Graduation Day for Linux
By: Brian Proffitt
Wednesday, May 22, 2002 10:49:58 PM EST
URL: http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/4216/1/
The First Day of School
Lately, it seems, attention has become more and more focused on finding alternatives to Microsoft in business, government, and education venues all over the world. Naturally, Linux and its rapidly improving desktop applications are being eyed as top candidates to replace Windows.
Suddenly, the rest of the world has figured out what many in the Linux community knew all along--that the availability of free, resource-stingy software to these various environments could not help but bring significant costs savings to new Linux users. For two men in Portland, Oregon, the success comes as no surprise--they've been implementing Linux within school systems in the Portland area for the past six years.
Paul Nelson and Eric Harrison may not be as widely known as Alan Cox or Linus Torvalds in the Linux community, but to many educators in the Pacific Northwest, their contributions meet and probably surpass any work that Linus and Alan have achieved thus far. Nelson and Harrison are the co-founders of the K12 Linux Terminal Server Project (K12LTSP), an ambitious project that combines the tools found in Red Hat Linux with the technology behind the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) to create turn-key computer labs for any school that needs them.
The evolution of K12LTSP came from the work that Nelson and Harrison began in their day jobs in educational technology support personnel for two school districts in Portland. Nelson is the technology coordinator for the Riverdale School District, a small district in Multnomah County. Harrison is the WAN/LAN administrator for the Multnomah Education Service District, an umbrella agency that provides technical support and ISP services to several school districts in Multnomah County, including Riverdale.
The advent of LTSP has made it possible to implement Linux on a much larger scale for client machines in the Portland area school districts, but their involvement with Linux began--like so many others--on the server side.
In 1996, Nelson explained, "we started using Linux when we installed a web server and then started using the same box as a file server for our Windows and Mac workstations. I was impressed with Linux as a web and file server but lacked the expertise to do any real instruction about Unix/Linux. I barely had the thing running but I wanted to share how cool this was with other schools."
Already hooked on his new discovery, Nelson used an annual gathering of education technology specialists to spread the word.
"Many of the technology education leaders around here pull an all nighter every year called slumbertech. I offered to bring in a Linux expert to work with us all night," Nelson said, "We all installed Linux (Red Hat 4.0), configured the machines and worked on Linux 101 stuff from Friday at 5:00 pm to Saturday at 10:00 am. A Portland Linux user, Terry Griffin, volunteered to be our instructor."
That was the beginning of their journey with Linux.
Moving to the Head of the Class
One of the biggest problems any school system seems to face, at least in the United States, is the rapid obsolesence of their computer equipment, as technology advances at a far faster pace than even the most generous school budget will allow.
Harrison described that many of the computers found around the various schools his office supports are Pentium 75, 90, and 95 MHz machines--hardly enough power to run something like Windows. Using the LTSP approach "allows us to leverage all those old machines," he explained.
The concept behind K12LTSP is very simple--hook up a number of thin-clients running Linux to a central terminal server, which serves as the file, Web, and application server all in one. Since X is network-transparent, Linux is already perfectly built to run in such an environment.
While the final mix of applications available to the client will vary from lab to lab according to Harrison, the basic core set of applications remains the same: an office suite with word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation applications (OpenOffice.org), an e-mail appication (Ximian Evolution), and a Web browser (Mozilla).
Because all of the power in the lab system is found in the terminal server, the clients can be as stripped down as the lab personnel want them to be. Often, Harrison said, they will strip out even the hard drive and leave only a floppy drive for a boot floppy. Sometimes not even that, if a boot PROM has been set up for that machine instead.
In his role at Multnomah ESD, Harrison often saw many computer labs that were set up with Windows clients. Given the instability of Windows, the constant threat of viruses, and the sheer ingenuity of the average high school student, maintaining these labs could often require a full-time staff member--significantly raising the bar on the costs of such a lab.
Using the K12LTSP model, labor costs immediately plummeted. Sometimes down to almost zero.
"Two years ago we installed 25 K12LTSP thin-clients in classrooms all over at our K-8 school," Nelson said. "I have not had to work on a single one of those machines since then. All updates and management are done on a single application server."
Harrison and Nelson both added that since the application server is also connected to the Internet, many of the updates and management issues are handled remotely.
The roles each of these men play in the K12LTSP is very specific, Nelson explained.
"Our development cycle generally goes something like this, Nelson stated, "'Eric, the kids in classrooms need the software to do xyz.' 'Paul, there's no way to do that. It can't be done. Well, wait a minute, let me work on that...'
"Eric is brilliant and the best problem solver I've ever seen. I'm a teacher who is good at using technology with kids. I understand what works in classrooms and what teachers need. I tell Eric what we need, he makes it happen. I also do all the documentation and manage the [K12LTSP] Web site, press releases, etc.," Nelson added.
Both men have taken their successful tools on the road, as well. Through personal assistance and the information on their K12LTSP Web site, "we've helped many schools install Linux file servers, too many to recount," Nelson said, "We've hosted many workshops and clinics. We host an install fest in our school every month. We have tremendous support from our local user group PLUG. We've also done training through the StRUT program to help teachers use donated PCs."
StRUT, a computer recycling program, has been instrumental in getting low-cost clients prepared for many new computer labs.
Asked to summarize the benefits of their program, Nelson stated: "We paid less than $200 for each of the clients and all the software we use is free. It is reliable, fast, immune from viruses and malicious student tampering and the kids like it. Even our superintendent uses a Linux thin-client. What's not to like?"
Accounting Class for Linux
While the financial benefits of K12LTSP seem clear, how do the numbers break down in a real world environment?
Nelson provided these numbers from the hardware budget of a recent 30-computer lab installation in the Portland Public Schools:
| Server: | ||
| ASUS Dual CPU/LAN/SCSI Motherboard | 1 | $366.00 |
| Enlight case, 250W power supply | 1 | $63.00 |
| Intel 1.13Ghz PIII CPU | 2 | $161.00 |
| 512MB PC133 SDRAM | 4 | $169.00 |
| 18.4GB SCSI LVD 7200 RPM | 2 | $390.00 |
| Intel 10/100 NIC | 3 | $33.00 |
| Total | $2066.00 | |
| Workstations: | ||
| Amptron compact computer [BCII-630e] | 30 | $153.00 |
| CTL 17" .28 monitor | 30 | $130.00 |
| 128MB PC133 SDRAM | 30 | $36.00 |
| StRUT PIII CPU | 30 | $0.00 |
| Total: | $9570.00 | |
| Data projector: | ||
| Epson Powerlite 50C projector | 1 | $1626.00 |
| Printer: | ||
| HP 4100TN Laser | 1 | $1589.00 |
| Switches: | ||
| SMC 8-port 10/100 Mbps unmanaged | 4 | $55.00 |
| Total: | $220.00 | |
| Cabling: | ||
| 15FT cat5e ethernet | 40 | $2.35 |
| Total: | $94.00 | |
| Power strips: | ||
| Fellows split surge strips | 8 | $14.42 |
| Total: | $115.36 | |
| Total lab cost: $15280.36 | ||
| Standard lab cost: $30914.36 | ||
| [For the standard lab cost: LTSP workstations/server were removed, 30 of the standard CTL workstations we usually order were put in there place at $909/each] | ||
This does not, of course, include any of the licensing costs for using Windows or Mac operating systems. All of these cost savings combined have given the project a tremendous push.
"We have experienced a ground swell of community support. Imagine, a public agency saving tax payer money and ending up with a better product at the same time," Nelson said, "It's a cost savings that just keeps on piling up when you count all the upgrades you don't have to pay for. Just the savings from yearly virus software subscriptions is important not to mention the freedom from infections."
There were some other unexpected costs savings gained along the way, as well.
When the U.S. Congress passed the Children's Internet Protection Act, Harrison said, all schools were required by law to provide filtering software on Internet-connected systems. Natually, he added sardonically, the cost of commercial filtering systems skyrocketed at just about the same time the bill was passed. But when he costed out these software packages to the free SquidGuard package, the choice was clear. Harrison then developed a custom filter setup package for SquidGuard and has since distributed the software to "half the state of Oregon, shaving millions of dollars off [software fees]."
Dealing With Peer Pressure and Lots of Schoolwork
While the acceptance of Linux clients and servers has ultimately been positive in every school system they have helped, there have been some lessons learned along the way. The biggest challenge, acccording to Nelson, is getting the teachers on board, both with how to use the new software on a day-to-day level and also with how to teach with the lab machines.
"Computers should not be used as expensive workbooks teaching basic skills. Once we get beyond this we can deal with the questions about 'what educational software does Linux run?', Nelson explained. "Linux runs the educational software kids should be using. They should use computers just like literate adults do. They should write, use the Web for research, share email with friends and learning partners, they should evaluate information and present their conclusions with effective presentation tools. They should use computers to be creative with art and music tools. Most importantly of all, they should know that the computes will always be up and ready for use. You don't need 'Reader Rabbit' or 'Math Blaster' to do any of this."
Occasionally, the argument is raised that students are not getting the benefits of using the software that they supposedly will be using out in the real world.
"We do sometimes get the questions about having kids use the same software they will use in the marketplace. We tell them we are doing just that! We then have folks sit down and use OpenOffice and I've never failed to get a response like, 'I can use this. Is it really free? You can send this home with all your students for free?' Yes, yes, yes...," Nelson related.
Harrison fully agrees: "We need to teach concepts, not products." He added that as of now, OpenOffice.org is close enough to MS Office to teach the same skills needed for these types of applications. Besides, he added, most of their students start learning computers in the 4th grade. Who knows what products will be available when they graduate from high school?
There have been some technological hurdles as well, though they may seem rather minor to most network admins.
"We have learned a lot about how different schools use computers. Many of our workstations are out in the classrooms. The demand is more distributed in these circumstances," Nelson said. "In lab settings when 30 kids come in and all hit Enter at the same, well, the server starts working pretty hard. We've learned that you can never have enough memory. 2 or 3 gigs of RAM for a 30-user lab keeps things moving along just fine, though."
Graduating to the Next Level
Building labs has been a huge success for K12LTSP. The Portland Public Schools (PPS), which have had two of the labs and are activating two more this week, are certainly impressed with the technology. According to one representative of PPS, 16-17 more labs will be installed system-wide by this coming Fall.
In Riverdale, Nelson and his students have been working to take the lab network scenario to a new level.
"My high school class just built our first cluster this spring. We're experimenting with it to see how it works," he explained. "Our goal is to explore a cluster-based pool of application servers for a new high school we'll open in September. We'll be installing 65 new K12LTSP thin-clients for that building. "
The cluster work was developed with the K12LTSP+ OpenMosix HOWTO posted out on k12os.org, he added.
Nelson was also very quick to add that much of the success of K12LTSP has come from having a very strong local support net.
"All of the training we've done has been with the help of volunteers. No one ever has to pay for anything. It helps when you have the best Linux User Group in the country. That's how I feel about our group, PLUG," Nelson stated.
The open-source nature of K12LTSP has also been a reall boon for the project, as constant user feedback has only served to improve the project more rapidly.
"Many of these [improvements] are showing up in our newest K12LTSP 2.1 version that will be released next week. The final release candidate is out right now," Nelson said.
As for the future? Nelson and Harrison have no plans to remain focused on just the Portland area.
"We've had enough success with Linux that other school business managers are asking twice about paying for licensing," Nelson said. "We've moved beyond simple awareness in many circles and we're now laying down the road map for migration. We're working on a Software Freedom Day on July 4th that will pair local Linux User Groups with schools around the country for software demonstrations. We're also working with Red Hat to further the support program they've started in NC.
"We are close to the point where it is politically incorrect to use proprietary software in a public school, at least in the server rooms," he added.
And perhaps on clients as well, if the success of K12LTSP is any indication.