[wilhelmtux-discussion] Fw: [DIGITALDIVIDE] Linux: Mandrake/SuSE/RedHat for education

Claude Almansi claude.almansi at bluewin.ch
Sat Mar 27 16:06:40 CET 2004


Hello Zäme

I know several of you are knowledgeable about the questions asked by Joyjeet
Pal on the Divital Divide mailing list. So if you can spare the time, please
answer Joyjeet directly: his address is in Cc.

Hi Joyojeet: Wilhelm Tux is the mailing-list for the Swiss Campaign for free
software, and  the topics you address have also been discussed here in the
past. This is why I'm forwarding your e-mail to WT.

Cheers

Claude

Claude Almansi
claude.almansi at bluewin.ch
www.adisi.ch
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joyojeet Pal" <joyojeet at SIMS.BERKELEY.EDU>
To: <DIGITALDIVIDE at OWA.BENTON.ORG>
Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2004 1:51 AM
Subject: [DIGITALDIVIDE] Linux: Mandrake/SuSE/RedHat for education


Hi Group -

I have a question relating to the use of Linux in developing countries.
Does anyone know about how the various packaged versions compare with one
another? For instance Mandrake v/s SuSE v/s Redhat. The bigger question is
which is best (or well enough) suited for education apps at various
levels.
Of course, the larger question is - what issues are faced in Linux for
education? Is it upto usability standards, and does it provide a vast
enough range of application options for students (at beginner and high
school levels) in developing regions? I've seen some studies comparing
Linux to MS on this issue, but few ranking various avatars of Linux
against each other.
The questions get more complicated as one moves up the chain to
universities, since the need for people to "shift" from MS to Linux is
greater (whereas in the case of a number of developing regions, the
Linux-based PC may be an individual's first exposure to computing) - thus
the shift requires that a number of the currently used applications, which
may not be available on Linux, need to be abandoned or adapted.
What I have above are (at least) two different lines of questions, any
input would be very valuable.
Thanks!


Joyojeet Pal
School of Information Management and Systems
University of California, Berkeley
http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~joyojeet



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