Fred wrote:
I've always wanted to teach computers to eager to learn individuals, butI used to teach part-time years ago. I figured I was getting paid less than $2 per hour after including all the time actually required. As much as I enjoyed it, it just wasn't feasible.
the money element has never been there.
If you can wean them off of IE and Outlook, most of their spywareActually we have over two hundred workstations up there at this time. Management software has not been supported by the budget now nor any time in the past. We've built stuff using scripts and Samba and cron and batch files to implement some of the functionality, but the oldest equipment doesn't have anything yet.
problems will become history from that alone. It amazes me that it isn't
common knowledge that IE with its support for Active-X is the great barn
door for spyware and lots of other ills. If they must use IE, at least
disable the Active-X support. Tis would be a nightmare to do, of course,
if you have a hundered workstations without any decent management
software pre-installed. Oh well.
I keep forgetting, of course, that most people don't even know what
Active-X is. I always get this dopey "duh, Really?" response. "Yes,
Virginia. Active-X is the active gateway to all the active ills that has
now rendered your computer inactive."
They already use Netscape or Mozilla as their default browser
Caveat: Some people do switch back to IE on their own. Some are running older Netscapes (4.x) still, they need updating. Of course, a few users do need IE because the web sites only work with IE. That is mostly limited to administrative staff.
Biggest problem: Their testing service requires Internet Explorer. In fact, it requires ActiveX. It also requires changes to disable any prompting for ActiveX components. It requires changes at the web proxy filter to allow its compiled HTML pages (.HTA) to pass through. And, no, they (the testing service) has no plans to make any changes in their application. They do not acknowledge any of these are security issues. And testing is mandated for all students (except kindergarten and preschool). Even viewing the test results requires these changes.
They do not use Outlook. They use either Netscape/Mozilla or Squirrel Webmail.
Caveat: Some people do setup Outlook on their own.
They still get viruses and spyware. Antivirus software is disabled by kids or teachers (and by some of the newer malware) sometimes. They click on all sorts of links, popups, etc. We do filter a lot at the web proxy, but, due to the testing software requirements, we can't block whole classes of problems. Folk bring in Word & Excel documents from home. There is a public library attached to the school (and to the school's network) with publicly accessible computers. The library has been outside our purview until quite recently. All the library's equipment, software and support came from a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, no less.
Anyways, progress is being made. I hope to use Linux more extensively there to solve more problems.
Without it, they would already have melted down.
-- Dan Jenkins ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Rastech Inc., Bedford, NH, USA --- 1-603-206-9951 *** Technical Support for over a Quarter Century
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