Knowing If Linux Is Right For You

For cash-strapped schools, as well as businesses with tight pursestrings, open source technology may offer an appealing choice over costly proprietary software.

As the current economic slump pinches state funding, a small but growing number of schools are experimenting with open source software developed and distributed for free by international organizations comprising thousands of programmers.

In contrast to commercial software, open source software plays a very small role in school districts' technology plans. Market research firm IDC says Linux, the popular open source operating system sold by several small vendors, accounts for only one-half of one percent of total operating system revenue each year. Put in perspective, this amounts to about two days worth of Microsoft's revenue from Windows.

Flexibility is among the reasons school IT professionals like Linux. It runs on many types of hardware platforms, even older 486 and Pentium computers that are still used in education. For the most part, schools are using Linux computers to provide certain types of network services, such as printer and Internet access, as well as e-mail and file storage.In lesser use today is Linux on the desktop, where the graphical interfaces developed by Microsoft and Apple still rule. Nevertheless, desktop alternatives, including substitutes for the word processing and spreadsheet applications found in Microsoft Office, are available through the open source community, as well.

Some schools are also using Linux to run networks of thin clients, computers that don't have hard drives and thus can't run applications on their own. Instead, application processing is done on a central server and the results are delivered to the thin client. The advantage of such Linux-based networks, in addition to their reliability, is the potential to bring hardware and maintenance costs down. Almost any old computer can be used as a client, and all software upgrades can be handled on the central server.

Despite the advantages of open source software, there are trade-offs. For starters, technical support is not available through an 800 number. Instead, users must go to Web sites to obtain upgrades, patches, and support from open source organizations. Also, there's a steep learning curve associated with setting up and managing Linux-based networks. While source code is available with all open source products, it often takes an expert programmer to customize applications to meet a school's needs.

Still, the potential cost savings is attractive enough to consider open source, especially if a school has a strong technology team in place. To give you an idea of what's available, we've compiled a sampling of popular products.

The Apache HTTP Server, developed by the Apache Software Foundation, is the most-used Web server on the Internet. The free software can deliver Web pages from a Linux, Unix, or Windows computer. The foundation says its current version, 2.0.44, is the most secure and highest-performing version of Apache available today.The GNOME Desktop and Developer Platform, a graphical user interface developed by the GNOME Foundation, includes an open source file manager called Nautilus and dozens of utilities, applications, and games. K Desktop Environment, or KDE, is another open source GUI for Linux and other Unix operating systems.

The K12 Linux Terminal Server Project's free server software, based on Red Hat Linux, enables users to build a network of thin-client computers and includes a choice of either KDE or GNOME open source desktop applications. In addition, K12LTSP offers a desktop product that provides access to applications running on Windows 2000 or Windows NT servers. k12ltsp.org Lindows, a Linux-based desktop operating system sold for a base price of $129, provides a simplified user interface for Linux and tools to make it easier for the average PC user to install and run a variety of open source applications, some of which can read files created in common Windows applications.

MandrakeSoft, based in Paris, sells Mandrake Linux version 9.0, which comes with several educational applications, including math and word games, typing tutor programs, and a desktop planetarium. Prices start at $30.

Red Hat can help schools adopt Linux while eliminating the risks associated with going it alone. The software maker sells both server-side and desktop versions of Linux and the technical support needed to build an open source computer network. Red Hat 8.0, the latest version of the company's OS, has a desktop edition starting at $39.95 and a server edition starting at $149.95.

Samba allows a Linux server to be used as a file server to Windows desktops. The free application can be used with any modern PC or other hardware, including old 486 machines.FILTERING TOOLS

DansGuardian is a Web content filter that blocks sites based on a variety of methods, including phrase matching, URL filtering, and PICS, a content rating system endorsed by the World Wide Web Consortium. The filter runs on several open source operating systems, including Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD, as well as Mac OS X and Solaris, a Unix-based OS sold by Sun Microsystems.

SquidGuard filtering software can limit Web access to a list of acceptable Web servers or URLs. The freeware can also block URLs matching a list of regular expressions or words; allow IT staff to set access levels based on time of day, day of the week, and date; and enforce different rules for different user groups.

ATutor is a Web-based content management system that enables educators to quickly assemble instructional materials for posting on the Web. An ATutor course site includes chat rooms, assignment pages, and search tools.

Fabula, a free software package for teaching foreign languages, lets students and teachers combine images, sounds, and texts in two languages into interactive stories.The KDE Edutainment Project offers a variety of educational software and games in the fields of astronomy, chemistry, languages, and mathematics. KDE is run by the open source community and is not tied to a vendor.

Linux Letters and Numbers is an educational learning game for children two years old and up. Through the use of pictures, the software helps kids learn letters and numbers and gain spelling, vocabulary, and computer skills.

Moodle, short for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, is software for producing Internet-based courses and Web sites. The program runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS, and includes modules for managing online courses, forums, quizzes, and more.

OpenOffice is an open source productivity suite that's a free alternative to Microsoft Office. Released to the open source community by Sun Microsystems, OpenOffice includes a word processor, HTML editor, event planner, e-mail client, and Web browser, as well as programs for spreadsheets, databases, drawing, presentations, and business graphics. The software can read and write Microsoft Office and other file formats.

Antone Gonsalves, former teacher and senior editor at InformationWeek, is a freelance technology writer based in San Francisco.The story of one educator's crusade to increase technology access at his school.

Three years ago, inner-city teacher Dave Prentice got hold of 17 used computers-all without operating systems. A local bank donated the old 486 and Pentium machines, but wiped the hard drives clean for security reasons. Without an operating system, the hardware amounted to some very large paperweights.

Adding the computers to his math classroom would nearly double the number of PCs that were in Warren Easton High School, a predominantly African-American school in a working-class New Orleans neighborhood. But the district didn't have the money to help Prentice set up a bunch of Windows-based computers. So Prentice turned to a free version of Red Hat Linux and before the end of the school year had 14 computers on the Internet-making his the only classroom in his school with more than one machine connected to the Web. Prentice also spent about $1,000 of his own money for the hard drives, network interface cards, memory, cables, hubs, and other items needed to set up a computer lab with the machines.

A lot has changed since then. Prentice started teaching chemistry this year, and his new classroom's tiered seats and too few electrical outlets make it impossible to run his computers, which now number 19. And the new math teacher wasn't interested in learning about Linux, so as a result the computers have been sitting in cold storage.

In the meantime, Prentice has been experimenting with turning the computers into thin clients. He plans to use one of his computers as the server, loading it with the Linux network operating system. "The challenge is getting the first client running. Once you do, the rest are a piece of cake because they're all about the same," says Prentice. "Linux is very good once it's running, but getting it up is user vicious."Unfortunately there's no technical support, other than through the kindness of strangers on the Internet. The lack of support remains a major drawback to Linux adoption. "You need support beyond the Internet, like a local user group that could come on-site and help," says Prentice. Nevertheless, he remains a Linux booster and believes his cash-strapped school district could save quite a bit of money using open source. "You just can't get their ear to convince them to switch to Linux and hire someone to support it," he says.

Online Resources

While not always as easy as dialing an 800 number, the Web offers lots of technical support and information on open source software. Here are some sites to help you get started.

The K12Linux in Schools Project provides information to install and configure the Linux operating system within a school. Besides all the needed technical information, you can find helpful case studies of schools that have deployed open source software.

Open Source Now, backed by Red Hat, provides material on freeware, including an Open Source 101 primer for newbies.Schoolforge is dedicated to promoting open source software to meet all of a school's computer needs, whether it's educational software or network and desktop operating systems.

SEUL/Edu, which stands for Simple End User Linux/Education, is a discussion group for people interested in using Linux for K-12 education. In addition, the site collects resources to help in the development of open source software for schools.