various things

[Doug Loss <dloss@csrlink.net>]

Since this list has been quiet for the past few days, I thought I'd
take the time to throw out some disconnected ideas in the hope of
sparking some discussion.

   I talked to Roman a while ago about porting Topologika software to
Linux.  He said that the company is interested, but hasn't seen much
reciprocal interest from Linux users in having Linux versions of their
programs.  Roman said that if we show some serious interest in having
one or another Topologika title ported he'd make sure it got done.  Take
a look at <http://www.topologika.co.uk> and see what you'd like to have
for Linux, then tell us here (or Roman privately).  I'd like to see at
least one commercial edsoft vendor do a Linux port.  If we support them
we might see more companies looking our way.  We're not going to be able
to write all the software schools will want by ourselves.

   I downloaded MetaCard's latest Linux version and their tutorial (I
don't remember its correct name, Scott), but haven't had a chance to try
it out yet.  The starter kit is available as an RPM or a gzipped
archive.  This is another commercial program that we need to take a
closer look at.  While it's not OSS, I think MetaCard is being quite
accomodative in their licensing policies for educational institutions
(the starter kit is free, and the full version is US$250 for 10 seats to
K12 schools).

   Ray's visit to Disney is coming closer, and we still haven't had much
discussion of what we want him to focus on.  Surely someone has some
opinions?  Let's hear them.

   I'm going to be getting an Apple Macintosh Quadra 650 from a local
parochial school.  I intend to put Linux m68k on it and I hope to
configure it as an X-terminal, unless it has enough oomph to act as a
full Linux workstation (which I doubt).  Does anyone on the list have
any experience with Linux m68k?  What will I need to be on the watch
for?  I'm going to be doing this with the assistance of a Penn State
computer science instructor (who is an NT guy, although not too
doctrinaire about it), so I'd like it to be fairly smooth if possible.

   If (as I hope) you reply to any of the topics above, please change
the subject line to reflect the topic.  I'd hate to see four different
discussions all lumped under the topic, "various things."

-- 
Doug Loss                 The difference between the right word and
Data Network Coordinator  the almost right word is the difference
Bloomsburg University     between lightning and a lightning bug.
dloss@bloomu.edu                Mark Twain