Soon to be in production environment
Forum: User Feedback
Topic: Soon to be in production environment
started by: a_hardwick
Posted by a_hardwick on June 04 2004,21:17
I am on the local Board of Ed here in NJ and our district has technology and money issues (who doesn't?). I setup a HD install of DSL on an old PC in my house and then installed Zope/Plone and exposed it to the internet so my superintendent and administrator could take a look. They seem to see the value in not paying $10s of thousands of my tax dollars for "a website" when they can get document/content management that doubles as a website for essentially nothing. Thanks DSL.
Posted by John on June 05 2004,01:39
Hello a_hardwick, I am particularly interested in how DSL is being used in the public sector/Education. I would be grateful if you can email me with details about what you are doing. Thanks!email:
john _at_ damnsmalllinux.org
Posted by virus on June 08 2004,06:11
Would you care to share the information as I would like to see how it performs over the internet.
Posted by ke4nt1 on June 08 2004,12:22
I found this on slashdot about Sun star office/java in canadian schools..This would be a great program for DSL as well, since OO runs so well on it..
< http://www.zdnet.com.au/insight....,00.htm >
73
ke4nt
Posted by a_hardwick on June 08 2004,19:12
Ke4,I saw that item too and have been talking to them about replacing MS stuff with OSS. We had a meeting last night and were presented with a "Technology plan" for the district that is seriously wanting (I had no input) and makes no mention of security or costs. We (the BOE) are making them (the Administration) fix it. When we make progress, I will post more detail.
TH
see: < http://opensourceschools.org/ >
< http://k12linux.org/contents.html >
Posted by dslfool on June 09 2004,14:30
This is probably going to seem like a REALLY odd question, but for anyone out there introducing or using DSL in a public school setting, has there been an issue with the word "damn" in the name of the distro?DSL could breathe new life into older PCs in the district, but I know sooner or later there'd be a parent (or even a teacher) objecting to the word "damn" on the splash screen. Silly, I know, but where kids are involved stuff like that can be a huge issue.
Has anyone run into this?
Posted by clivesay on June 09 2004,14:34
I don't think that is a silly question at all. I have the same concern since I am refurbishing PC's for kids.
Posted by RoGuE_StreaK on June 10 2004,06:39
Is there a quick and simple way to change the boot so "damn" is replaced by "darn", for such situations?Hehe, could make regional-specific versions - "bloomin' small... ", "wee small...", "crikey, it's a little bugger..."
Posted by dslfool on June 10 2004,06:57
| Quote (RoGuE_StreaK @ June 10 2004,02:39) |
| Hehe, could make regional-specific versions - "bloomin' small... ", "wee small...", "crikey, it's a little bugger..." |
I think the regional versions are a "darn" good idea! For us culturally-deprived users in the States, I prefer "Dang Small".
Posted by davide on June 10 2004,09:24
the only problem is that the distro may be unrecognizable by anyone approaching the pc and being interested/amazed/suprised/delighted: how could he/she know that what he/she is seeing is DSL?but that, it's a good idea, in my opinion.
Posted by a_hardwick on June 10 2004,10:07
As the original poster, I'll admit it never crossed my mind that the name ofthe distro would be a problem. Also, since it will be running headless, as a server,its not an issue. However, I have since installed another copy as a dual boot, with deskop use in mind. I like it. I am asking our Supernintendo to not dispose of the 15 or so pentium PC they were going to toss. They can easily use them as internet appliances in our HS library. I will just need to lock them down pretty good. Its a good point though....maybe an Ed version? with a configurable name?
Posted by monkymind on June 11 2004,03:01
| Quote (dslfool @ June 09 2004,10:30) |
| This is probably going to seem like a REALLY odd question, but for anyone out there introducing or using DSL in a public school setting, has there been an issue with the word "damn" in the name of the distro? DSL could breathe new life into older PCs in the district, but I know sooner or later there'd be a parent (or even a teacher) objecting to the word "damn" on the splash screen. Silly, I know, but where kids are involved stuff like that can be a huge issue. Has anyone run into this? |
If you're implying it is going to be "damned" because it has "damn" in its name - then it could appropriately be called "damned small linux!" (or shortened to "damn small linux")
But seriously: AFAIK Damn can be used as a very mild curse/swear word but also in a complimentary way as in :- "he's a damn good golfer" etc.
Check American Heritage Dictionary for more info .........
< http://www.bartleby.com/61/69/D0016900.html >
Lastly, I note the concern and unease in several posts about potential reactions from teachers/parents. Could someone explain to us non-americans what the dilemma is? Does damn have a secret meaning in american schools?
Cheers
rob
Posted by dslfool on June 11 2004,06:17
Y'know, I'm having a hell of a time writing a response that's neither too long-winded re American standards vs. behavior nor too politically charged - I've scrapped my first four drafts.Being neither a parent nor a school administrator I'll leave it to others to explain more fully, but my observation is that American schools tend to be very conservative regarding the language presented to children, particularly in the early grades. I'm not sure to what degree this is a factor, but I know there are conservative parents who would object to ANY "curse" words being used in a school, whether in a complementary context or not.
As an aside, I grew up in a (now abandoned) Christian belief system in which the word "damn" was to be used only in the context of an action of God. Since "damning" was the purview of God alone, it was considered presumptuous and and sinful for man to appropriate the word for any other useage and therefore the word was not considered only a mild curse. (There was much debate in my family whether I should be allowed to exclaim "Damn!" on stage in a production of "Oliver" when I was a teenager. I went ahead with the line and there was no lightning.)
Again, being neither a parent nor a school employee I have no stake in the matter other than to be in favor of spreading the benefits of Linux in general and DSL in particular. I DON'T think it's worth the effort to purge DSL of the word "damn", but knowing how American schools and parents are I've wondered for months if this has or would be an impediment to being adopted by a school.
Posted by RoGuE_StreaK on June 11 2004,08:31
There definitely shouldn't be an effort to purge "damn" from all versions of DSL, only for custom ones where for some reason or other it may be seen as prudent to do so.Personally, I think half of the coolness of DSL is it's name!
Posted by AwPhuch on June 11 2004,14:38
| Quote (monkymind @ June 10 2004,23:01) | ||
If you're implying it is going to be "damned" because it has "damn" in its name - then it could appropriately be called "damned small linux!" (or shortened to "damn small linux") But seriously: AFAIK Damn can be used as a very mild curse/swear word but also in a complimentary way as in :- "he's a damn good golfer" etc. Check American Heritage Dictionary for more info ......... < http://www.bartleby.com/61/69/D0016900.html > Lastly, I note the concern and unease in several posts about potential reactions from teachers/parents. Could someone explain to us non-americans what the dilemma is? Does damn have a secret meaning in american schools? Cheers rob |
NO...its the touchy feely liberals indocrinating our kids that will have a problem with it...
Cant say the word "damn" in school but they teach about venerial deseases, gay lifestyles, and other things but cant say the word "damn"
I say leave it...if "damn" is the worse word your kids ever hear then they will have lived a good life, and if Damn Small Linux is the 1st OS they get thier hands on (before being corrupted by M$) then they will have lived a "damn" good life!
my $0.02
Brian
AwPhuch
Posted by virus on June 11 2004,14:43
Why change the name? I don't think John is gonna appreciate this alot. In my opinion, the nick 'DSL' should be used for the Edu versions
Posted by clivesay on June 11 2004,14:56
This is an interesting thread. In the US, it really depends where you live. I live in the midwestern US and kids are not even allowed to wear concert t-shirts to school. I think the midwest tends to be pretty conservative. Just the number of churches in my small town is staggering!! It is way into double digits ( I think around 60...maybe more) for a town under 13,000 people. You can't completely change the name. It is too well established now. Many things could be simply edited to DSL in a remaster if John was OK with that. Maybe even offer an alternate DSL boot.img file?
Chris
Posted by WhatThe? on June 11 2004,19:22
| Quote (AwPhuch @ June 11 2004,10:38) |
| NO...its the touchy feely liberals indocrinating our kids that will have a problem with it... |
Huh!?! Liberals are all overly concerned about protecting kids from politically incorrect speech, but they don't give a damn abount "damn". It's conservatives, at least the religious ones, who object to swearing.
Posted by Ekylypse on June 11 2004,21:14
The Word "Damn" being displayed on screen would present a problem in public schools. A child will go home as say his computer says swear words.The parent/guardian of this child would then, withough dubt, bring this to the Board of Edcation/School Board.Anyways, My reason for posting is this
a_hardwick: One of us or more than one could put together a modified version of DSL to put your Schools name \, for instance on the splash screen, as well as installing certain applications. We could also install synaptic so that all applications would be easily updated. If you want something like this, I'm sure that me and a few other guys here wouldn't mind helping you out ;)
Posted by a_hardwick on June 12 2004,00:20
Ekylypse,Thank You. I have been toying with the best/most convenient ways to alter DSL to avoid just the sort of nonsense that is likely to ensue were I to somehow expose little Johnny to the word 'Damn'. I could obviously use a different distro, but I am trying to retofit some 6 or 7 year old hardware and DSL runs really well on older stuff. Plus I really like it. Any assistance would be most welcome. I have been given the OK to pilot some boxes for next year and will be installing (at home, I have free time in the summer). As a relative novice, I want to take this opportunity to learn how to do this myself (and document it, so others can improve on it or do it themselves). I have already installed all the software our school districts Technology Plan and Survey seems to require on my PII laptop (OpenOffice, Firefox, Flash---it took one day). I still need to get reliable printing and some lockdown procedures worked out. Thanks again, I know where to find you when I need help.
Posted by Ekylypse on June 12 2004,00:37
No Problem, My suggestion to you is to set up printers on a lan which in undoubtedly what you do, and get the drivers for thoes printers, allow each computer to print to one designated printer, this would be the best way to go about this. I also suggest that you from the distro you have on your laptop, with Star/Open Office, FireFox and Flash installed, Configure the splash screen so that it fits the educational purpose, and build that as a CD, from there install it on each machine, next you would coonfigure the printer over the LAN, and finally you have a reliable computer network with the applications you need for less than pocket lint ;) - Hope this project turns out as well as planned.
Posted by Ekylypse on June 12 2004,00:43
No Problem, My suggestion to you is to set up printers on a LAN which in undoubtedly what you do, and get the drivers for thoes printers, allow each computer to print to one designated printer, this would be the best way to go about this. I also suggest that you from the distro you have on your laptop, with Star/Open Office, FireFox and Flash installed, Configure the splash screen so that it fits the educational purpose, and build that as a CD, from there install it on each machine, next you would coonfigure the printer over the LAN, and finally you have a reliable computer network with the applications you need for less than pocket lint ;) - Hope this project turns out as well as planned.
Posted by John on June 12 2004,02:11
Hi Everyone,When I started DSL I had no idea it would grow to be as popular as it is. I didn't think that it would ever be worthy of use in education. I am very happy about DSL's success and I know that it's popularity requires some adjustment in my thinking.
For the next release we are going to strip out all references to 'damn small' and move them over to 'dsl'.
The distribution name will remain the same, but we'll take the steps to make the actual boot process kid friendly.