Why do schools hire retards.

I agree that Linux + Schools = nightmare. From a support point and from a software point of view. A lot of educational software relies on windows, plus I think kids should really learn on the most prevailant platform and to top it off open office is not as compatible with MS office as people like to think.

The whole AV thing is wothwhile for 2 reasons. First is kids do stupid things. Second is you can tell the brass that security is not an issue because there is an AV. It doesn't matter that it may not be the case, as long as it looks and sounds right thats all that counts to people.


In terms of hardware you're absolutely right its overkill. Dual core 2gb ram 120gb hds. I would have thought that you would set the local disk as off limits to the students anyway. And as someone said beefed up pcs for CAD/video work.


All of this takes me back to when we used to run quake servers off a computer in the maths department when I was at school. The IT guys used to always get complaints that there was one noisy machine! We managed to get round the local disc lock and install quake on some ancient even for the time (100mhz non-pentium) pcs in the study room. We could only run it at something ridiculous like windowed 200xsomething res. That and running streets of rage sessions on megadrive emulators and java pool tournaments etc. Kinda reinforces the need for good security and group policy on modern school pcs :p
 
Sash said:
Wish I was at that school, we had to use imacs.
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I know soneone like that, they think macs are the best thing since sliced bread and that everyone is using them and they have a bigger market share than Windows. The reality is they have about 9% and the majority of students dont even know how to turn them on. Why are mac finatics always brain washed into believing lies :confused:

MW
 
Mr_Orange said:
All of this takes me back to when we used to run quake servers off a computer in the maths department when I was at school. The IT guys used to always get complaints that there was one noisy machine! We managed to get round the local disc lock and install quake on some ancient even for the time (100mhz non-pentium) pcs in the study room. We could only run it at something ridiculous like windowed 200xsomething res. That and running streets of rage sessions on megadrive emulators and java pool tournaments etc. Kinda reinforces the need for good security and group policy on modern school pcs :p
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:D Haha, that reminds me of when I and others would play 2D Browser games instead of doing "Graphics" (Our revenge for being told lies about the course) when at Secondary. It also reminds me of College when we used to play Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo by connecting to another student's home machine (which was the host) instead of doing "Customer Service" a subject where we for some reason learnt CLAiT (like we did in 2 other classes at the time :-/) instead of Customer Service techniques.

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Oh and with regards to the topic might as well give them their uber machines, as it would mean that some other Secondary or College gets the old machines for their "Computer Maintenance" classes. Instead of having to use stuff from the early 90s which are useless to learn all but the very basics from. Or better yet (if you have a say in the matter) have them sent to some sort of charity that wants working second hand stuff for schools in poorer countries.
 
thats a better spec than i have in my home pc, if i was a student, i would steal the componants :)
 
yashiro said:
Kids should be taught using a variety of systems though. It is bad to tell kids that Windows computing is all that counts.
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I'd agree. For computing at least, some access to Linux would be a good thing; I hate the thing, doesn't mean I wouldn't have appreciated being taught how to use it back in my 'Computing' class, which was absolutely rubbish in 6th form and may as well have been called business IT applications :)

Still I'd definately say keep Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1 as your primary OS, as it's easier to support, and easier for the users to understand, and perhaps sort out some Linux LiveCDs (Knoppix etc) for some hands on Linux work (or AV cleaning haha)
 
yashiro said:
Kids should be taught using a variety of systems though. It is bad to tell kids that Windows computing is all that counts.
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totally agree.

thin / atom clients with linux opensuse/ubuntu/fedora/debian/centos with a rdp connection on a windows server for windows required applications.

possibly look at rolling out machines using thin station booting over the network from a linux server.

there a re plenty of companies around that will support such implementations
 
I agree with the above regarding Linux for computing based subjects. I didn't meet Linux in education until Computer Science at university.

The problem with non-computing/ICT based subjects is that there is a very real possibility that it becomes a barrier to learning for some students.
 
I would go as far as say for the majority of students running Linux on their daily educational tool will be a hindrance. They will have many applications that are Windows only.

Linux should be taught in year 9 and GCSE ICT lessons (a module in each?) but this wouldn't happen as the ICT teachers will not know how to use it. Forget about the average ICT technician being able to administer it and solve problems.

Just so you know, I do use Linux at home and have pushed forward the idea of running Linux on certain servers at work.
 
Am I the only one who doesn't see much wrong with her hardware requirement? Yeah it might be overkill for now but places like this dont upgrade their IT system for years so the spec she has given will perform well for years to to come. The last thing you would want is to setup an IT system which in a year or 2 cannot cope with new technologies.
 
yashiro said:
Kids should be taught using a variety of systems though. It is bad to tell kids that Windows computing is all that counts.
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for the most part, it is all that counts though... they should only be forced to learn other stuff later in life or in own time :)

lets face it linux in it's various forms is enough to put most kids off computing for life
 
Crikey.

When I were at school we used 486 SX25s running 3.11 with 4mb of RAM. Network boot. Some of them had hard disks, they played Doom/Quake after school. :) Ah good times.

Seriously though at the OP, I'd get her to justify those specs. Ask her to back it up with some numbers/figures. Do students really need to fire up Word in 0.2 seconds?

Play the Daily Mail card "In times of hardship and recession, should a financially stricken education system be financing over zealous and ill researched hardware purchases?" :D
 
Drizmod said:
Am I the only one who doesn't see much wrong with her hardware requirement? Yeah it might be overkill for now but places like this dont upgrade their IT system for years so the spec she has given will perform well for years to to come. The last thing you would want is to setup an IT system which in a year or 2 cannot cope with new technologies.
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This, schools, unless they are on rolling maintainance contracts, do not replace their PCs on anything like a regular basis. Getting basic equipment now means useless equipment 3-5 years down the line. Getting better equipment now means equipment that's still adequate in the same timeframe.

As for the recommendation of linux, it's both flawed for learning purposes, and false economy. Linux does not save money in corporate IT, because licencing costs are small over the lifecycle in comparison with other costs, and it also doesn't provide a good background for students in the most common computer systems available.
 
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