[bjarkijonasson]

As someone who is currently in a school that uses only free and/or open source software I have to say that this is a terrible idea.

The biggest problem is the teachers, they are not as tech-savvy as the kids and introducing them to a completely new operating system has done nothing but slow them down and cause problems. They are having trouble distributing learning material because they are not familiar with the file formats (and most of the students here are using windows, so compatibility is a problem).

There have also been problems with the personal storage spaces students have on the computer network, people are sometimes unable to log in or unable to access their files. It's been a mess.

I'm all for supporting ubuntu, in fact I've been using an ubuntu variant on my laptop for a few years now without any trouble, but using Ubuntu (or any other OS that isn't Windows or OS X) in a school environment just to cut costs is a recipe for disaster.

[RobAley]

That sounds more like problems with the deployment rather than the use of OSS.

The other day I chatted to a governor of one of our local secondary schools, which recently upgraded from Windows XP to Windows 7. As you note, the teachers aren't always tech savy and many who primarily used computers at school (on XP until then) struggled with Windows 7. Compatibility with very old Word docs created on the old systems was a problem (solved by using LibreOffice on one of the staffs personal laptops as the IT contractors wouldn't allow it to be installed on the system), and pupils/parents who use OSX at home also sometimes have difficulty with homework assignments when particular software and/or formats are required.

The trouble is we live in a more and more diverse computing society. Windows is no longer the dominant OS, OSX and to a lesser degree Linux (and iOS and Android etc. etc.) are becoming more and more prevalent.

The general solution, is either to a) invest in training for teachers and design curricula to be OS/vendor neutral, or b) standardise (if one must) on an OS/app ecosystem that both the school and parents can deploy and support (which apart from private schools with moneyed parents) means a free OS.

[zalew]

> The biggest problem is the teachers, they are not as tech-savvy as the kids and introducing them to a completely new operating system has done nothing but slow them down and cause problems

it's a chicken and egg problem. the only way to solve it is to make the first move, otherwise in 10 years we'll be in the exact same situation.

[lumberjack]

I had the same exact experience, albeit it was not a change from proprietary to free software but rather: The government decided, (partly because there was an EU fund to waste and some rankings to compete in) that old simple tech like blackboards and slide projectors were to be replaced by newer technologies like interactive boards and digital projectors. The teachers' work flow was massively disrupted. They were still using their old notes, partly because there aren't any multimedia counterparts. They just have to go through more steps to get everything setup and running. Besides, that the technology itself was premature, buggy and probably flawed by design even. I'm all for technological progress but I absolutely hate when people push for worst technology just because it is build from contemporary digital technology.

[dysoco]

I agree, we used Guadalinex, but it was an old version, and it was crappy... buggy, didn't work correctly: the settings keep reseting.

Even for worse... no one in the school had the Root password... oh, the horror.

[bjarkijonasson]

also, it doesn't save the school any money anyway since they have to hire Network Admins and other IT people with Linux experience

[Adirael]

Network admins are network admins. And IT people with Linux experience doesn't have to be expensier than Windows IT people. IT people here study both, salaries are shitty everywhere.

My high school (2005 IIRC) had guadalinex [1] on all computers, with a 2:1 student to computer ratio and no in house IT. Students basically use Firefox, OpenOffice and some other apps for math and psychics, there's not a lot that can go wrong and nothing is so important that you need a person always on site.

[1] http://www.guadalinex.org/

[beagle3]

I would expect the cost per seat (os + office at least) to be in the order of $100 if there are a lot of discounts involved, possibly as high as $400. That's a lot of money upfront.

It might not save in the support cost, I agree - but barring a (potentially uncomfortable) transition period, it shouldn't cost more either.

It is my experience (from industry) that a competent Linux admin can support about 10 times as many machines as a competent Windows admin, but only costs 2-3 times as much; However, competent linux admins are much harder to find.