So I installed a fresh copy of Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft on my Sony Vaio 2.4 Ghz 40 GB 4200 RPM (yuk) HD that has a couple of years on it. I was running Edubuntu and it was running a little bloated, and some of the educational software got a little excessive. So here I am with a fresh install of Ubuntu and loving it. So needless to say, I had to try out Brian’s comment, right? Here is what he said…

Hi I would suggest instead of dual booting to try running XP under VMware Server (its free).
Installing it under ubuntu is easy:
0: sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r` build-essential xinetd
1: download and extract VMware Server
2: sudo ./vmware-install.pl
3: Accept all defaults

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=183209

Can’t be that easy, right? Well, it was enough to catch Miguel’s attention, so I perked up and listened. He’s a few (lots!) ahead of me with open source, so if he digs it, and calls it fantastic, I should too, or at least I should try it.

So I did.

It’s awesome! It works like a charm! The only suggestion I might add is to get a serial number ahead of time. I had to re-run the config script because I didn’t have a serial number handy. No big deal though, just a few extra minutes and a lesson learned.

So go, try this! It’s amazing!

I am going to go play with it some more, but it looks like a solid solution. Now to try and figure out how to install XGL. Or maybe I should just stick with that cool firefox extension that gives you XGL-life effects when you switch tabs. Man I wish I could remember the name…oops.
Do you know the extension to which I refer? It’s installed at work, so I can fix this tomorrow. Or can you help me now?

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Now before you call me crazy, let me explain the circumstances.

I have recently been given ten computers that range from 550 Mhz to 750 Mhz. They are all Dell and they were headed for the surplus heap to be sold for pennies on the dollar. I headed them off at the pass and directed them towards my classroom to be resurrected. I set about resurrecting them and was successful using a variety of Linux distros. I have posted on this before. I thought I had a great solution lined up in that Edubuntu works wonderfully on most of the machines, Xubuntu works on the ones that Edubuntu won’t load on, and I even have a few thinner client distros like Puppy Linux and Darn Small Linux for the oldest of machines.

I just can’t connect them to the school network.

Our district has a very strict policy that only district owned (these are) PC’s that have been “ghosted” with the district’s image can be connected to the school and district network (these aren’t, obviously). So there is my trouble. Part of me wants to connec tthem anyway noting that it certainly would not do any harm. My issue is integrity. If I am going to ask my students to maintain an impeccable level of integrity in my class and throughout life, I cannot blemish my integrity by circumventing district law. I am called to be obedient to the authorities over me. While I think Linux is in the best interest of my students, I cannot disobey the authority placed over me of my own accord (I took the job, after all).

So, I think I will put Windows 98 back on these machines. As much as it kills me to do it, so much of what I am doing these days is web-based. It doesn’t matter if it’s Windows or Linux, my students will not notice a difference when they access the wiki or their blogs. Frankly, so much of what I do is Internet based. I had given thought to creating a network reminiscent of old school token ring networks where everything connects to itself with no central server of any nature. Then I would use one of the peer computers as sort of a KEduca server but only to host the test file so that students could take tests and quizzes in class.

My problem is that I see no major benefit to that as opposed to the current system I have in place of an Internet-based quiz and test center. Once my kids master the login info, they figure the test and quizzes out in no time. So here again, I am having trouble justifying Tux machines that I cannot connect. I am learning that connectedness is becoming more important than hardware.

I suppose more than that, even, I can’t risk connecting a machine and toss myself into the abyss of disobedience. I do not want to take my family down the road that leads away from blessedness. All too often the deepest questions of life are asked in the context of regret. Hopefully not here.

So I need help, faithful audience. Help me justify Linux in my classroom! Here is a refresher as to my circumstance.

1. I teach Spanish and Latin to sixth graders in South Carolina. I have kids for roughly 22 class meetings total, with a new crop of students each 9 weeks.

2. I am currently working on a Wiki with my students, which they are enjoying greatly.

3. My students are also bloggers, although the semantics of this may change next nine weeks. Maybe a class blog instead of individual blogs. More on that later…

4. All of their tests and quizzes are taken online. See the Online Quizzes link on the left.

So I maintain that I cannot justify using Linux in my situation. Windows 98 works fine, these machines don’t fuss and I can still use Firefox as opposed to Internet Explorer. And Audacity runs on 98 with no issues as best I can tell.

So here I sit, hurting after having written all of this, especially since I am playing with a new copy of Dreamlinux with XGL which is particularly cool. It looks remarkably like my newly updated Mac with 10.4.8! Dock and all.

It’s your turn now. Any good reason to keep a few machines in a local area network without Internet connectedness? Or should I just give in and secretly use Linux and my Mac to power my classroom from home? I had thought about a local Moodle server in class, but see no reason to.

Do you have any good thoughts on the matter?

 

 Open Source Classroom dot com Podcast Episode 9 - Switching back to Windows [11:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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I did a quick Google search of the following search term linux +education just to see what it came up with. You see, this afternoon has been spent by me trying to determine just what resources are out there in the open source in education world. The conclusion is that there is not a whole lot, let alone much that has been recently updated. I was disappointed to say the least. Now I know of a number of Linux websites that are dedicated to different distros, but I wanted specifically a US-based open source for education site. Not many.

I did come across this news article from an Indian news source. I felt like the verbiage was indicative of the current state of affairs…

“OSS offers these people a better opportunity to avail the technology as it can be made available at a cheaper rate. Another benefit of this software is that in India, a large volume of rural population does not understand English, this Doftware can be converted into local languages, as the source code of the software is made available along with the program,” she says.

The governments of countries around the world like India, Brazil, South Africa, Vietnam, Malaysia and China have either started to adopt or feel the need for specific policies on OSS.

I got to thinking that it is almost a shame that the governments of third world countries are so willing to try new and revolutionary ideas based on sheer need and yet we are so unwilling. Why is it that so much time and effort is being spent on developing Linux and open source for the third world and not here? Simple answer!

They want it. They need it.

We resist it.

Of course I don’t mean all of us, but it is remarkable how much we resist change, let alone a revolution of operating system. If you’ve been following my blog at all, you’ll see that I have embarked on a journey to resurrect old computers for use in my classroom because I can’t seem to get any new ones. A familiar problem? Tragically. But I’m not complaining. I am doing more with these old machines than most folks do with an entire lab! I say that not to boast, but rather to shed light on an unfortunate problem. So what it the solution?

We press on. I intend to try and roll out some more resources via this site for educators interested in beginning a search for open source software. I have been blogging on this topic for a few months now, and now I think it is time to take it to the next level. I am going to begin a wiki or a resource page or a something (suggestions welcome) to try and help other teachers who maybe can get their hands on old computers to revolutionize.

I feel like the folks in developing countries are not just taking advantage of this flattening world, they are helping to flatten it by force! Can’t say that I blame them.

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I was thrilled with the comments that I read following yesterday’s posting about Linux distros in the classroom. I am in the process of trying a couple of them, and I wanted to put it out there for everyone else.

I downloaded and burned the ISO for FreeEduc-CD and ran it as a Live CD, albeit for just a few moments. Now, I am a Spanish and Latin teacher by trade, and speak wonderfully fluent Spanish. Troublingly, it didn’t help me too much when I realized that the ISO I had burned was in French. It is also worth noting that the ISO alone weighed in at just under 700 MB. That doesn’t sound too thin. I know it is geared towards primary schools, but I am not sure it has anything on Edubuntu, especially once you add Childsplay to the mix. That, along with GCompris provide lots of wonderful educational software. I have explored the apt-get repositories as well as the Synaptic Package Manager (the GUI for apt-get) and once you enable unsupported software, you find a plethura of quality educational tools. But I’ll save that for another post, detailing Edubuntu and all of the fun stuff available for fairly simple installs.

So last night I downloaded Puppy Linux at the suggestion of my wonderful commenters and booted it for just a second. I liked how quickly it booted and the nagging configuration questions did not bother me. Tragically I was interrupted by bicycle time, as my precious 4 year old calls it, so I went trotting off in my shorts and tennis shoes to get a little exercise. So here I sit in my classroom, waiting for Puppy to “woof” signaling that it has completed bootup.

I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for your readership!

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