Linux Format

[kingswood]

Do any of you get Linux Format? Next to "Linux Journal" I think this is a great resource for all things Penguin. Anyway, in this month's magazine there's a great article on PHP Website Authentication...worth a look!

 

Next month they are looking at Linux in education. Just a heads-up.

 

Did I mention that the cover disk this month has a copy of Knoppix 4 on it? OK. I just did.

 

I don't work for them, honest!

 

Paul

[MkII]

Thanks for the heads up.

[Geoff]

I got a few issues of Linux Format when it first came out. I gave up on it in the end because it never told me anything I didn't know. I just get Linux Journal now.

[Dos_Box]

I can't remeber if it was Linux Journal or Linux Format who had a massive Linux in Education article early this year. They had many valid points including (my favorite) why do no schools actually teach computers? Why do they teach what used to be called office skills and call it ICT when almost no real knowlege about computers, how they work and how to make them work correctly (via programming). Not since computer studies in the 80's has a programming language been taught as part of the curriculum and examined as part of the coursework.

All valid I feel.

[Geoff]

I think that was Linux Format.

[russdev]

ict is not about skills and not about computers it is about correct usage of computers now..

 

for example whats right software to do presenatation in and what colours shall i use/ contrast/ does it go with audience i am speaking to etc

 

by fact you learn above you learn skills as well...

 

as for program lang bit of cop out when i was in school we spent 5 weeks learning qbasic

 

russ

[Dos_Box]

for example whats right software to do presenatation in and what colours shall i use/ contrast/ does it go with audience i am speaking to etc

 

That falls down instantly when all they get is a choice of Powerpoint and Office.

[Ric_]

for example whats right software to do presenatation in and what colours shall i use/ contrast/ does it go with audience i am speaking to etc

 

That falls down instantly when all they get is a choice of Powerpoint and Office.

Everyone knows that Publisher is best for everything

[Geoff]

MS Publisher makes my breakfast daily!

[Dos_Box]

It makes a good dogs dinner!

[pshuttle]

Hehe well less kids with specialist IT knowledge = great news for us!

 

But that is a bit short sighted I supose. Never mind

[linuxgirlie]

Karoshi is going to be one of the items meantioned in next months Linux Format....I can't wait

[kingswood]

I'll download that and have a play over half term I think...but I can't see most schools changing to that solution if they have already heavily invested in a Windows-based network (with licensing, applications, teacher-training time etc etc). Looks good though...

 

Paul

[Geoff]

Difference is you have to keep investing in a Windows based network year on year. Linux is a one off migration cost.

[Dos_Box]

Unless you read the Micorosft Windows vs Linux cost guides where they begin to put a price on the air you breath whilst using Linux to add 'cost' to a free product. M$ air of course is free!

[Geoff]

Yeah, I always read those when I need a good laugh.

[kingswood]

...there is a good replacement for Windows. It's called Mac OS X.

 

:-)

 

Paul

[mac_shinobi]

lmao @ what paul said !!

 

and you know why I am laughing

 

Lets just say it isnt cos I think macs are shit far from it actually *GRINS*

[Geoff]

No, fair enough. I'm all for giving Macs to the ignorant.

[mac_shinobi]

Talk about putting your foot in it lol, mac os x is unix and bsd combined and linux originally came from unix at least linux is based on unix from what I gathered so does that mean you are ignorant as well lol ?

 

Maybe I am missing something

[Geoff]

Mac OS X is based on BSD/NextStep with lots of code from both. Apple only realy wrote the GUI, Aqua.

 

Linux is written from scratch but emulates most UNIX subsystems such as POSIX and Unix98. It would be fair to say its a Unix clone.

[kingswood]

Grrrrrr....lol!

 

I actually use Linux- have since Caldera 1.2 (I think it was), and enjoy the freedom of it greatly. I helped get a business in the area set up with a SAMBA server and Linux clients (RedHat 7) and passed my HNC modules using Linux for just about everything (including assembly programming). My most-read book is "The Cathedral and the Bazaar", which you probably know a lot of.

 

I use OpenOffice 2 at home on my Windows system, and sometimes the Neo version on Mac OS X. Open Source Software makes up some 80% of my installed applications on OS X (I use FINK and X11). I even have KDE running on OS X. I like it.

 

In fact, what I know about networking OS X mainly came from Liux use- NIS/NFS, SAMBA, DNS, DHCP and IP addressing. My first little mail server was using Sendmail, and the first time I used Linux I had to edit printcap files. A big deal for someone who only ever used Windows 95 before then! And I also ran a BeOS system. Very nice too.

 

For all that though, Mac OS X is a far superior offering. And that's why I changed in 2002 from using Linux as my primary OS to Mac OS X. I bought a G4 466 from eBay and loved every minute of it. The interface is surely good, but the melding of interface, Apple components (Quartz etc), and the hardware is simply stunning. Ease of use, power, stability, and a solid company behind it make it a good bet for business and home use. And oh- its Unix underpinnings mean that it comes with great security and stability by default. Its use of OSS projects means that the average user (although most is hidden from them) get a "Windows-like" experience but without the need (if they don't want to) to recompile software (or kernels;-), fight to get hardware working, worry about not being able to use the "industry standard" software (Office) and the ability to enable simple neworking and see it just work.

 

Did I mention the creativity that Macs bring to the educational market? The media and rich tools that come with OS X (iLife and Final Cut to name two) seem to bring students alive a little with the concept of actually being able to create something valuable. Our two daughters spent their summer involved in the Apple Summer Camp at Birmingham and created movies, wrote music, and manipulated images---and their faces said it all.

 

Linux is a fine OS for sure and every week I get excited by its advances in graphics, GUI, applications and core components. It's becoming a serious networking contender in the enterprise market (has been for some time), but in education I think it has a lot to do. Areas such as documentation, training, and support mean that although the circular argument of "TCO" can be played by both sides, in reality the difficulty of actually just using Linux at home tells people in honesty that it will probably be harder at work (when you have servers and so on to deal with too).

 

That may not be the case (and I wonder whether it is), but that's the perception.

 

Enjoy your Linux. If you have it in school (and I want to do that too), then more power to you and cost savings to boot. But seriously, saying that OS X is for the ignorant just isn't cutting it anymore. It is, at its heart, Unix. There's no escaping it at all. It makes a powerful development and sciprting environment; runs the leading web server software; handles MySQL extremely well; dishes out SMB services with SAMBA superbly; can be LDAP and PDC- all while looking good and having the support of Apple as a company behind it.

 

The problems for Linux are perception for sure, but that is a difficult and subjective field to deal with. And we know what teachers are like with their Office apps....

 

Paul

[MkII]

I like the dig at mac's. Apple were ellitist in my opinion, and that fostered a better than the rest of us attitude from those that could afford them. Apple were forced to come into line after M$'s open architecture plan blew them out of the water. Thank God that happenned.

 

For all the reasons kingswood quotes I agree that the o/s is deserving of credit. One day soon Unix will rule the world i'm sure. [bTW I hear China has really taken Linux on board and when they hit the internet M$'s market share will be halved. + the 80% software development in India is reportedly done on Linux too, a reason why M$ came up with .net - platform/cpu independant.] With even M$ switching it's core.

 

I've had discussion that Linux never has been intended for the desktop market, but for the tweaker/ entheusiast. Things are happenning, but I agree - we're not there yet.