[geeks] Q: Regarding Linux in K-12 education

[Lionel Peterson]

In my community there has been a long-simmering debate on migrating  
the local school district to Linux (all 1,700 computers, serving  
almost 5,000 users, including administration users). I have found  
myself arguing AGAINST this idea for various reasons, not the least of  
which is a dearth of applications on Linux to replace the current apps  
that run on Windows/OS X. My question to the group is this - does  
anyone know of any public school district of similar (or greater) size  
that has gone completely FOSS at least for classroom use?

The closest I've heard of is a California district with 7 isolated  
labs running LTSP, most running with new thin terminal hardware and a  
support contract with a local vendor that wants to place a full-time  
admin to oversee EACH lab. This was to replace NT4 systems three years  
ago, and they still need access to MS terminal server for some apps.

I've seen articles about massive deployments in other countries,  
notably Russia, who joined WIPO and is being forced off pirated copies  
of Windows in their schools, but none in the US - anyone know otherwise?

Thanks,

Lionel