Educational Software - Ubuntu. Existent?

[Jayce]

Just from a curiosity standpoint, I'm wondering if there's any educational software for Ubuntu platforms. I work for a school district (elementary and middle I'm assigned to) and we have software there which helps build kids reading and math skills. I'm just curious if anybody knows if Ubuntu has anything like this offhand.

Not that I really intend to use it, but I'm wondering if that spectrum of the OS's capabilities is existent, even though I'm not sure that the demand would be there...

 

[Kharn]

dose not edbuntu cover that in a nice ubuntu based distro?

 

[Jayce]

I don't know. Once I can figure out how to get Virtual Box rolling and install Edbuntu on it, I'll be able to figure that out on my own. In the mean time, I figured I'd ask in case anybody here had personally used it first hand.

 

[Kharn]

Well what is it you are looking for? I will waste the bandwidth an download a copy an slap it in VMware for you to at least give you a idea if it is worth plugging for in your school district.

 

[Nick]

It's stupid that all schools and businesses havn't gone over to Linux, you would save thousands of pounds on software and the need to upgrade machines would be way less.

 

[Kharn]

I have said that for many a year nick, I know some places that go through a lot of systems buy a Coreprerate key that has X number of uses and that is suposed to save them money but I can't say how much.

Average MS software licence - £60 - £75
Name of Linux distro here - £ free or price of a blank disk.

The main pro microsoft argument is that it would cost to retrain staff, but they neglect to say it would cost less than a afternoons worth of time.

 

[KSoD]

Actually they dont spend that much on Windows licenses. If you buy them in bulk like the schools do at 200-500 a pop. They get them for like $20 a license. If that. They can get them for even less depending on the size of the school and if they go witht he MSDN package as well where students can get the software themselves.

Then the schools pay like $5 a licence. So the cost factor, while still there, isnt as great as people think. Microsoft gives massive deals to educational centers. They get the MSDN STudent Package for about as much as we spend on a Ultimate License. With that students can get the software with serials for free from the school. It may cost the school $400 a student but they save cause they dont have to pay for each license up front.

Plus you have to remember. Windows is still the most highly used OS out there. Have people learning in Linux to turn around and go to a job that uses Windows will be counter productive. Have to get the big businesses switched first. Then the schools.

The kids will have a hard time getting a job if they learn linux in school and cant do basic windows applications.

 

[Kharn]

TBH that is a good saving, although i have heard of a few system admins moan about it in the UK a schools IT budget is really small, and the 3 techs an admins who work for schools who i know are all linux fans.

 

[KSoD]

Yes if they are on a tight budget and all that then the prices are still very expensive.

But i know that schools and uni's get major discounts. Cause they buy in such mass quanity that they get them cheap. Plus Gates is a good man when it comes to that. I mean he did just give $6.5 Million to libraries to get new PC's.

 

[Jayce]

Mak-

Yes, school districts get a huge discount on Microsoft operating systems. But that's not what kills districts... it's the cost of the educational software itself. It is absolutely absurd what it costs per school. Times that by a handful of schools, plus support for each year following, and you have some tax payers who keep getting taxes jacked up each year.

It's not like I'm going to push this on the school I work for at all. I just want to see what kind of stuff Edbuntu is packed with and how well it may play with the nature of the education we handle... that way if it's a good candidate, in the future maybe I could suggest it and at least then I'd have a foundation to work on (experience with Edbuntu) to make it a more practical choice.

And I do appreciate that Saxon but you really don't have to. I have Ubuntu installed on a spare computer (to which I can add the Edbuntu package) but I just haven't had time to do it just yet.