Free Software solutions

If you are only using your computer for emails, document writing and maybe spreadsheets, why pay for an expensive operating system when you can do the work with free software?

We prefer to spend our money on computer hardware.

As an educator, you probably have several computers all running a Microsoft Windows operating system. If you have not already done so, you will probably have to consider changing to Windows Vista in the near future, and this may mean a lot of money must again be spent on upgrades, licences and later on software as well.

Did you know that you can replace all that software for free?!

After a casual discussion we had with a teacher concerning the use of computers in their school, we were stunned to learn that they can not afford to teach computer related subjects at their schools due to expensive software and licences. This is not acceptable, so at Linux In Schools we decided to start a campaign to promote the use of free, Open Source solutions to schools.

We know that change is usually met with resistance to the unknown. What we offer is a correspondence course to equip you to be able to implement the free software in your lab and to walk the road with you to a better and more productive future using Linux as an operating system. Linux will allow you to utilise the existing computers at your school -- cheaper, faster and virus free -- running on a system far less prone to errors. It will allow each learner his/her own workspace on a computer, without any hassles to the teacher to clean and maintain each computer before and after the changing of classes.

Consider this :

1. Microsoft is a commercial company, they have to sell to stay alive. You will hear a lot of negative remarks about Linux. As a free operating system, is Linux after all unfair competition.
2. Linux is free and owned by the world, meaning you already own it - you just have to start using it!
3. With Microsoft you buy an operating system, then you buy (separately) an office suite, then buy other programs, then get virus protection, etc. etc.
4. Debian Linux comes with over 18 000 free programs, including two Office suites that can read and write in the Microsoft Office format.
5. Linux offers built-in virus protection, you can not get viruses!
6. Linux offers a secure, separate username for each user, this means everyone in your house or school can have their own folder for their work, and the teacher's work -- even exam papers -- will not be visible to any learner or colleague, even if they use the same computer. So even if your computers get stolen, the data is unaccessible without the passwords.
7. Linux is based on Unix, in worldwide use since 1969. Windows is around from 1984, with network support since 1995.
8. You can install Linux on as many machines as you wish, meaning that if you have a copy of Linux that you copied from a friend, that CD -- costing you perhaps R2 -- can be used to legally install the operating system on your computer, your friend's, your boss's , your employees', your business, etc. without paying anything to anyone, as long as the CD does not wear out!
9. Linux will always be free, it does not belong to anyone.
10. Have you heard of a Windows or MS Word fan club? There are Linux User Groups (fanclubs) in most main cities in the world.

There are many Linux distributions available. Our course and support deals with GNU/Debian Linux, because

1. it gives 3 DVD's worth of software - over 18 000 programs
2. no need to upgrade every few months or years - continual upgrades
3. very stable programs -- no error messages -- the system will not "crash"
4. worldwide support
5. very easy for non-technical persons, meaning that with a bit of guidance, anyone will be able to get this working.

The Debian operating system can be bought from us, another distributor or downloaded from the internet. Please note that you will not be paying for the free software, but for the service of copying, testing, packaging and postage.



Our other available services include

• a webhosting service, for schools or individuals
• separate available printed courses in Astronomy, LaTeX and Webpage development
• talks and workshops on Linux, Astronomy and Mathematics

If you do not have internet at school don't worry, our courses are designed with you in mind! We download and supply all the applicable software and upgrades that are freely available on the internet. Once you have an internet connection at the school, no extra software is required to enable you to connect to the internet. You will already have everything installed - integrated into Debian.

Our courses can be used by all the teachers on your staff. This means that even with a staff of only 10 people using the course, you pay less than R100 per person for a full course over the year! You will not get a better deal than this!

If you are not interested in the Linux software, you may subscribe to the Astronomy, LaTeX and/or Webpage development courses separately.

There are a couple of reasons why we consider Linux to be more suitable for school (and business) use:

1. It is free. Free to download or buy from a vendor for about R30 (Ubuntu) to around R130 (Debian). Debian offers you over 18000 programs!!
2. There are programs suitable for every aspect of your school
3. It is really easy to setup a network
4. Licence free use. It does not matter if you run this for your house with a single user, a school with 50 computers, or a business stretching over 9 provinces with 3000 employees. You can use the same disc or make copies of it and install the same operating system. No fees payable to anyone.
5. Your work is private. Each of the users on a computer have his/her own account, with predermined groups allowed to use the same programs/resources.
6. You do not have virus problems anymore
7. Linux gives you a choice. You have a single version of some other operating systems, but you have over 60 different flavours of Linux. It is not confusing, as all have the same basic programs, but there are smaller gadgets and driver differences between them.

We are so accustomed to using our computers in the Microsoft manner, that many think that all good programs must use a graphical interface. That means, you click on an icon, and a nice screen pops up. This is what Microsoft got us to use. On Linux it is be the same, but what you see is actually just the user interface to the real program. In Linux's case, the real program that is being executed in many cases are totally separate from this interface, meaning you now have a choice : you can also run the program from a script!

The strength of Linux is in its security though. Having a huge amount of people using the same computer (like schools) or having them share resources like programs or data, makes Linux an obvious choice.



I seriously think that if my kids aged between 16 and 4 (in 2008) can use Linux sucessfully, so can office and school users. To be honest, Linux can be tricky at times. BUT it certainly not difficult! If you are using a computer to type letters and make spreadsheets, you can use Linux - have a look at openoffice.

If your idea of using your home computer is to only click on the icons and then your computer must work, make peace with Microsoft Windows and endure the data loss, blue screens and error messages. Linux is probably not for you.

If you still need convincing, look at this webpage for diverse opinions about the benefits of changing to Linux. Also a teacher that made the change, has his story for you here.