Specifications

www.linuxjournal.com august 2008 | 69
Speed Gives Life
Now, pay close attention, not only has
Linux dramatically increased in usability
and features during the last five years,
but on the same hardware, it also has
increased in speed. In other words, an
upgrade really feels like an upgrade! In
retrospect, try this with Windows. Our
current base of computer hardware,
which was modern in 2002, would not
even run Vista, let alone run it faster
than XP. However, our latest Linux
upgrade is noticeably faster than the
Linux we ran a few years back. In fact,
our 2002 computers that average
256MB of RAM feel faster and more
responsive than today’s typical comput-
ers running Windows XP or Vista, and
we have the latest in open-source
software installed.
So, let’s finish our TCO analysis. Not
only did switching to Linux save us
money in the initial switch, but also,
every time I perform a system upgrade
by typing
emerge -vauKD world (it’s
that easy), we’re saving money. We
don’t have to pay a company for every
upgrade of every application for every
seat. More important, I’m not forced to
throw away good hardware and pur-
chase new equipment in order to imple-
ment my software upgrade cycle. If we
were running a “Microsoft shop”, I’d
have to retire almost every computer
in our school and purchase all new
equipment in order to upgrade to Vista.
Now that’s an expensive upgrade.
Although money is a big deal to a
private school, there obviously is more
to consider when switching an organi-
zation to a different operating system.
A major consideration of mine was the
“free as in freedom” roots of the Free
Software movement. As the school’s
system administrator and the guy who
has to make it all work, I have enjoyed
this freedom during the past five years.
I’ve taken advantage of being able to
access and modify the source code.
Many of my administrative duties have
been simplified by customizing Linux for
our school setting. Whether it is writing
my own bootscripts or even creating my
own software, I’ve been able to tailor
our computer network in ways that I
just could not easily or even legally do
with proprietary software.
Windows Genuine
Disadvantage
There also is a freedom from worry. I
don’t need to concern myself with
Windows Genuine Advantage, product
activation and per-seat licensing. With
Linux, you don’t need to worry about
how many processors your servers use
or how many cores your next desktop
computers will have. You don’t need to
consider special license restrictions for
virtualization. You don’t have to endure
audits from the Business Software
Alliance. As our band teacher loves to
say, “No worries!”
Freedom extends outside the four
walls of our school as well. For example,
although OpenOffice.org can read and
write Microsoft Word documents, the
real advantage is that I can provide a
copy of this software freely to any
teacher or student, especially if that per-
son can’t afford to buy Microsoft Office.
Anything we do in the classroom, stu-
dents can do at home using their own
copy of the free software we use. This
gives us a tremendous advantage as an
educational institution.
There’s something else I consider
when thinking about freedom—the
freedom to access my data. I personally
don’t mind the existence of proprietary
software in the world, but I strongly
oppose proprietary standards and proto-
cols that lock users from their own data.
I want our documents, whether they be
school records or a student’s homework,
to be accessible via an open and well-
documented format. A recent experi-
ence in trying to access my own data
stuck in a locked, proprietary format has
made me appreciate all the more the
true strength of open software and
standards—freedom!
Five years is a long time to consider
the wisdom of a decision. As the
school’s system administrator, I shoulder
the burden of maintaining our comput-
ers, our network and our servers. What
has it been like administering Linux
since the switch? I’ll be honest. There
have been times when I’ve spent days
trying to get something working right in
Linux. However, I still use Windows
enough to know that administering a
Windows network isn’t all cake and ice
cream either. My experience with Linux
is that once a setup is working, it
stays working. Sometimes the initial
setup takes longer, but once every-
thing is configured right, it just works
and works well. With distributions
like Ubuntu, even that initial setup is
becoming easier.
INDEPTH
Figure 2. Even our boss, headmaster Mark Jago, uses Linux for his daily work.