Why Linux fits in Education. at Robert Pogson

LTSP in Education is an article I wrote while struggling with a school system that was desperately trying to keep Windows while being unable to keep it going. In it, I explain that Linux on thin clients is at the right price/performance point for educational organizations that are squeezed between tight budgets both in capital expenditures and maintenance. Using an operating system designed 7 years ago with little regard for security and having a copy of it on hundreds of hard drives all the while trying to respect an end-user licence agreement that is extremely limiting is a recipe for disaster. Some school divisions, being utterly unable to manage this juggling act have adopted Linux and been surprised by stability, ease of software maintenance and the joy of being able to do what needs to be done to educate students. Others refuse to accept the reality that Microsoft is dead, seeming still to fly only by its momentum.

My Mission

My observations and opinions about IT are based on 40 years of use in science and technology and lately, in education. I like IT that is fast, cost-effective and reliable. I do not care whether my solution is the same as yours. I like to think for myself.

My first use of GNU/Linux in 2001 was so remarkably better than what I had been using, I feel it is important work to share GNU/Linux with the world. I have been blessed by working in schools where students and school systems have benefited by good, modular software easily installed in most systems.

I have shown GNU/Linux to thousands of students and hundreds of teachers over the years and will continue in some way doing that until I die in spite of the opposition.