Re: While of on the subject of ideas for programs.

[Harry McGregor <micros@azstarnet.com>]

IT sounds like you need a slackware install with custom tag files.  I
don't know of a good small foot print wordprocessor though.


Right now I am working on a school computer setup, slackware linux 4
workstations (donated P90s, upgraded to 64MB).  I have been using the
donated 486s for windows 95 systems in a language lab, and for servers.

Our server farm currently is:
Distict owned Novell 4.11 server (ppro 150, 96MB ram, etc)
Distict/school owned Novell 4.11 based 14 CDrom server

P200 Linux server (16GB IDE stripe set of disk space).

486dx2 66 (24MB ram), Name server (primary DNS)

an Identical 486dx2 66 to be colocated at Arizona International College
(friend of mine is the sys admin there) (secondary DNS)

486dx2 66 (16MB ram, two 3c509b) School firewall (district does not have 
any firewalls)

486dx2 66 (16MB ram, two 3c509b) IP Masq for one hall way.  The district 
has a class B (/16) of IP addresses, but was brain dead about subnetting 
(they gave a class C to each school (more than one to HSs), and then cut 
them in half for admin and student side (differnt departments)).  In
this schools case admin is all of 5-6 computers, but they have 120ip
addresses, and instructional is all of about 140 computers, with 120IP
addresses.  We don't have any rights on the router (and they would kill me
if I obtained the rights) so we can't fix this.


			Harry

On Sun, 4 Jul 1999, Rob Bellville wrote:

> At 04:29 7/4/99 +0200, you wrote:
> >BANNER PROGRAM
> <<SNIP>>
> >CARDS 'N' CALENDERS
> <<SNIP>>
> ETC...
> 
> As a system administrator for a public school, here is what I feel my
> school can use. It is a little askew of simply Linux programs. I am
> fortunate to have a number of 386 and 486 donated machines sitting and
> waiting for this idea to become reality. Pardon me if I speak as a
> demanding customer for a minute. <grin>
> 
> I need to take my low end machines and make them do something useful. No
> one likes to use DOS or DOS word processors in my school. The staff is busy
> trying to educate kids, not learn the old ways of technology. We've
> introduced them to Win95 years ago after we took their Macs away and now
> that is what they expect to see.
> 
> What I would LOVE to see is a CD-ROM and a boot floppy that installs a
> small Linux distribution with 6-8 useful programs (~100 MB) that can be run
> in small RAM footprint 16 color VGA XWindows session. At the low end, I
> don't need to network them (that can come later in version 2 ;), just print
> to one of my many dot matrix printers in generic text mode. When my
> students boot the machine up, they are prompted for a username and
> password. They are then lead to a screen with 6-8 boxes that they can click
> on to start a particular program (similar to At Ease). When they quit the
> program the "At Ease" screen reappears. Oh yeah, a logout/shutdown button
> is needed, too.
> 
> Of course, the CD-ROMs would be arranged into groups so the programs
> correspond to particular age groups/grades. When a machine gets messed up
> somehow, the distribution and applications on the CD-ROM can be reinstalled
> without losing the user data/scores. Anyone should be able to re-install
> from the CD-ROM. An option for "dummy" mode that could pick up the original
> configuration from the HD or floppy would guarantee that the software would
> be re-installed properly. A teacher module is also necessary for setting up
> student accounts.
> 
> Is this too much to ask for? Most of the programs we currently use are
> fairly simple. Most of them are drill and practice and my students prefer
> to do this on a computer that can flash "congratulations!" on the screen
> once in a while than to do it on paper. If they are a little bit more fun
> and equally educational than the "old fashioned" methods, then they'll be
> considered a success.
> 
> Help me put these older machines into useful service and I'd be glad to pay
> a small fee so that more development could be done.
> 
> <end customer rant>
> 
> I use Linux extensively on the server side. But, I am not a
> software/programmer person. My expertise is in hardware and networking. I
> am also a one man MIS department in a school with over 300 computers and
> 15+ servers (read: insanely busy!). Make it simple for anyone to install
> this "perfect product" and I will sing its virtues to all who will listen.
> If you put a slick splash screen on it during startup you can propagandize
> Linux to the hilt.
> 
> Thanks for listening.
> 
> Rob Bellville
> Millbury Public Schools
> Millbury, MA
> 
> 
>