CyberNerd

Always on top works for me*. It's been a mainstay of most Linux windows managers for the last 10 yrs. *girlfriend doesn't always agree though/

Couple of years - but I've spent considerably longer making sure our systems are platform agnostic (within reason). How they use the technology is really upto the teachers. Sometimes basic web browsing, photographing evidence, writing articles, writing mobile apps in IT, the usual stuff. Nothing really revolutionary. SLT argument was basically one of better parental engagement, and that using ICT is now an integral part to learning. Do you remember the last time you did any research or asked a detailed question not using IT? - me neither. The theory is that it's how children will operate anyway so its in the schools advantage to leverage it.

Motivation was from SLT. I do the system design and implementation - measuring the impact is a few TLR's above my grade! Demographic is affluent, low free school meals. They bring in all sorts. LOTS of android tablets, LOTS of ipads. Some macbooks, some laptops. I've spotted a few kids with linux (geeky kids/parents). The point is that the T+L resources are not inaccessible to them, despite the variety of devices. We don't have a lease system in place. It is compulsory for 6th form students to bring in a device. We have a bursary system for poorer students who get a free netbook. Yr 10 and 11 are encouraged to bring in devices (letter to parents) and yr 7,8,9 can bring them in of they want but there is no requirement. We have a bank of 30 or 40 Linux laptops in the library for kids to borrow if they want.

It's going to be quite a challenge to meet all of your goals, but I can help with some: We have focussed on engaging learning outside of the classroom by using ICT and it required a complete rethink of how content is delivered to students. The main goal for this is accessibility. ie All lessons should be made available and accessible to students at home and in school. This increases parental engagement which is proven to improve grades and improves students access to learning resources for students. This is easier than it sounds because making lessons available means that teachers need to use accessible tools, rather than proprietary formats. Our checklist was pretty much: VLE - no proprietary formats - adhere to the BECTA specification from 2005. Citrix for remote access to specific edu apps (hardly necessary nowadays as we use Google Apps). Google Apps. BYOD Wireless.

We've just bought in another 130 thin client terminals. They are Intel D2500HN ( £43) and 2GB RAM (£13) We are using old cases so the whole unit is £56 + a monitor,KB,Mouse! We PXE boot them to run Chrome/Citrix/RDP/VNC/ The advantage of using faster machines with plenty of RAM ( 2GB is a lot for a TC) is that we can run Chrome from memory - its FAST.

My most used Linux resource is the Redhat (Centos/Scientific Linux) Documentation: https://access.redhat.com/site/documentation/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/ This isn't anything to do with linux but is a very useful read for integration considerations: The Official Samba 3.5.x HOWTO and Reference Guide

I would advise using DMZ. All of our remote access servers are DMZ based. TBH I think that if remote access is anywhere near a priority for your senior team then they will find the money if you come up with some options.

Thats a joke isn't it?

The one thing that would make windows useful would be a package manager!

^like

For you or for her? I'd wager that Mint 15 would be fine for a "computer illiterate" who's used to XP.

Then you'll be doing her a favour with Mint15

Top tip for home jobs: Install Windows for people who pay. Install Linux for free for friends/family. The install will be smoother and you'll not get them back every 6months with virus/trojan problems. If your getting paid it doesn't matter that you spend all night searching for drivers - and your guaranteed of repeat work :-)

You should consider RedHat Enterprise Virtualisation (RHEV): Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops It is quite cost effective compared to the others you mentioned - esp with a 3yr licensing deal (or do it for free with no support if you have time on your hands!)

Indeed. What package is the splash screen from? I want it!

Google drive can run direct from a share. We install it and point it at our server homedirectories - everything is backed up from the server but also syncs to the cloud and to the teachers home computers.

You need a Desktop virtualisation license.

Seems it's Google's fault anyway - the images are in safesearch. I've reported to Google and suggest others do too. (feedback button at the bottom of the page)

Cisco ASA. Can't beat it really.

The only thing 2008R2 added to printing was headaches! Going to 64bit didn't help. NT -> 2000 -> 2003 we had no problems at all with printers. 2008 was a nightmare.

You could usually pull the group policy files off the client and onto a server. When we upgraded to XP and XPSP2 we just added the XP adm files to the domain controller and the older domain controller would 'manage' the newer clients. Ditto with win 7 and 2003 DC's.

It's ok. I'm only running it on a laptop at home for testing out some ldap user creation scripts.

That worked pretty well. For reference I did: qemu-img convert /pathtovmdkfile.vmdk convertedbinfile.bin then VBoxManage convertdd convertedbinfile.bin convertedvdifile.vdi Then I started virtualbox. Stripped the SATA controller and added an IDE controller. booted to safemode, installed the virtualbox drivers and it all worked.

Thanks. I'll give that a try.

Can I run P2V on a virtual machine then?