Re: [K12OSN] Pro's and Cons about thin client networks

[aust_txv ACCESS-K12 org]

This is long save for later...

Ditto the list from RKI and I must agree with norbert - training is a small 
issue - in our test lab it took staff ( who mainly use OO/SO, email, and 
Mozilla) months before they were asking "what is this ?" I even had my 
Superintendent use LTSPK12 for about a month...He did fine.

Pro's on thin clients
A: Thins are just better for 98% of our uses for computers in school. You 
still need for fat clients here and there for certain jobs.
B: more control for a district... Principals are asking me more often "when 
and   how many times student X sat at this computer and what web sites 
he/she surfs."  more control x2
C: Flexible - the windows/macos/netware world I came from has specific 
boundaries on what could be done.  Q:"Can we do this X "  A:"No that won't 
work." With thins (LTSP/Linux) I have found the answer to this question is 
"I don't know, I bet we can, let me ask."
D: Covered already but reliability and consistency. Huge ! IMHO
E: Equality.  Do you  have groups who fight over who has what gear ?
"Why does she have a "better" computer than me ?" Thins are all the same.
When funds are tight you don't have to pick which group gets an up-grade -
add more RAM to the servers and everyone gets the up-grade.
F: Forced policy compliance ;)  I  STILL have staff who think its "OK" to 
bring software in from home and load it on school equipment...

Cons of Thins -
A: Most software is still PC/MAC - See C: above  Just because a company in 
their closed tiny minds don't support LINUX, that doesn't mean their 
software is garbage ( just inflexible)  We are having great success with 
the SuccessMaker products from NCSPearson (CCC) as an example.
B: Not cheap up front - Building a GOOD thin network/computing environment
for the scale many schools need is NOT cheap.  Don't go the cheap route in 
real environments it will hurt in the end. Scale is important. LTSPK12 
works in a 20 station lab - out of the box - soooo sweet. I have 1800 
kids/staff and 600 workstations just in my high school.  ;)   This is PRO - 
All 600 workstations have the potential to become a thin client when the 
time comes !!!!
C: Perception  that "Open Source" or FREE license to schools = CHEAP.
"You are not spending any money on technology for our students" See B:
D: There is misconception that using a big name program, produces big time
results.  At higher levels maybe.  GIMP is not Photoshop to a person who 
pushes Photoshop to its extreme. BUT if you want a powerful easy program 
that gets results in 10 weeks what's wrong with GIMP.  I will Script-FU ten 
logos or buttons faster than you can make one in Photoshop ;)  The Drawing 
program in OO is a fine layout tool for simple pages, but clearly not 
PageMaker.  What ever happened to "Framemaker" ?  There was another layout 
program that ran under X and AIX  what was it,  1993ish ?

In a con nutshell -  software choices and initial cost for scale - that's 
it.  Software is a pretty big issue though.  IMHO Linux won't be in the 
same sentence as windows or macintosh in schools until emulation becomes 
super good and easy for win apps and Mac apps OR some big ed. software 
companies start releasing linux aware software in their product lines.  How 
many times has Accelerated Reader appeared on this list alone ?
Be patient, we are progressing nicely.
Stop me now, I'm going to blow...
Hey you LTSPK12 geeks, have a safe and happy holiday :)
TomVentresco
Austintown Local Schools