Suggestions?

[Suraj]

Hello people,
I want to discuss next week agenda here. Shall we do something like
alternate days english and computers? Of course, we are focusing on
teaching the children only for now.

And also, we need some kind of solution for the computer problem. Any
ideas? They don't have any CDs or anything and I am pretty sure
installing pirated windows won't be right. How about ubuntu or such?
It's got to be uniform across all computers. And Vijesh, do you know
about any windows server-like linux distros, since you work in the
open source community?

[Nikhil Baliga]

The reason we decided to teach Windows was that most computers in the real world run on Windows. Strictly speaking, we shouldn't install pirated versions of Windows on those machines - which means one of two things can be done... Either we send an email to Microsoft explaining to them about this venture (Like we had done for Baraha previously) and they will either give us some free licenses or say that they will give it at discounted prices (Student versions). If it is the former, then nothing beats it. If it is the latter, we can always tell them that we will opt for Linux instead. Or we go for the other option of installing pirated copies of Windows - which is not correct, but is rampant and everyone does it anyway (not that that justifies this :-) ) and nobody will ever know - I mean, most people run pirated versions on their personal systems anyway...

If you want to really stay above the law, then installing Ubuntu is a great idea. Installing Kubuntu may be a better idea because the interface is a lot similar to Windows with start buttons, taskbars, etc.

There is one other alternative in case people want bleeding edge technology delivered - Windows 8 is available for 1 year (or lesser now) as some kind of demo version. I myself haven't tried it out though. I am sure most people will find this option silly

In my opinion, Kubuntu (Ubuntu + KDE Environment) is the easiest and safest choice. Of course, it is up for people to decide

Warm Regards,

Nikhil Baliga

--
Check out Artistick at http://cartoonsbynikhilbaliga.blogspot.com/

--
Thank you, on behalf of the children, for being part of the "Covalence" group.

[Rahul Vittal]

I agree with Nikhil , the point of educating the kids is to help them apply it in the real world. And as it happens majority of the computers they will come across will be running Windows. So, sticking to Windows will be a good move. A 5 user license from Windows server 2008 costs $200. Surely we will be able to negotiate the price, this being an educational cause. 

@nikhil windows 9 is really beautiful(and the kids would love it with all the color) but the release candidate version of the OS has it's bugs, so sticking to an already released version would be better for the school I believe.        

Regards,

Rahul

[Vijesh M]

If we're able to get the permission or some kind of a license from Microsoft, thats fine. But the world is moving towards open source technologies. We should also educate them about the free and open source softwares. As Nikhil said, going with Kubuntu is a better option I believe.

Regards,

Vijesh

On Sat, Jul 7, 2012 at 9:10 PM, Nikhil Baliga <baliga...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Suraj]

We could ask for some XP licences, since it's their older version, and
the probability of them giving an free licence would be higher. But I
do feel that since the software world is changing so fast, as in the
UI for Windows8 is so so different from Windows7, that by the time
these kids will be actually using it, it would be something totally
different. So, in a way, there is nothing we can do about that, and
purely from that perspective, I think Kubuntu (or Ubuntu) is a great
idea.
Minor issue: they don't, by default support mp3, etc and so codecs
also need to be installed.

[Suraj]

I feel the only difference b/w windows and linux (from the kids' point
of view) will be the UI. Most other things operate in a similar way,
so not much is lost anyways. Kids in the school already use a
OpenOffice draw with as much ease as MS Paint.

[Nikhil Baliga]

You guys can also have a look at doing something crazy like this

http://lifehacker.com/5619064/w7-theme-for-ubuntu-brings-windows-7s-familiar-gui-to-linux 

Warm Regards,

Nikhil Baliga

--
Check out Artistick at http://cartoonsbynikhilbaliga.blogspot.com/

[Nikhil Baliga]

One more thing I felt that ought to be shared is that MS Paint is not going to help a lot, though it is fun in many ways for the children. I believe we should try to focus more on basic navigation through folders, explaining folder hierarchy, opening files, editing and saving them - with documents being the priority (Not even PPT like we had thought last time) because more often than otherwise, Word is going to be the tool encountered. Paint can be more of a leisure tool, while PPT should be avoided until the end. Once docs are clear, PPTs will be a cinch.

Warm Regards,

Nikhil Baliga

--
Check out Artistick at http://cartoonsbynikhilbaliga.blogspot.com/

[Rahul Vittal]

Interesting note by suraj, bringing up the need for Win8.. We could think if getting a Win7 now and MS is already running a $15 upgrade to Win8 promotion campaign. (FYI : Win8 is releasing in Jan 2013) . And staying on the topic of being up to the latest, I am not all for  Open Office . Correct me if I am wrong, Open office is not using the 'Ribbon' interface of MS Office. So wouldn't it be better to teach them on Windows platform?

[Nikhil Baliga]

Please wait for some time before you guys spend any money. I am asking a couple of batchmates - One works in MS, so will be able to know if we can get some free licenses. There was also one more thing during our time called MSDNAA - MSDN Academic Alliance... Basically students got licenses free of cost. PESIT was a part of that and I remember downloading a number of their applications free of cost which would cost a lot otherwise.

So we can probably have a look at MSDNAA again - Perhaps if one of you can get in touch with Raveesh Mayya from my batch and get more details, it would be better. He was the MS Student rep - or maybe you can find out from college as to how exactly this works.

Warm Regards,

Nikhil Baliga

--
Check out Artistick at http://cartoonsbynikhilbaliga.blogspot.com/

[Rahul Vittal]

Did anyone get a chance to look at which server is the school running? Windows Server 2012 doesn't support 32-bit or Intel Itanium models.

[Suraj Srinivas]

Apparently, the newest version, LibreOffice is better and also has the 'Ribbon' interface. In the office space, I think we need to seperately purchase MS office, it doesn't come bundled with win7 remember? 
And the comps are running Server2000 version. I think we can safely use Ubuntu server instead of that coz the UI space will be what they log on to. From WinServer they log on to a windows2000 version I guess. And ubuntu server supports windows as well apparently.

And Nikhil, that's one crazy idea for sure! If something goes wrong with them, we'll be the only ones who knows how to fix it. :)

--
Regards,
Suraj Srinivas

[Rahul Vittal]

LibreOffice has to be modded to get the ribbon interface, anyways we can work on that later. Let the kids first learn the basic use of Word processor and presentation. So can we proceed with the installation of Ubuntu on the server? 

Regards,

Rahul

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[Suraj]

Yeah, the kids already use paint a lot and are quite familiar with it.
We'll move to word processing and folders as you mentioned. :)

About Ubuntu on the server, yeah, we'll first see if windows server is
"broken" in any way. Since we ourselves weren't familiar with it, we
couldn't do much about it not working. I'll let you guys know what the
status is. :)