Re: [seul-edu] Distro Dementia

[Rasjid Wilcox <rasjidw@bigpond.com>]

On Thu, 29 Nov 2001 08:46, Chris Hobbs wrote:
> And in fact the guys at http://www.k12ltsp.org have done just that -
> taken a stock RedHat distro and bashed in all of the software required
> to make it a Linux Terminal Server, and placed several apps on it that
> are useful for education - it's not complete on this front, but it
> certainly proves that the concept of building onto an existing distro is
> doable.
>
> Richard Smedley wrote:
> >Hmm, surely you just take a GPLed distro, add in the edu packages and
> > distribute disks of the whole lot - Debian, Red Hat & Co have all taken
> > care of the installation routines.
> >However just distributing the applications means making too many
> > assumptions about the installation someone has - even assuming that they
> > already have a GNU/Linux distribution.

Another system that is a pre-packaged and simplified version of an existing 
distribution (in this case RedHat) is the SME Server (previously known as the 
E-Smith server).

The SME Server can perform the following functions 'out-of-the-box':
1. Firewall and proxy server and internet gateway.
2. Email server.
3. File-server to both Windows and Mac clients.
4. Web-server.

It can be installed and maintained (to a reasonable degree) by someone with 
almost no technical experience whatsoever. It is in general easier and 
quicker to install than a Windows client machine, and far simplier than an 
equivalent NT server.

This is (as far as I know) fully GPL'ed, and at the very least is freely 
available for download and use.  Commercial support is available in a number 
of countries through a partnership program.

See http://www.e-smith.com and http://www.e-smith.org for more details.

I mention it for several reasons:
1.  It is a custom distro based on an existing distro, and I think you can 
use the tools created by E-Smith to create a turn-key educational solution. 
(You would need to check with http://www.e-smith.org to confirm.)
2.  I know of someone who said they were doing exactly that (they work in a 
local school), and if I hear back from them I shall forward it to the list.
3.  It it an existing Linux product that is *extremely easy* to install and 
use. It installs in under 15 minutes (even on a P266) and you can have users 
connecting to their own network folders in an additional 5 minutes. It is a 
product that is ready to be used in schools *now*, and provided you can get 
someone to actually look at it, it will sell itself (ignoring politics) as it 
is easier to use and maintain than an equivalent NT server.

There are a few minor issues in the current release, and I would suggest 
holding off for the next before using live, but the current release is well 
worth the look.

Along a simlar line, Smoothwall (http://www.smoothwall.org) is an extremely 
polished GPL'ed (and now with commercial support) firewall, gateway, proxy 
server and intrusion detection system.  It will run on a 486 or better.

Neither of these relate directly to education as such, but both are polished, 
easy to use and commercially supported Linux products than can be used in 
schools *now* in place of Microsoft or (in the case of Smoothwall) hardware 
alternatives.

Rasjid.