Linux flunks high school

Posted on 22 Nov 2005 at 15:13

David Moss dons his teacher's hat and looks at the cost of switching from Windows to Mac or Linux at his school

What about the cost of these licences? Sure, Linux licences are free (for the most part), but Microsoft doesn't exactly set out to rob schools blind either. I just rang our School's Agreement supplier and these are the current figures (rolling annual licence, per machine where applicable):

Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office and Core CALs: £25.50

Microsoft Windows Server 2003: £30

Terminal Server CALs: £14

Exchange Server 2003: £50 (no extra CALs required as they're part of the Core CALs package)

Yes, it's costing me several thousand per year to stay on Windows, and that's money I could spend elsewhere if I could find a total Linux solution. But that amount of money isn't enough, even rolled up over five years, to push the school into change. The software landscape of our user base is too diverse, and the skill sets of our users and managers mean they don't want to spend time problem-solving (given the efforts of one or two I won't mention, problem-solving isn't a route I want them to be going down at all). I could switch to the Mac, because the jolt in terms of the OS is quite small and anything that isn't available under the Mac would probably run under Windows on the Mac. No technical problem, but way too expensive.

I could perhaps see where schools and businesses with hundreds of systems and the accompanying licence bills might contemplate the move to Linux, even with the cost of retraining taken into account, but for smaller schools I just don't see it, given Microsoft's current educational pricing structure. Small businesses obviously don't get the benefit of such education prices, so they have a much larger bill to think about, but once you start thinking about specialist software and where your alternatives are coming from on the Linux platform far too many doors slam shut for my liking.

I'd love to save the money, but I see no way I reliably could; all I see is a road full of frustration for myself and my users, and the definite possibility that I'd have to keep several Windows systems around anyway to run software that wouldn't run under Linux. On the admin side, that's most of the key programs we use, so switching them isn't an option, and it isn't much better on the school side.

The retraining costs would be terrible in terms of cash and time, and to be honest, at the end of the day, I'm not convinced I'd be ending up with a better environment to work in. The chance of someone doing something unintentional and rendering the system unrecoverable is a lot higher under Linux, for example. Having taken a good look at about seven Linux distros, I came to the conclusion that none of them was as user-friendly as I'd like, and all required a far higher degree of user ability and computing knowledge than my users currently have. I also found it disappointing that at least one major distro wouldn't even install on my school systems, having huge difficulty with the onboard graphics, something that Windows XP has no difficulty with whatsoever. Pentium III systems with onboard graphics might not be bleeding edge, but they work well for my needs, and a modern OS that can't work with them is no use to me. Linux has a lot going for it, but it's a long way behind either Windows or Mac OS X in terms of what it can offer to an organisation like mine at the moment.

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Locked In

Mr. Moss, you definitely face a hard task to properly service your clients, the students, teaching staff, and administrative staff of the school. Diverse software, diverse hardware, and diverse operating systems.

I'm sorry you didn't find Linux a panacea. Listening to some folks rave about Linux, Macs, or whatever, you'd think they provided some kind of magical cure. Sorry, they're all just tools with advantages and trade-offs.

In a historically Windows-centric environment and you as a Windows-centric person, you'll be hard pressed to escape its clutches. I happen to believe you should stay open to all tools at your disposal.

In working with Linux, you'll need to be open to places where it fits in a non-disruptive manner. As a file server, a web server, a host for virtualizing a couple Windows servers, or as an application server for a school-specific piece of software (e.g., Moodle).

At the same time, you're mixed up environment lends itself to putting Windows applications on Terminal Server or Citrix servers so the desktop the user selects is neutralized. If you're looking at major hardware upgrades to deal with Windows 7 and the cost of provisioning everyone with Office 2010, it might be time for another tool to be considered.

There are other schools in England that have been successful in putting Linux to good use. It's hard to believe you are not aware of any and can't contact them to find out how they managed while you seem convinced you can't. To ignore a valuable tool like Linux seems a bad idea for the school, and for you as a modern-day administrator.

Finally, I hope some nefarious person at the magazine chose the title for your article without your consent. Otherwise, you'll have pulled down upon your head some very distracting grief for no good reason.

Good luck.

By noesam on 23 Jan 2010

It seems that what you've got is a big bundle of interdependent stuff that you can't dare change. That's fair enough if you're ok with that.

By steviesteveo on 14 Jun 2010

It doesn't have to be all or nothing...

They key part to service delivery in schools is, and increasingly will become, the separation of the application and the user experience from the delivery platform. The applications your users require should be independent of the platform they choose to use to access them. Increasingly students have their own laptops on which you can't hope to manage or control software or smartphones on which you might not even be able to install the software. You can allow students to benefit from technology they've invested in (or have because of special educational needs) and you can give them access to school applications or the whole desktop experience including access to data and controlled internet access from anywhere at any time. There are RDP and ICA clients for most platforms both traditional PC, eg Mac Windows, Linux and new iphone, ipod, ipad, android etc allowing access from almost all platforms. Importantly the data never leaves the school and applications can be updated without needing access to the user's platform! In school low power "thin devices" can be used reducing power requirements both for the PCs and for auxiliary services eg air con and extending the lifespan of the hardware. Applications can be introduced one at a time, it doesn't have to be an All Linux or all Mac or All windows environment, the best elements of each can be used to best effect where appropriate.

By cjohnsonuk on 19 Sep 2010

Virtualise

Surely the answer would be to throw in some Ubuntu workstations running VirtualBox hosting your Windows desktops. You can even find tools that will convert a physical machine to a virtual machine.

By Caltor on 12 Aug 2011

Holy old article Batman!

Posted on 22 Nov 2005 at 15:13

!!??!!

By PaleRider on 19 Aug 2011

Holy really old article Batman!

Honestly, latest Real World Computing. This article is SIX years old. Pull it or revisit it.

I don't think I will be renewing my subscription, the new format has highlighted a noticeable deterioration.

By Deadtroopers on 23 Dec 2011

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