[Fwd: Re: [Fwd: Re: [seul-edu] RE: [why schools don't adopt OSS]]]

[Doug Loss <drloss@home.com>]

-------- Original Message --------
From: Jim Thomas <jthomas@bittware.com>
To: seul-edu@seul.org
Subject: Re: [Fwd: Re: [seul-edu] RE: [why schools don't adopt OSS]]

John Hansknecht wrote:
> Hello, my name is John Hansknecht, and I work as the Director of Technology
> at a private (non-profit) school in Detroit, Michigan (USA).  

Hi John.  Welcome to seul-edu.  (BTW, you probably should have snipped
most of what I wrote earlier since you didn't directly address any of
the points I tried to make.  I would not have been offended).

[snip John's background - evne though it was ineresting]

> What would I need to convince folks here to switch to open source?
> 
> 1) Regarding installations, server installation mode would have to support
> specialized servers (email server, file server, printer server, proxy server,
> etc).  

Yup.

> However a workstation installation, especially one with options to
> install a collection of applications for teachers and/or a collection of
> applications for students would be very helpful.

Hmmm... maybe you *did* address the points I tried to make.

> 
> 2) A good document/chart helping people identify software alternatives would
> be of great assistance.  This would be a list that identified software
> alternatives to the mainstream Windows applications and that would include
> training resources (books, web sites, etc) as well as a bulleted list of
> strengths and weaknesses.  (This is critical, as applications are replaced I
> know people are going to moan.  Responding will be easier if I have a ready
> list of new strengths to hilight as well as a prepared response for the
> weaknesses that people identify.)

This is a great idea.  I can see where that would be helpful.  The only
problem I see is that it would be difficult (for me at least) to
generate the list in an unbiased way.  I think a fair assessment is
crucial here too.  If it comes off as "I hate Microsoft and will say
anything to cause them to lose market share" we will not win anyone
over.

This list would provide ammunition for the people who are trying to get
Linux in the door when they're asked "What do we replace Outlook with?"

> 
> 3) We have grown very comfortable with Outlook/MS Exchange calendaring.  What
> are the best Open Source alternatives?

I'll go out on a limb and suggest StarOffice as a good solution.  I've
never used Outlook or MS Echange though, so I can't make an honest
assessment.  The nice thing about StarOffice though, is that it's
available for Windows as well as Linux.  This leads to another strategy
for getting Linux into the schools - introduce StarOffice first, and
switch over to Linux later.  

> 
> 4) Most schools will have some applications that are Windows client only and
> that they must support (In my case it is our Fund Raising/Account/Student
> schedule and grades combination of Blackbaud and GradeQuick.  I see no change
> of changing the Blackbaud program and only limited change of changing
> GradeQuick (the replacement would have to import classes and export grades
> with Blackbaud).  Therefore, you would need to have addressed a method to run
> limited Windows applications on Linux desktops.  ??Does this mean Win4Lin,
> wine, a terminal set up or ???

I think it depends on the application itself.  If it works under wine,
there's no need to get Win4Lin (which I believe is a commercial
product).  Another possible solution is VMWare, which I *can* vouch for,
wince I've been using it for about a year now.

Another unported app common to K12 is the Encyclopedia (World Book,
Britanica, Groliers, Encarta, etc).  We *really* need a Linux app that
can provide an interface to these CD's.

> 
> 4) Finally, and I know this is a "Catch 22" issue, any examples of schools
> using Linux/Open Source, especially schools in the United States of America
> and schools that have deployed Linux desktops (Not just linux servers.)

We can help you there.  There are several case studies available here:
http://moria.seul.org/~karl/seul_submissions_log.html
There's another version of this page somewhere with nicer formatting,
but I can't find it.  We really need a link to this from the seul/edu
homepage (or at least make it easier to find if it IS there).

-- 
Jim Thomas      **    Principal Applications Engineer ** Bittware, Inc
703.779.7770    **    jthomas@bittware.com **  http://www.bittware.com
The secret to enjoying your job is to have a hobby that is even worse.
 - Calvin's dad