RE: [Sheflug] Sheffield Green Party: Linux for Sheffield City Council

["Chris Johnson" <chris [at] xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Dear Shef-LUGers,
>
> Sheffield Green Party is considering adding "Linux for Sheffield
> City Council" to its manifesto for the local elections in May/June
> this year.
>
> One proposal is that Sheffield City Council use Linux initially in
> schools.
>
> I'm looking for pointers to other city councils, schools in
> Sheffield etc who have explored or implemented this.
>
> Basically I'm a Linux enthusiast and I'm trying to assess, is it a
> feasible, sensible thing to put in a manifesto now?
>
> Thanks
>
> Julian
>
> --
> Julian Briggs, Director of IT, Department of Computer Science,
> University of Sheffield, Regent Court, 211 Portobello St,
> Sheffield S1 4DP, UK
> Phone +44 (0) 114-222-1851. Fax +44 (0) 114-222-1810
> j.briggs [at] sheffield.ac.uk  http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/~julian


The major reasons schools cite for not switching to Linux on the desktop,
certainly on PCs used for teaching, are (not in any order):
- The current lack of software with the same functionality as that available
for windows.  There is currently little software available for Linux that
closely matches the solutions available for Windows.  Not all school
software runs well under WINE.  Schools with a current investment in Window$
software will not want to pay out again for new software/sw development.
- Website resources.  Some school web site resources are written in non
standard HTML and will only work 100% correctly (????) if the browser is
Internet Explorer.
- There are still a lot of teachers who are not completely comfortable with
using Window$. A switch to a new OS would set them back years and devalue
all the effort they have been putting into training over the past years.
- Lack of support.  Many schools already have existing support contracts and
many have very good relationships with their IT support provider.  There are
probably not enough Linux support organisations in Sheffield to support the
requirements of all Sheffield schools.
- On the admin side of the school I think there will be even more reluctance
to retrain (I may just be cynical but personal experience has shown me that
many school office staff do not relish the thought of retraining or CPD).
Schools and the LEA also have a huge investment in using the SIMS suite of
applications for school management.  The latest version of SIMS runs on
Microsoft SQL server and apparently will not run on standards compliant/Open
source database servers.

Another council lead/government lead initiative in schools that doesn't
reflect the needs and wants of the schools or provide any easily measurable
benefit over existing systems will, in my opinion, not be met with smiling
faces, open arms and enthusiasm.

Certainly I think it would be very wise to speak to current suppliers of
Linux for education in Sheffield to get an alternative view.  There are
certainly solutions already being offered to Sheffield schools that allow
the running of Linux AND windows with very little or no disruption to the
existing ICT infrastructure.  I think it would also be wise for the council
to fund an investigation in to the feasibility of switching to open source
by paying for the development of open source solutions equivalent to the
solutions currently used in schools.  There are already projects underway
for school management software suites and one very early release was nearly
demonstrated at the FLOSSIE conference at the end of February.

Linux solution providers for education in Sheffield include:

(this isn't a promotion or recommendation, nor is this list meant to be a
complete list)

Spyderworks (www.spyderworks.co.uk)
Hypercube Systems (www.hypercubesystems.co.uk)

I would welcome a reduction in the solitary use of M$ software and I think
that it should happen.  A teaching and learning environment that makes
pupils aware of the alternatives and encourages the user to choose
appropriate solutions/applications to achieve their objectives is a much
better idea than being trained to use M$.  Having a policy of "Switching to
Linux" may not be popular in all eyes.  Certainly a promotion of the idea
that Linux is OK, is not a step out on a limb or a great risk, is a good
alternative and offers much of the same functionality, more reliability,
less licensing costs, a broad range of free software and isn't just used by
(no offence to anyone on the list (or off it) intended) "beardy anorak (and
sandal) wearing coffee drinking nocturnal hackers" can do lots to promote
it.  Primary level use of ICT is very different to the use in further
education, as is the experience and skill level of the tutors, lecturers and
teachers.  Many schools aim to train their pupils with skills relevant to
the real world after education and if companies or employers in Sheffield
are not looking for ICT skills in the use of FLOS Software the skills will
be redundant.

I think leading by example is the way to go as it not only shows schools
that the council has confidence in the solution but it also creates a large
local employer with requirements for skills in the use of Linux based
systems that schools can then use as a more compelling reason to teach
skills in an alternative O/S.  'Forcing' (?) Linux into schools initially
without first increasing its use at council office level where the switch to
Linux will have less impact, is more easy to support and has many other
benefits will be seen as a) cost cutting in schools, b) using schools as
guinea pigs.

Certainly where large numbers of PCs are installed in Councils for nothing
more taxing than word processing, email and internet there seems little
reason now to pay for a M$ solution when a solution which is at least
equivalent if not better exists with no licensing costs.  Even if the
initial move is only away from M$ Office towards OpenOffice.org so that the
switch to an alternative OS at a later date is then easier.

The companies listed above have many successful Linux based solutions
already in use schools but I think the uptake from schools of this 'new'
technology could be a lot faster.

Hope this helps.

ChrisJ

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