware, OS, and even (gasp!) the end user! This last one is the tricky one. These developers and leaders in the Linux community really care about the end user. They have worked hard to create an ecosystem and they are willing to talk to “the rest of us” to learn how to meet our needs. Those of you who have talked to extremely technical people know what an obstacle this can be. Now, imagine adding the complexity of language and cultural barriers to that. To me, given these challenges, it is incredible that Linux can boot, yet alone provide such a pleasant user experience.

However, these challenges may be the birth of the next skill set, innovation and creativity. Their access to so many people across so many cultures certainly creates a hot bed of innovation. At Whitfield, we've been using Linux Desktop since Suse 9. That was three years ago. In those 3 quick years, Linux Desktop has matched or exceeded the innovation curve Microsoft made in their move from Windows 98 to Vista! Those who have used Linux for the last three years know I am really not kidding! Linux is no longer the follower. They are a leader in new technologies. Their recent move to real time computing for the data center is one testament to this.

Lastly, critical thinking and problem solving is simply built into the nature of programming. Gary Steger, an educational consultant, was saying at event I was at that he believes that every student should take programming simply because it is such a great exercise in problem solving. Though I'm not sure that really meets the needs of each student in the best way, his point has considerable merit. Also, insofar as this post seeks to make the argument that the Open Source world serves as a wonderful example of 21st Century Learning, I couldn't agree more. Developers are constantly dealing with bugs, new feature needs and upgrade compatibility issues. When things don't work, they are forced to break down what they know and develop strategies for attacking the problem. Also, because they are developing a real product that is being used by the entire Fortune 500, it is a pretty meaningful challenge. You can't just set it aside.

So what does this mean to us as educators? Though perhaps to a lesser extent, 21st Century Skills are being played out in very real ways in all sorts of industries. What makes Linux and the Open Source world unique or special? Other than being able to say, “ I was one of the 5 people who made it this far in this ridiculously long blog post” what good does it do me to know this?

Well, the answer is access. It is difficult to create opportunities for your students in other major international projects capable of creating such meaningful and authentic experiences. It costs you nothing (and may actually save you money) to include your students in the Open Source community. It costs nothing to participate in an open source project and replacing a commercial product with an open source one in your school to create the environment for learning may actually lower your software budget. Not only does Linux and the Open Source community provide one of the best examples of 21st Century Skills, but its one that you have access to. How cool is that?!

OK. The next question is “how do I do it? I don't know anything about Linux! Also, I teach History for goodness sake, what does this even have to do with me?” A simple way is to begin using Open Source software in your school. Give students access and then point them to the community that supports it, usually found in Help menu, under “About.” Encourage them to bring questions about the software to the community. Encourage them to read the forums. After gaining some experience with a product, such as OpenOffice, Audacity, or iTalc, contact the project leader to organize a project to formalize feedback. Run the product through the paces of authentic use and have students engage in the process of evaluating the tool as a means to their productive end. Thinking about the process is a form of metacognition. By evaluating the role of the tool they are thinking about their learning and productivity process. Ask students to provide feedback on the tool based on their project steps. The project leaders will greatly value structured feedback. Also, they may make changes in the product based on your feedback and ask your students to test the changes. You can decide if you are going to build that step into your class. However, this is where the real energy happens. When testing changes, students will be working with a team of people (possibly international) to solve problems and meet standards.

Not everyone will care to do much more than “get the project done.” However, the end result of ALL of our projects is nearly meaningless in the big picture of our student's lives. However, the experience we create for them in while DOING these projects can literally change their lives. The “secret sauce” has always been the process...the experience. Letting open source be part of that allows them to think more about that process and some of your students will take advantage of the opportunity and become regular participants in open source projects, thus placing them in the epicenter of all of the 21st Century Skills discussed above.

Schools such as the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy have a chapter of kids developing for the One Laptop Per Child program. Vern Ceder teaches programming in open source languages at Canterbury School in Indiana. One of the most lively open source communities I've ever seen is the Moodle community. I encourage you all to take a deeper look at Linux and Open Source as an opportunity to enhance your student's learning of 21st Century Skills.

Linux Likes and Gripes (Response)

2008-04-09T10:41:00.000-07:00

I solicited responses from members of our community and went back and did a content analysis on the survey data collected this year. I compiled a list of aspects of Linux that our students and teachers liked and disliked. I did not include items that are specific to our image choices. I tried to keep this agnostic to Linux in general as part of my feedback to the Linux Foundation at their Collaboration Summit in Austin, TX.

Here's the list including the number of times a statement was made:

Top Linux Likes:
Ease of Use (51)
Open Office (17)
Customization (16)
Desktop Effects (15)
Panel (10)
Stability (8)

Top Linux Gripes
Open Office (29)
Intuitive install (15)
Network Manager (11)
Ease of Use (10)
Samba (9)
DVD (7)
Power management (7)
Evolution (7)

Need Help - Linux Desktop Likes and Gripes

2008-03-07T13:00:00.001-08:00

I am very excited! I was invited by the Linux Foundation to their Collaboration Summit in April. The SUSE Linux Desktop Team asked me to bring my joys and complaints to the conference. I will serve on a panel explaining to the bright people who make Linux work how well Linux Desktop OS works with consumers and enterprise technology people.

I need your help. If you are a user of Linux Desktop, please let me know what distribution you use and post what you like and don't like. What do you think it does well and what would you like changed? I need this feedback by April 7th but it would be great if I could get some feedback before March 15th, as I will be seeing some of the SUSE Linux development team at Novell's Brainshare at that time.

I will start:
I've used SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop for 3 years (the first year it was called Novell Linux Desktop). I have it deployed on about 20 desktops and 640 laptops that are used at school and at home.

My Likes:
Beautiful interface (compiz)
Love the cost
Love the security and lack of viruses and spyware
I love that most programs are configurable with either the GUI or easy to manage configuration files
Love the documentation both on the box and in the community (I'd like better writing but this is the case with all technical manuals)
I love Firefox
I love that the Linux platform puts me in the epicenter of open source development allowing me to afford applications that I can't afford on the commercial side allowing for greater creative outlet and innovation

My Gripes:
I want web cams to work right away
I want every piece of built in hardware to work without fussing around:
*Function keys
*ThinkVantage Button
*Finger Reader
*DVD player
*wireless
*Audio Headsets
*External VGA port to work with projector
I want rpm's or an msi equivalent for every software package I want to install on my computer
I want Linux versions of the software I want to buy
I want WINE to run Windows versions of software I want to buy if a Linux Version does not exist

I will add more later. However, I wanted to get the ball rolling. When I started using Linux, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. I'm kind of a "Ready - Fire - Aim" guy. However, I am extremely pleased with the decision. That being said, I'm never one to shy away from expecting the stars and moon. Even if you think it's not feasible, if you want it, put it on the list.
Comments et to be reviewed on this blog because too many people post commercials otherwise. However, please add your comments and I will readily post them.

Facebook for the rest of us!

2008-02-04T11:18:00.000-08:00

I know sites like Facebook and MySpace cause technology directors and teachers great concern. "Students spend too much time on them." "Students give away too much personal information." "Students use these tools to obscure who they really are, and engage in fantasies."

Well, whatever the case or cause, students spend a lot of time on them. Why? I would recommend you find out for yourself. Consider connecting yourself to a Social Network that has meaning to you. I have a MySpace and Facebook account. I also have an account on an alumni social network through my college. I spend very little time on them. However, several months ago I joined a new social network on Ning specifically for Independent School Technology People. Whoa! I am hooked.

I have met people with similar interests that I would have never come across. I create and join groups to learn about different things. I have learned new stuff about technology integration, professional development, and new technologies.

The group is getting pretty big and it's difficult to meet the needs of local concern so I decided to start a Ning network specifically for St. Louis Area Tech people to discuss local concerns such as local vendors, infrastructure and local opportunities.

Ning is a nice way to create a reasonably safe and appropriately focused site that meets the 21st century needs of your students and, quite frankly, creates a fun and interactive way to communicate! Give it a shot!

Updated Research

2008-02-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

Well I am grossly overdue in posting this but I have included links to research gathered over the last two years on our Linux Laptop project. The survey results can be found on the Links section of this blog. The survey instrument we created reflects the data gathered in the Baseline research as well as that gathered in the process to create the White Paper. The items on the assessment have been written to reflect the goals of our Technology Plan. This is because the Laptop program should further almost everything we want to do in out technology plan. However, because this is the only survey we do annually to see how we are doing with our plan, there are a few questions which have little to do with laptops.

Starting a Laptop Program

2007-11-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

I would like to thank Lenovo and Captial Technology & Leasing for asking me to present on Preparing your school for a One-to-One program in Milwaukee. I spent 12 wonderful years in Wisconsin and it was nice to "be home."

The presentation can be found here.

The presentation is derived from the work done on the 1:1 Readiness Instrument developed by Educational Collaborators. This group has over 125 years of collective experience leading K-12 One-to-One programs and can help schools with their programs, beginning with this free tool.

The Great Laptop Debate

2007-04-23T19:41:00.000-07:00

I just learned of a fantastic blog giving us a wonderful peek into the debate of a community whose public school district is seeking to implement a 1:1 laptop program. They were kind enough to include a link to this blog, though I do not know if they seek to include Linux in their program. However, it really doesn't matter. Though Linux can save a lot of money with laptop programs, the goal is not to save money or deploy computers. The goal is to help students learn how to become great learners in the ever-changing global marketplace of the 21st Century.

The town is Oberlin, Ohio and the blog is called Community Diaries. I encourage you to take a look. Though I am sure many great things will be added to this discussion, I would begin with the comments made to the bottom post on the blog.

Enjoy!

Terminal Services: The good, the bad and the ugly

2007-03-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

I am hearing a lot about terminal services lately. I am also seeing a lot of excitement about it. About two years ago, I was also really excited about it but time, experience and experimentation has cooled my excitement. Terminal Services offers a great deal of additional access at a much lower cost but ultimately alienates today's youth who have become accustomed to personalized technology.

First, let me offer a brief definition. Terminal Services is effectively offering multiple users access to a single computer from multiple locations simultaneously. Microsoft offers terminal services and various products offer add-on functionality, such as Citrix. At Whitfield, we use Citrix. We have four servers which have up to about 75 users a piece running either a full desktop environment or specific applications. Thus, 75 people are using the same computer at the same time. Now, this is a pretty strong server but that's still pretty efficient. Terminal services have also gotten a lot of attention through the K-12 Linux Terminal Service Project and Linux Terminal Services through Novell's Suse Linux.

The Good
The good side of terminal services is that it can drastically cut costs. Instead of buying beefy desktops who's CPU remains idle most of the day, you can place low cost desktops or thin terminal devices (or hold onto really old, crappy computers) and run state of the art software on the relatively few beefy terminal servers. Because you can hold onto (or resurrect) old computers, it is very possible to improve your student to computer ratio. Lower costs and more access is a good thing!

The Bad
Whenever you have multiple users simultaneously using the same computer, you need to be careful about one user destroying the experience of all the others. In a desktop environment, if one kids messes things up, he or she will usually walk away and find another computer. Though that one computer is down, everyone else remains largely unaffected. The necessary result of this is that you have to lock down your terminal servers pretty tightly. You also need to watch them pretty closely, though, when things are not right, you will hear about it as it affects so many people! Also, one of the greatest limitations of terminal services is that resources are only available when people are connected to the network. Though many terminal services can be made available through the Internet, you still have to be connected. How lost did you feel the last time you forgot your cell phone? Magnify that times ten for today's digital kids.

The Ugly
Because the computing environment has to be locked down so tightly, terminal services turn technology into a pure utility. Now, some companies are very excited about this. They don't want people doing anything on computers other than that which they explicitly allow. Shamefully, some schools are that way. At best, this limits innovation and at worst, kills a spirit of exploration, which is absolutely counter-intuitive to education. What happens is that student use of technology is limited to the creativity of the IT staff and administration (most all of whom are NOT digital natives, unlike our students). Our students have become accustomed to slapping different colors on their iPod, changing desktop backgrounds daily, setting up digital environments which allow for the intersection of their work, personal lives, and interests. Kids will meet their needs someway and it simply can not be met through terminal services.

Our Experience
At Whitfield, we worked extremely hard to create a robust, fast and slick terminal services environment. We redirected many of the personal settings to other servers so students could have as much control as possible. They obviously could not install software or change any of the configurations of the terminal servers themselves.

We were also aware that the major limitation of terminal services is that the resources are unavailable if not connected to the Internet. Thus, we provided them access to Novell Linux Desktop 9 (the vastly inferior predecessor to SUSE Linux Desktop 10). Our Citrix environment offered most of the best Microsoft had to offer. Our Linux laptop offered most of the standard set of tools available on Linux. The only major modification we made was to give normal users a lot of rights over the Linux laptop.

Even though SUSE 9 was pretty inferior compared to Windows 2003, students reported spending half of their connected time in Linux. With SLED10, students now report spending 80-90 percent of their time in Linux. Though some of that relates to the new features of SLED10, people are reporting that the real reason they spend time in Linux versus Citrix is because they can "make it look the way they want to." Personalization is the key and terminal services can't offer that.

Terminal services still has a place in our environment. Teacher's frequently use Citrix for a Windows desktop environment and we also have some applications that simply can not be run from a Linux workstation. However, our mission calls for us to be a student centered environment. I can't honestly claim to be supporting the mission of my school and limit the needs of my students.

A Compromise
One of the latest innovations that seems to offer the savings of terminal services and the personalization of personal desktops is the virtual desktop initiative (Please see my post on virtualization). This allows people to use a low cost device (or actually any device able to connect to the Internet) to access a remote session to a virtual desktop. That desktop is, functionally, a complete and personal machine. However, that machine is virtual and actually exists on disk. That machine is made available through a virtual machine server, like VMWare or Xen.

In this scenario, users can personalize a machine to their liking without really affecting other users. Also, because these systems or easy to restore from frequent "snapshots," you can give users a little more freedoms on the box, encouraging innovation and technical literacy.

Now, this environment requires a lot more disk space than terminal services and still REQUIRES Internet connection, which is still a MAJOR limitation in most towns (NOTE: I would argue that kids need access beyond home and school in order to gain full fluency but equity issues also would require home connection for all users). Those limitations keep this from being a viable option in the St. Louis area today. However, if I were the CIO of Philadelphia Public Schools or Milwaukee Public Schools (where I actually started my teaching career) I would be ALL OVER this solution.

Integrating Citrix Applications into Linux Desktop (SLED10)

2007-03-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

One of my colleagues pokes fun at me because I prefer to use Linux through the graphical interface and seek to avoid the command line when possible. I prefer this because I have high demands of Linux as a user friendly tool and it usually meets my expectations. That being said, the command line and Linux's ease of access to configuration files call you to leave the graphical world once in a while to make some very powerful changes that make the graphical world much better.

One such example are the steps to modify the configuration of the Gnome-Main-Menu (better known as the "Computer" button) to include Citrix applications so users can simply click an icon to launch remote applications hosted on Citrix Servers.

The following describes changes we made to include Citrix Applications into the Gnome Main Menu and how we did them.

Open /etc/xdg/menus/application.menu in gedit.
Add...

<*Menu>
<*Name>Citrix<*/Name>
<*Directory>citrix.directory<*/Directory>
<*Include>
<*Category>Citrix<*/Category>
<*/Include>
<*/Menu>

...below the Categories section of the file (REMOVE the *!!! They are added to preserve the braket syntax in this post) and save the file.

Then open /usr/share/applications/wfcmgr.desktop with gedit and add "Citrix" to the catagories. Save and close the file.

Open /usr/lib/ICAClient/wfcmgr.sh with gedit and modify it to include subfolders for each of the subdirectories you have created in Citrix.

For example, ours reads:

#!/bin/sh
export LANG="en"
/usr/lib/ICAClient/wfcmgr -icaroot /usr/lib/ICAClient &
while ! [-d $HOME/.ICAClient/cache/Programs]
do
sleep 1
done
# shortuser=$(echo $USER | sed 's/WHITFIELDSCHOOL\\//')
sudo ln -s -f $HOME/.ICAClient/cache/Programs/Citrix/Faculty\ \&\ Staff\ Apps/ /usr/share/applications/
sudo ln -s -f $HOME/.ICAClient/cache/Programs/Citrix/Gen\ Whitfield\ Apps/ /usr/share/applications/
sudo ln -s -f $HOME/.ICAClient/cache/Programs/Citrix/Graphics\ Apps/ /usr/share/applications/
sudo ln -s -f $HOME/.ICAClient/cache/Programs/Citrix/IT\ Mgmt\ Apps/ /usr/share/applications/
sudo ln -s -f $HOME/.ICAClient/cache/Programs/Citrix/MS\ Office\ 2003/ /usr/share/applications/

That should do it!

Now, we post this to share the information. This is obviously not the mose detailed technical document but it should get you started. This is not a supported solution by Citrix nor Novell. It has worked well for us and we wish you the best of luck in your organization!

Another 1:1 Linux Laptop School District

2007-03-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

I had heard it through the grapevine but actually had a chance to hear it from the horse's mouth. San Diego Unified School District is doing a 1:1 laptop program with Linux. It is only in pilot form now but I had the opportunity to meet Jordan Zebor, a Distance Learning and Digital Media Specialist here at Brainshare. Though they don't have a posting on it yet, you can learn about all sorts of exciting 21st Century learning projects they are doing at http://edtech.sandi.net. Congratulations on your Linux Laptop project!

Brainshare '07: SLED in a 1:1 Education Environment

2007-03-19T15:09:00.000-07:00

I am currently at Brainshare, Novell's annual conference to celebrate and learn about Novell Technologies. We are heavy user's of Novell's products, primarily SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 (SLED 10) and Zenworks. I am giving two presentations at the conference.

The first is Using SLED10 in a Mobile 1:1 Education Environment. The presentation was created with OpenOffice but is distributed here as a PowerPoint file for those users who don't have OpenOffice. Obviously, if you have OpenOffice, you know you can open PowerPoint files.

I am learning a great deal at Brainshare and hope to find the time to share some of my discoveries.

Virtualization in Education

2007-03-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

I've had the opportunity to talk about virtualization in a few different contexts lately and so I thought I'd put together a post on it.

What is Virtualization?
Well, that depends a little on who you are talking to. The most popular notion of virtualization is virtual machines. This means running another computer as a software instance on top of another operating system. An example would be VMWare Workstation. In this instance you may have a Windows XP computer running a "virtualized SLED 10" system. Thus, you could be running programs for both operating systems at the same time on the same hardware.

Taking that to another level, many people (such as Whitfield) use virtualization for server consolidation. We had about 8 servers coming to the end of their lease life. Thus, rather than replace them with 8 new pieces of server hardware, we bought two beefy blade servers for our IBM BladeCenter and bought VMWare ESX virtual server software. We then used a utility to automatically migrate our physical servers to virtual servers. Now, we have two pretty beefy physical servers which are running about 16 different virtual servers. Each of these servers is configured pretty much as they were before. We use Remote Desktop to access and control the servers and they function just as they would if they were on physical pieces of server hardware. However, in addition to all of the tools offered by the server operating systems themselves, VMWare offers additional tools to diagnose and control the system resources being used by these servers, helping us to tune them to a higher degree.

Another form of virtualization is application virtualization. This allows you to run applications on a system as though they are on another system. Mac does this with OS9 application being run on OSX systems. Linux does this when running Windows programs with WINE. Also, some people refer to hosted applications, such as Citrix as virtualized applications. In this case, programs such as Microsoft Word, actually run on a Windows server but appear to the user as though they are running on his or her Linux laptop. This is how we run Windows programs in our Linux Laptop Program.

What's the hullabaloo about Virtualization?
(Thank goodness blogs don't have editors that make me cut out words like hullabaloo)
People are excited about virtualization and there are reasons for this. Virtualization can save a lot of money. Effectively, you only need disk, rather than hardware, to run applications and operating systems. Disk space costs a lot less and you probably already have disk space you're not using! Another reason people are happy about virtualization is that it removes many of the traditional obstacles of IT. Now you can run Windows on Mac hardware, without buying and carrying two computers. You can run Windows applications from a Mac or Windows machine. You can also manage virtual systems quite easily with management tools. Many of these management tools give you low or no cost management of systems that would be unavailable or cost prohibitive on physical machines.

Virtual Desktop Initiative
This is perhaps the coolest combination of virtualization technologies. Though I have seen a few different applications of virtual desktop initiatives, I will describe one I've seen being done by a major financial services company.

When a new employee joins the company, they go to the "request a workstation" web page from the low cost thin terminal sitting at their desk. They are prompted to answer a series of questions through a webified wizard. It asks questions such as what operating system do you want, what department are you in, etc. Then, based off the user's department and request, the user is provisioned a virtual desktop that appears on their screen as though it is installed locally. This system is created in about 5 minutes from templates that already exist. They also are provisioned all of their applications via Citrix right on the machine.

Users have lots of control over these machines, depending on their role in the organization. Many are allowed to install software, change desktop settings, etc. The reason this organization offers these increased powers is because they can easily restore the computers back the a previous snapshot which is grabbed by default. What's more is that users can go home and use a web browser on their personal home computer to access the entire virtual computer and work just as though they were sitting at their desk.

OK. This post is getting long so I will stop here. I will post again soon on the up-sides and downsides of virtual desktops in education, particularly when compared to terminal services.

Teacher Professional Development

2007-03-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

I haven't felt the need to write a post on professional development because it really falls outside the core purpose of this blog site. However, many people have asked me how you deal with professional development and teacher training when shifting to open source and Linux. Well, the answer is, the same way you deal with any other change in your organization. Though the transition to Linux and 1:1 computing was a major topic of professional development, the model we used was relatively unchanged. Thus, I will share with you what we did.

Create the Schema
It is important that people have some understanding of the change before they can personally assess what their concerns and needs are. I don't do a lot of "stand-up speeches" to faculty (though I used to and decided that was a bad way to train). However, to give them necessary exposure, I gave a small presentation on what Linux was and why we were trying it for the pilot. That took about 30 minutes.

Provide Basic Literacy
We then built a User's Manual for basic uses. This was a half-day workshop that gave step-by-step, hands-on instruction on basic uses, such as connecting to a home network, printing, connecting to Citrix, using Open Office, using Evolution for e-mail, etc.

The workshop that our teachers went through was broken up and teachers used that same curricula to teach students when we handed out the laptops. Thus, teachers were quite engaged because they would be teaching those lessons in a matter of days.

We took a whole day to do the workshop even though it was a half-day curriculum so teachers had time to reflect, ask questions and prepare themselves to be comfortable enough to train students on their new found knowledge.

On-going Support through the First Year
At Whitfield, we have faculty meetings for about an hour and a half once a month. Our Dean of Faculty, Larry Hays, has done a great job of surgically removing the announcements from these meetings so we have time to engage in professional development.

At the beginning of the year, we broke up into groups so teachers in the pilot (11th and 12th grade teachers) had time to express concerns and learn from one another. As the year went on, we learned that our teachers concerns indicated to us that our teachers were not looking at the program through the same looking glass. The problem was not the technology so much as it was what we were doing with it and how we were viewing it. Thus, we changed what we were doing in our breakout groups during our monthly meetings.

Mission Driven Development
Larry is an excellent writer and wrote a short essay tying the findings of the report A Nation at Risk to the core principles of our school mission. This was not much of a stretch as Whitfield is a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools whose model of education was created as a direct response to the findings of A Nation at Risk.

We then looked at the principles and tried to align our use of the laptops with our goals. We spent three months on this process. First we looked at the principles and aligned our teaching with them. Then we talked about how we could use the laptops and technology to enhance the presence of these principles in our courses. Lastly, we listed specific ways we are (or intended to) use these tools as instruments to further our mission.

This was an extremely valuable exercise. The best part about it was that it removed the focus from the technology and placed it on the mission. The technology ceased to become demonized then and was looked at as a tool to help in mission fulfillment, when appropriate and possible.

The Passing of Wisdom
At the end of the year, we do three days of professional development. About half of this three day block was spend on helping the 9th and 10th grade teachers prepare for the upcoming year when their students would get laptops. The 11th and 12th grade teachers broke into teams and worked with teams of 9th and 10th grade teachers to share what they had learned and shared "best practices."

This time was also designed to give teachers the time to express their fears and concerns. The experienced teachers did a wonderful job of realistically helping teachers deal with their concerns to design appropriate classroom experiences.

Ownership in Planning
At the beginning of the year, we do another couple of days of professional development with teachers before students arrive. We spent a very short time displaying the differences in the laptop design (we upgraded from NLD9 to SLED 10). We then let grade level teams divide into groups and decide how they were going to do the roll-out training. This decision was a direct result of feedback we got from them the first year. They now felt comfortable enough with the technology, they wanted greater control on when students received the computers and how the process would go. The only parameter we gave them is that it needed to happen within the first two weeks of school.

Some grades did it in a half day. Some grades took a whole day and one grade did a concentrated half-day session followed by a week of follow up training. It looks like a full day of training worked best but, to be honest, it doesn't matter. The value came from teachers owning the process. This way, when things went awry (because they always do, it's technology!) teachers dealt with it the way they would when things don't go well with one of their lessons. There was very little demonizing of technology during those two weeks. I was SO proud of our teachers

Reduction of Emphasis
We now seldom talk about technology in our monthly meetings. Teachers in each grade level get together each week to talk about grade level issues and student concerns. Laptop issues frequently get brought up but sometimes are not discussed because there is no need. That's transparency!

We are now working with 6th - 8th grade teachers to prepare them for their roll-out. We have planned for the "passing of wisdom" activities for them in the final months of the school year. We will also give grade levels time to plan their own roll-outs again.

Lessons Learned
Over the last two years, this is what I have learned about professional development:

Stop talking and listen - Giving faculty a voice is essential to meeting them where they are
Give ownership - Teachers know what teachers need and they carry the credibility to pull it off better than any technology director
Support individualized initiative and grow from the bottom up - Look for innovation or even teachers asking the right questions and give them the help they need to grow. Then let those teachers share their experiences with other teachers. The bottom up model always has stronger roots than the top down model.

Would you, could you, if you saved $2 million?

2007-03-01T15:21:00.000-08:00

March is conference month for me this year. I kicked off conference month two days early by attending and presenting at the Midwest Education Technology Conference in St. Louis. I am currently soaking up ideas from brilliant people at the National Association of Independent Schools Conference in Denver.

I gave a presentation on Open Source tools at METC and was heckled by a bright guy named Steve Pillow from Raymore-Peculiar School District. In addition to a state championship football team, they've got a high caliber Technology Coordinator. Steve took a few jabs during my presentation which, as a former debate coach, I enjoy! We spoke after the presentation and he really got me thinking.

Steve presented many of the obstacles he faces in his his district. I may have misperceived him but it appeared as though he saw some of the value of 1:1 programs (where each student has their own mobile computer) but dismissed it because his superintendent believed they couldn't afford it. I suspect that is not uncommon. In fact, I would guess many districts don't even go as far as Steve and his superintendent and simply dismiss it outright.

Next year, when we roll out our laptops to the last group of students and implement some of the efficiencies and enhancements we have learned over the last three years, we will save our school $200,000 per year when compared to a traditional model of a laptop program. I asked Steve how many students he had and he responded 6,000. That means, conservatively, his school could save $2 million each year versus the model he spoke to his superintendent about.

Now, anyway you cut it, computers at a 1:1 ratio are more expensive than a 4:1 ratio. However, shouldn't $2 million per year allow you to get your foot in the door? Let this Linux/Citrix model allow your school to start having the conversation.

Now, in an earlier post, I explain "why Linux." However, Mike Vitiello, who runs a great program called LaptopSchools.com challenged me saying Linux is not for everyone. ABSOLUTELY! Mac isn't for everyone and Windows isn't for everyone but creating environments for our students to be empowered, creative, collaborating learners MUST be for everyone and well-done 1:1 programs do this as well or better than anything.

You see, that's the goal. We want engaged, creative, collaborative 21st Century literate students. I don't care how we get it. I just don't want the majority of our population left out because they didn't know they had other options.

Open Source - Doing More for Free

2007-02-27T16:27:00.000-08:00

The title of this post links to a presentation I gave at the Midwest Education Technology Conference. The presentation covers open source titles applicable to education. We talked about the following programs and their proprietary alternatives:

Open Office<-->Microsoft Office
Audacity<-->Garage Band
Gimp<-->Photoshop
Moodle<-->Blackboard
iFolder (no competitive alternative)

We also talked about aligning some of these software packages with ideas to help train students on 21st Century literacies. That presentation can be found here.

My thanks to all those who attended!

Novell and Microsoft: The End-User Perspective

2007-02-05T11:15:00.000-08:00

Several people have asked me to write a post on the recently announced partnership between Novell and Microsoft. My guess is that I will make as many enemies as friends with this post. People seem to fall pretty clearly on one side or the other on this topic. Thus, I encourage you to post your comments on this.

I am not an expert on business or technology. I am a technology director who manages a network of about 1000 users across 525 computers and a 4 server Citrix farm. My concern is for neither Novell nor Microsoft. My concern is for my teachers, staff, students and parents. My job is to support their pursuits; make it easier, faster and more attainable.

Though I have my concerns about Microsoft, we heavily use Microsoft Active Directory, Server 2003 and Exchange 2003. I believe many of the applications my users need to do their job well requires Windows-based software. Love it or hate it, we need Microsoft in our environment.

We also (as this site explains) heavily rely on SUSE Linux. I love that my students are exposed to open source software. I love that they are able to use the open source community and human readable files to solve their own problems. I love that the GPL allows me to afford to place a laptop in the hands of each student. Some of our users had trouble dealing with the learning curve of transitioning from Windows to Linux and some open source applications lack the polish of proprietary, Windows-based alternatives. However, we believe that the kind of access 1:1 mobile computing allows is precisely what our students need to succeed in the world. Thus, love it or hate it, we need Linux in our environment.

So, here is the ugly little conclusion that some people in both the Linux and Microsoft camps don't like to hear: We need Microsoft and Linux to work together in a way that makes sense for my end-users!

Oh, I can hear the grumbles from some of my readers already!

Most of the open source community recognizes the value of Linux and also recognizes, in varying degrees, that Microsoft is needed in many end-to-end enterprise solutions. For a further discussion on our impressions of the value of Linux, please read the Why Linux? post below. However, this is not the question many open source advocates have. Their question is why SUSE and especially why SUSE after Novell has decided to "dance with the devil?"

Why SUSE?
Linux is extremely powerful and varying distributions lend themselves to varying situations. We use Debian for a single app RT Helpdesk server. This was provided to us as a virtual machine from our good friends at Clovis School District. It does what it's supposed to. It's lightweight and runs like a champ. I know schools that use the K12LTS for labs and plenty of hobbyists and engineers that use Ubuntu on the desktop. The beauty of Linux is that is can be tweaked to meet your individual needs.

I needed an enterprise solution that was supported by people who understand schools. That solution needed to cover the needs of mobile users of varying skills, provide enterprise caliber user back-up solution, like iFolder, and provide a stable technology road map. I am not a Linux expert, though I have become quite comfortable over the last two years. I needed a distribution that would work for me on the desktop and server and come with a tremendous amount of support to compliment innovation. SUSE provided this.

SUSE also comes with Novell, which has years of experience working with Windows through their Netware platform and has a best of breed data linking tool with Identity Management. They also had (past tense) Jeremy Allison, the leader of the Samba project (more on this later). Few Linux partners offered such a robust level of support for our enterprise.

I suspect other IT leaders seeking enterprise solutions are also looking for that support, reliability and technology road map. Though SUSE may not be the strongest Linux appliance, web server or desktop (for really high end users) my personal opinion is that it is the best solution for the enterprise.

Why is Microsoft working with just one partner?
Why? Because they are a business and a competitor to the platform. Microsoft can no longer deny the fact that Linux is growing like crazy in the data center. They can no longer tell themselves that the world will be all Windows. Thus, they need to learn to "keep their enemies close." But, does anyone expect Microsoft to become regular contributing members to the open source community and embrace the GPL? Of course not! Also, for the sake of your own retirement funds, you should probably hope not as well! :-)

They need to pick a Linux "partner" that makes sense for them. Microsoft isn't in the network appliance business (to a large degree) and Linux desktop isn't really competing with Windows in the retail market...yet, so who would you partner with if you were Microsoft? Novell and SUSE makes the most sense.

Why should I not hate Novell now?
A lot of people in the open source community are pretty upset with Novell for dealing with Microsoft. Jeremy Allison left Novell over the matter. His core focus was making Linux work with Windows systems through Samba. In an interview with BoycottNovell.com, Jeremy states,
"I’m sad because I don’t think we needed to do this. We were gaining a lot of traction with SUSE Linux desktop, and from my perspective (admittedly not high up in the company hierarchy with views on revenue) we were winning. We had a good product, I was always extremely busy with new customer requirements, and was personally involved in winning new customers for SLED and SLES. It just feels to me like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory."

I had the pleasure of working with Jeremy for a day last summer. We helped him discover a few bugs in Samba through our experiences with our laptop program. He is a thoughtful, brilliant, funny and humble individual. I have great respect for him and his work. I also respect his opinions.

However, I'm not sure I see the world as a Linux versus Microsoft battle. Samba was (and probably will continue to be) able to make Linux and Windows talk better than Novell or Microsoft can. They have the experience and the open source community backing them up. However, the two conditions are not mutually exclusive. Samba can continue to do this as can a Microsoft venture (with Novell, another Linux partner, or by themselves).

What can we expect from this venture?
Well, a lot has been promised. The key benefits center around three areas. First, we are promised smoother virtualization so you can run Linux on Windows or Windows on Linux. Next, we can expect better data linking across federated Windows and Linux systems using tools like Novell's Identity Management. Lastly, we should see improved file compatibility between Windows and Linux systems.

Now we haven't really seen anything out of this partnership yet. It is too early to really expect anything out of this partnership other than increased sales based on consumer confidence and the financial incentives of the deal. Walmart's major SUSE-Microsoft purchase is an example of this. However, I think Novell is on the hook to benefit the open source community with this deal and I think they will.

Folks at Novell like Nat Friedman and Guy Lunardi are really committed to the open source community. Novell has a track record of giving back to the community. They open sourced iFolder and are the second largest contributor to Open Office.

So what is this end user's perspective?
The jury is still out. However, I think the partnership offers promising opportunities to end users. SUSE already offers me a solid enterprise caliber desktop and server that works quite well with my Microsoft Active Directory and Exchange servers. My users, with the help of Citrix, can do almost anything anyone with either Linux or Windows can do. My hope and dream is that this partnership will yield application level virtualization, allowing me to run Windows applications seamlessly on Linux laptops without the use of Citrix. I hope it will also yield fluid file compatibility with easily managed cross-platform default applications. My hope is also that Novell maintains its commitment to innovation, while continuing to support standards based interoperability with Windows and Mac platforms. These are lofty goals for Novell and the partnership. I place a great deal of the burden in Novell's hands. However, I think they are capable of a lot more of it than many give them credit.

Why Linux Laptops?

2007-01-28T19:51:00.000-08:00

We are over half way through our second year with the Linux laptops. It is already time to begin thinking about next year's laptop model and configuration. Microsoft's new Vista operating system is out now and the Apple MacBook is now available for under $1000 for schools. It is appropriate to ask myself, why Linux?

I will admit that although SUSE 9 got the job done, it wasn't the best solution. Also, we released SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 10 to our community this year and, although it was a MASSIVE improvement over SUSE 9, it was a little buggy, as all OS releases are before their first major service pack. (SIDE NOTE: I am on the beta team for SLED 10 and they have targeted all of the right areas.) We have had enough time to observe our users and talk to graduates and these are the conclusions I have made.

Why Linux?
Linux has grown up
It is no longer the domain of code monkeys and geeks. Linux has always been powerful and secure. However, now it is also pleasant. The transition from XP to SLED 10 went very well for some of our least technologically secure users. Though we purchase our computers for academic and administrative work, normal humans like to easily listen to music, share pictures of their friends, children and grandchildren. Linux does this now and it does it as well as Microsoft. It doesn't do it as well as Mac. Anyway you cut it, Linux is a viable option for the normal computer user. Some things it does better than its competitors and some things it does worse, but it's here and it's ready.

Why Linux?
Centerpiece of Open Source
When I speak at conferences now, most people at least know what open source is and a growing number of them have used open source tools, though it is still a solid minority. I really believe, here in the U.S., we have been living a fool's paradise. We have enjoyed industrial success greatly because most of the world couldn't afford to compete with us. Open source has changed this and our competitiveness has been slipping rapidly because of it. I had a small online business about 6 years ago. To get my website and basic accounting needs off the ground took a couple thousand dollars and a lot of time. I started another small venture about a month ago. Joomla, an open source content management system, GNUCash accounting software, Open Office and Gimp provided me pretty much everything I needed. The most expensive thing I've bought so far is business cards!

I consider myself reasonably well versed in open source options. This was not the case when we started our Linux laptop program. Linux provided the platform for me to explore and learn so many open source options that made my second business so much leaner than the first. I really like that our students are getting exposure to the tools that are changing the world which they are entering. I saw several recent graduates over the holidays and enjoyed hearing say, "Hey Mr. Inman, my college has a Linux lab and is doing open source stuff. I know so much more than the other students about this stuff." Well, here's to hoping the other students learn that "stuff."

Why Linux?
Because the community is winning
We say our school is a community of learners. I believe this. On any given day you will see teachers learning from students, administrators learning from teachers, parents learning from teachers and every other conceivable combination. When everyone takes the time to listen, we all grow. John Stewart Mill said he "found a livelier version of the truth through its collision with error." That's open source! We risk, try, fail and fix. Then, as soon as you are stable, someone introduces a new idea and you start the process all over again. The result is something like Moodle, an e-learning system, or Joomla, tools that actually beat their commercial rivals. What better model for our students!

A colleague from another school cynically asked if our students were actually contributing to the open source community knowing that we don't teach programming at our school. Very few of our kids are even looking at the code but I absolutely believe they are contributing the the open source community. They deeply explore the powers of their Linux laptops and bring me their problems and questions. Sometimes they post those concerns to community forums and sometimes I do. Also, many of their wishes and concerns have been brought to Novell and been included in SLES 10 and SLES 10 SP1. That is contributing and I am proud of our teachers and students for the contributions they have made. As with all contributions to open source, we have all enjoyed the benefits of their labor.

Why not Linux?
You know, all computers have bugs. Each new version of every operating system comes with a learning curve and software becomes obsolete on all platforms. We have experienced less down-time, more student initiated solutions to computing problems and generally good user satisfaction. So I guess the real question is, "why not linux?"

Moodle on SUSE Server

2007-01-05T13:23:00.000-08:00

Though our back-end network is primarily Microsoft Server 2003, our use of Linux laptops has certainly opened our eyes to the power and flexibility of Linux servers. Last summer I saw a presentation on Moodle, the open source e-learning platform so we launched a pilot Moodle server for our dean of faculty to manage the faculty resource web page.

The resources of Moodle were quickly in demand in the classroom. By exam time in December, we had several classes hosting forums and posting work. A freshman biology section had over 40 threads with some threads containing as many as 155 replies! The amazing part is that the forum was only a week old! Students used it as a forum for preparing for the exam.

We realized we needed to put some more thought behind our Moodle deployment and so we built a new SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 server from scratch and installed Moodle. I don't know anything about mySQL or php and that made things a little difficult for me. However, between the powerful system tool SUSE uses, called YaST and some custom scripting by a brilliant Linux partner of ours, we've made the installation of this secure and pretty fool-proof. Click on the post title or on the link along the side of the page to get the directions we created. The directions will link you to the Moodle software and the little tool we created to help you with your setup.

Moodle is a powerful tool that you can really grow with.

Enjoy!

iFolder - Our Favorite Tool!

2006-12-14T15:52:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a while. I must admit, the beginning of the year was busy. Moving from NLD 9 to SUSE Linux Enteprise Desktop 10 is like upgrading from Windows 98 to Vista (except SLED 10 works). The user interface is significantly more user friendly, which helped a lot but it was a pretty big move. We also added 150 new laptop users.

For about a month now, things have been quite smooth and I have had a chance to really observe what is going on. One of the most simple yet widely used tools is iFolder. This open source project (which is available in Windows, Mac and Linux clients) allows users to back up local folders automatically and then also collaborate with other users as well. It has saved students butts when they have laptop damage but, as important, allows them to really work together in a very powerful way.

Here's how it works. You have to download the server software and install it on a server, preferrably a dedicated server. Right now the server needs to be a Novell Open Enterprise Server but soon it can be any Linux server. Then you install the small client on your computer. Once the client has been installed, you can right click on any folder on your computer and "convert it to an iFolder." Once you "convert" a folder, the files and subfolders in that folder are automatically backed up to the server. Even if you stop right there it becomes an elegant back-up utility.

But wait! There's more!! If you want to share the data in that folder with other people, you right click on the folder and "share the iFolder." You are prompted to select the people you want to invite to your folder from the list taken directly from your existing MS Active Directory or Novell eDirectory. Those users you added will then be prompted to "join" the specific iFolder. A copy of your folder, which now resides and is syncronized on the server, is created on the computers of each of the people you selected. Now all people involved in the iFolder can work on the files whether they are online or offline because the files are stored on the local hard drive. When you are connected to the Internet (on the network or off) the files are securely syncronized. Conflicts are dedected and brought to the users attention.

Hold on! We're not finished yet!! What if you want to share your data with someone that doesn't have their own computer? The data stored on the server can be accessed through a website. Right now we have students at our school sharing documents on their laptops with students in Germany via the web accessible server! The German school couldn't ensure access to computers in their school as their lab is often full. However, this way, the students can work together whether they are in the lab, at the library or using their computers at home!

You can find information on the iFolder project at http://ifolder.com but the latest information can be found on a Novell Open Audio podcast.

Updated Presentation On Linux Laptops

2006-09-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

The presentation I have given over the last year on the use of Linux Laptops has evolved over the year. It's latest version exists on the liks area on the left side of the page. This presentation is published in MS PowerPoint because people with Open Office can open PowerPoint files but people with PowerPoint can't open an Open Office Impress file.

Results of Linux Laptop Pilot Are In!

2006-09-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many people are seeking this information but the results are in. The delay is due to the inherent challenges of starting the school year in a school with a laptop program. This year we have 450 latops with SLED 10 (SUSE Linux) deployed. It is a departure from the framework of the study, which investigated Novell Linux Desktop 9, but is fundamentally the same. SLED 10 offered us many of the improvement we sought as a result of the study's findings.

OK. Enough delay. What did the study find? Linux laptops cost us less in acquisition, and year long support. They cost about the same to deploy. Faculty were resistant but became less so with time. Students found the Linux problems easier to troubleshoot (which was a surprise to me). Also, given the choice between Linux and Windows via Citrix, students spent a slight majority of their time operating in the Linux environment.

A Linux laptop program is no different than any other laptop program in that it brings about a change in the classroom that requires preparation and training. You can never do too much. User satisfaction was generally the same as those found in the Rockman Report, which is a hallmark of laptop program research.

Our conclusion: Linux offers a viable computing ecosystem for a school laptop program for significantly less money. The complete abolishment of Windows and/or Macintosh is probably not in the best interest of the school. Also a phased approach is most valuable because it provides a growing base of linux and open source experts for your community and allows you to more wisely and gradually reduce Microsoft expenses as your community becomes more comfortable with open source alternatives.

The white paper summarizing our findings can be found here or at the link on the left side of the page. We also promised not to hide behind papers. The question by question summary of Phase I data can be found here or at the link on the left side of the page. The question by question summary of Phase II data can be found here or at the link on the left side of the page.

This has been a pleasant challenge and we have decided to continue to use Linux in our laptop program. In fact, based off data gathered in this study, we have designed our image to accommodate more time in the Linux ecosystem versus the Windows ecosystem, as this is what our students have called for in their actions.

Study coming soon!

2006-07-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

In several presentations over the last several months, I have promised a study to be published on this blog. We are still making final changes on the study. By the end of the month, we whould have the executive summary, white paper and raw data available.

The study was commissioned in part by Intel, Lenovo and IBM. I have been very particular about making sure we are telling the full story. However, the same data set can be interpreted many ways. I fully accept that some of you will come to different conclusions than the study, or I have given the data. This is why I am publishing the raw data. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions.

The baseline data is available via a link on the right of this page. Soon we will post the final data.

Concerns and Responses to Linux use

2006-07-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

While working on the beta program for SLED10, we asked our students and faculty to list areas of Novell Linux Desktop they would like to see improved. We listed their concerns below as well as how we are considering to rectify their concerns. This was simply pasted from a table in Open Office. I am a novice with HTML editing. I just pasted the code from Open Office so you could get a table. It's not gorgeous but it is readable! :-)

<meta name="generator" content="StarOffice/OpenOffice.org XSLT (http://xml.openoffice.org/sx2ml)" /><meta name="author" content="alex2" /><meta name="created" content="2006-07-18T10:06:27" /><base href="." /><style type="text/css"> @page { } table { border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0; empty-cells:show } td, th { vertical-align:top; } h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 { clear:both } ol, ul { padding:0; } * { margin:0; } *.ta1 { } *.ce1 { border-style:none; font-family:'Bitstream Vera Sans'; font-size:10pt; font-style:normal; text-shadow:none; font-weight:bold; } *.ce2 { border-style:none; } *.ce3 { } *.Default { } *.Heading { text-align:center ! important; font-size:16pt; font-style:italic; font-weight:bold; } *.Heading1 { text-align:center ! important; font-size:16pt; font-style:italic; font-weight:bold; } *.Result { font-style:italic; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline; } *.Result2 { font-style:italic; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:underline; } *.co1 { width:2.9992in; } *.co2 { width:0.8925in; } *.ro1 { height:0.1783in; } *.ro2 { height:0.3362in; } *.ro3 { height:0.1693in; } </style></head><body dir="ltr"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="ta1"><colgroup><col width="333" /><col width="333" /><col width="99" /></colgroup><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce1">Linux </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce1">Response </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Difficult to type foreign language </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Built into new image - custom </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Intuitive file structure </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Beagle and improved mapdrives and Nautilus </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Faster load times </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">SLED 10 plus RAM increase </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Open Office Improvements </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Open Office 2.0 - Novell Edition </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">IE compatibility </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">IE 5.5 will run in wine </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro2"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Better Sound recording </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Working to avoid Audacity conflicts with RealPlayer and cd/DVD </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">GimpShop </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Will install GimpShop instead of Gimp </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Improve reliability of Evolution </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">SLED 10 improvements on this </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro2"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Easier transition between Linux and Windows on Faculty machines </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">VMPlayer for Windows machine </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Improve media compatibility </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Kaffeine and default file settings in image </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">iTunes compatibility </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Banshee </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">better back-up/sync scenario </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">iFolder </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">easier access to Citrix </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Application Browser </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">easier printing </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2" /><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">easier installations </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Yast Software Installer </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">better media format compatibility - AV </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">SLED 10 plus Xine formats </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Too many logins </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">ICA client and Firefox plus AD integration </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr><tr class="ro1"><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">improve ease of network connections </td><td style="text-align:left;width:2.9992in; " class="ce2">Network Manager </td><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="ce3" /></tr></table><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="ta1"><colgroup><col width="99" /></colgroup><tr class="ro3"><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="Default" /></tr></table><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="ta1"><colgroup><col width="99" /></colgroup><tr class="ro3"><td style="text-align:left;width:0.8925in; " class="Default" /></tr></table></body></html> </article> <article> <h1>SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED 10) Available!</h1> 2006-07-18T07:58:00.000-07:00 We have been very busy working on the beta program for SLED 10. You simply will not believe this operating system. In my next post, I will list areas of concern our users had regarding Novell Linux Desktop and list the solutions we are iomplementing, most of which are part of the standard SLED 10 build. Go get it at: <a href="http://www.novell.com/linux/download_linux.html"> SLED 10</a> </article> <article> <h1>Just an update</h1> 2006-05-19T18:32:00.000-07:00 I haven't posted in a long time. I will be posting a lot more in June and July and will have much to share. Right now we are configuring our next deployment of Linux laptops. We are putting SLED 10 on our 300 existing R51 and R50e models and on 150 new Lenovo z60t computers. We are improving our back-up/syncronization scenario by adding iFolder. We are also changing our image and management process by upgrading to Zen for Linux 7.0 All custom packages built for this image will be available on this site. We have also begun gathering year-end data for our study. Baseline data can be seen through the link on the right. Final data and reports will be posted here in July. Come back and see us soon! </article> </main></body></html>