Talk:Education

From openSUSE

James wrote:

"* I would like to ask engineers to volunteer some time to look at the OpenSchool Server in order to create a similar installation script/pattern for OpenSUSE. http://www.extis.de/oss.html Could this script be built into the "add on" process? Could someone help set the structure up for an "add on" cd? "

As a member of the OpenSchoolServer Team, I don't understand that question. The OpenSchoolServer is a SLES9 based Schoolserver including thinks like:

• Webbased Administration Frontend for teachers including:
  • User Administration (including a easy configurable way for mail-, and internet-access, ...)
  • System Administration (including Serverstatistics and a set of useful configuration options, ...)
  • Educational tasks (like deploing files, configurable access to the internet, to printers and the client workstations for each schoolroom, ...)
• Groupware-Access (eGroupware or OpenExchange - choosable during installation) for all users

JT writes: Teachers don't and won't administer these things, unless they have to, I have been doing it for them for 13 years in several school districts. Although the way you offer them is beyond cool and should be an available option under "web-based administration" choices, and as a prominent part of the 30 seat ltsp system build pattern. Allowing the poorest of schools in on a worldwide student records data format that could come from adding your product and Centre, as well as other things, to the Edu-CD.

• Moodle

JT writes: Your instructional and student records management software offerings begin and end here.

• Joomla (a well known CMS) - Both with Single Login

JT writes: redundant with Moodle installed

• Home-Access to all Webfrontends, if the administrator allows it

JT writes: very cool

• An imaging tool for restoring (Windows-)Clients over the network

JT writes: this one is better left to Zenworks!

• An autoinstallation tool for an automated installation of openSUSE Clients

JT writes: already a part of opensuse and SLES

• Single-Sign on for all users

JT writes: your technology and expertise here could unify the three core products schools really need!

• ...

All for free download (currently version 2.1 is available, version 2.5 including the imaging tool is in RC phase for testers). So I don't see any reason to release a "script" when the whole OpenSchoolServer is available. A "To-Do" could be to transfer the 10 packages, which make a SLES9 to an OpenSchoolServer, to an up-to date openSUSE distribution - but most schools need a stable Server with long term support. And this is what the Enterprise products are for. So the next OpenSchoolServer can be SLES10 based - and, if Novell agrees, even be available for free download.

So please explain your wishes.... ;-)

JT writes: I guess my wishes are for your product not to be it's own distribution but an extension of the OpenSUSE\SLE line up with an OES\e-Directory enabled version. I can't imagine it's cost effective for your team to have to manage an entire distro. Reconfiguring the OpenSchool Server as an "add-on" solution Would free up your resources to concentrate on the entire "edu-cd" and the things not covered to date, like Centre\Moodle\OpenBiblio authentication integration (single sign-on)and desktop software. As it is now, your product mostly concentrates on traditional technical issues and at that it exceeds all competitors capabilities(in some cases even better than SLES9 does), I would like to see it be integrated with more "educator" tools and educational software. If it where the core of the edu-cd project it would loan us those processes you have already perfected like the Q&A installation routine, the web based admin pages and many more.

I find, that it is still SLES9 based, to be a deficeit, while if Extis where using the buildservice and the "add-on" process it would already be 10.2\SLE compatible. If your product were tied to OpenSUSE it would get world wide exposure and Novell would not have to do anything special to allow it to be free. With a free unsupported and a commercially supported version, Extis would not only get an entirely new userbase with a highly public free version, it would gain Novell itself as a customer when Novell takes a long term support version to it's K12\EDU customers in it's SLA program.

Thanks for all your efforts, James Tremblay

Comments

• Is the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) something to be included? As far as I know, openSUSE 10.3 will be working on integrating ltsp5 or muekow as it is codenamed, refer to #How To for LTSP 4.2

-- lrupp 16:35, 18 April 2007 (UTC) please see Article in IT-Director. If Novell develops an own Thin Client solution, I don't think they will support LTSP

• Besides the Linux Thin client Server Project (ltsp) Linux Diskless Clients (openslx) could be provided. openslx is able to run audio, video (for Google Earth, Voip, watching videos) and provides 3D desktops such as Beryl. But it requires more powerfull clients than ltsp. The project is working on a wireless solution too. The website is mainly in German, but there is an English introduction and an English spoken emaillist. The project is distribution agnostic, but suse is their primary distribution for development.

• Is schooltool something to be included? All free and open source school software should be included in the repository, with the goal of creating installation patterns that help schools use opensource and the products they choose to meet the needs of administration.

• Site@school is a content management system focussed on primary schools. Definately worth to be included in the suse-edu cd.

-- lrupp 16:35, 18 April 2007 (UTC) For the last two questions: YES. All tools are worth to be included :-) But we need to think about the "how" bevore we do this. If we say "just create a simple package and let the administrator configure the tools (including setting up the databses) - thats something we can easily do. If we say "create a package which - after installation - creates a "ready to use" application, this needs some more things to do.For example: For this we need a passwort - RPM currently don't allow user interaction during the installation of a package. So this must be done after the installation. But when? If the user does a "fresh install" of his PC, you don't like to be asked for a passphrase or something after each of perhaps 100 packages. Even we have to think about users who just install in textmode - with no graphical enviroment... Questions over questions.... -- jasujt \ James -- I would like for the time being to create as many packages that place the software in the file system correctly with the correct dependencies and desktop\menu shortcuts\links to further instructions and the online documentation so the end user doesn't have to fish around looking for what to do next, when the project is more established we can work on specific groups that install as "ready to run" I.E. the School ERP programs Centre or CLaSS and Moodle\openbiblio would be a "ready to run" group.