Dear Shivakumar, My responses are inline too.
On 4/4/07, G N S <shivakumar.gn at gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi, > > On 4/3/07, Sivasubramanian Muthusamy <shiva.madras at gmail.com> wrote: > > > > hello > > > > I met a charitable trust in Coimbatore yesterday that has a project to > > donate 70 low cost compuers, I took a Solaris desktop, showed them the > > machine and talked them out of old machines, talked them out of machines > > that are too low cost, presented Solaris, talked about "the most > > advanced operating system in the planet", talked about the importance of > > security and the security features in solaris etc., showed them Star Office, > > showed them Net Beans and got them interested. > > > > There was a Network Administrator present, he asked me if System > > Administration is difficult in Solaris. He said in Windows System > > Administration is easier, I told them that a network of 50 or more computers > > will infact require a System Administrator, Windows or Solaris. I said in > > Solaris the system adminstrion is different, but not more difficult. > > > > He wants to know: > > > > 1) Is system administation more difficult or more complicated in Solaris > > ? What he probably wants to know is whether solaris has GUI interfaces on > > the desktop for at least the common system adminstrative tasks. > > > > System administration in Solaris and Linux is indeed more difficult than > Windows especially if one does not have internet access to google. This is > primarily due to the far better help system. For ex: if I am facing problem > in the LAN setup, in windows giving LAN as the search in help brings up > "Troubleshooting network and dial-up connections" as the search results. > This page lists problems under "What problem are you having". The phrasing > of sentences in purely user perspective. Under the questions that state the > problem, the possible cause, solution and links to bringup programs where > the action is to be taken (Ex: link to bringup device manager when say > adapter status is to be checked). > > But if it where Solaris/Linux, I should already know there is something > called nfs/nis/dns/etc...so that I can check the man page of these. If it is > a hardware problem a non-sysadmin guy is left in the cold. > > There will be additional training required. Also local user-groups if one > exists should pitch in during the initial phases. > Good news is that the school will have internet. I will offer to help the school find a solaris system administrator, at least a fresh college graudate familiar with Linux and orient him on Solaris administration for a start. That should be a solution. As I am responding to your mail I called the Technical person part of the team and told him that we will offer all possible help in enabling system administration. I have offered special technical attention by hiring a system administrator. What I also need to show him are some basic GUI interfaces. Some basic system admin functions must be already GUI enabled. For instance creating a new network connection ??? What are those basic system admin functions that are GUI enabled ? I would also talk about the man page browser... 2) If Vbasic is part of the syllabus and if students have to do Vbasic > > assignments in the computer as part of their lab assignments, can a solaris > > machine be enabled to do that ? > > > > VBasic is not available on OpenSolaris. Gambas comes close but it is not > VBasic. If the idea is to teach programming to students and if you have any > influence on the syllabi - Python maybe a better choice (See article written > in > http://www.python.org/workshops/2000-01/proceedings/papers/elkner/pyYHS.html. > Python has only become more widely used since then ). If they are bent up > on VBasic, there is no alternative. > > There is another issue, there is no good OpenSolaris based text books > suitable for school curriculum. There is one common instructor guide and > student guide but this might not suit the requirements. But this is > something that can be addressed. > > Some of us can *definitely* help in creating the material suitable for > school syllabi for both the above counts. > I have asked for a copy of the syllabus. The school follows a government syllabus. It may not be immdiately changed, but we can, as we grow up, lobby for a more "open" IT curriculum. Even if Vbasic is part of the syllabus, I don't think Vbasic is all. It is one of the components of the syllabus. My argument is going to, If you buy a windows machine, students can learn Vbasic, but there must be a few thinks that the students can't learn that they would otherwise learn on a Solaris machine. > > I have come as far as talking them out of 70 used machines for about > > 7,000 a unit and instead opt 40 or 50 for new entry level Open Solaris > > machines for about 15,000 or lower, including a monitor. > > > > (Shifting uncomfortably in the chair). > I really appreciate the negotiating done. Being able to make such decision > shifts is not easy. But 70used machines probably meant close to zero cost > for the "charitable" organization. New systems cost money. Also I hope the > total cost of ownership (including operating costs) works out better. > I had some difficulty explaining that a computer that is not connected is a typewriter. I told them Network is the computer in phrases that they could understand and for an internet computer security is vital. There is going to be an equal level of difficulty in taking about the concept of the total cost of ownership. I will try my best. The hardware cannot be just off-the-shelf. There are people who have faced > compatibility. Someone needs to identify a configuration that works and get > all systems with this configuration so that there are no problems. > The first computer that I made is made in consultation with the hcl. I talked to the manufacturers like ASUS and GIGABYTE but ended up buying the componets from a big retailer in Richie Street in chennai who sold RAM unpacked, hardisk wrapped up in polythene wrapper.... I want to reach much higher volumes, but now the volume is minimal, so some help is definitely needed in getting the manufacturers deliver components direct, at a fair price. Is there a user-group in the area? how active is it? > I believe it will have a good role to play. > Coimbatore. I have already thought of forming an open solaris user group. Such a user group will create a knowledge environment in Coimbatore. Since returning from the Sun Tech Days I was thinking of a Coimbatore Open Solaris user group which will recruit from colleges in the region and from among the network professionals and organize Open Solaris events and projects in and around coimbatore. I sent a mail yesterday on that . The desktop computer I am developing is is a higher end product, but I > > found this opportunity interesting as it gets Solaris across to the other > > extreme. Solaris has so far been a "techie" or I would even say, an "elite" > > O/S. If high school students in a very average school in a small town find > > the O/S easy to work with, it means something. > > > > Can Open Solaris help ? For a start by clearing the Network > > Administrator's misgivings ... > > > > I believe some of the misgivings are unfortunately actually true. (Willing > to get flamed by the list). > > > Some of us can help but geographical reach might be a problem (Where is > the school that is getting these computers located?) > Help can be in the form of putting together a setup suitable for school > curriculum > 1. Identify softwares and bundle them in a easy to deploy fashion > 2. Create curriculum - intro to computers and basic programming > 3. Identify and benchmark locally sourceable hardware components > (I know of one engineering student who had worked on some parts of first > two points for a ubuntu based system for deploying 10systems in a govt > school in Bangalore) > That is a lot more than I asked for. That is plenty of help. With this level of support I can look at a few more institutions. If there are any other forms of support that you can think of, drop them on > the list. > > One thing is clear, pulling this through will be a fantastic success story. > I wonder if there are any pre-college solaris based curriculum anywhere else > in the world ! > I expected the response to point to the lingering usabiltiy issues, and there are more than a few usability issues. But what is encouraging is your responsiveness. With such responsiveness the limitations can be set aside. Thank you. Sivasubramanian. bye > Shiv > > > > _______________________________________________ > ug-bosug mailing list > List-Unsubscribe: mailto:ug-bosug-unsubscribe at opensolaris.org > List-Owner: mailto:ug-bosug-owner at opensolaris.org > List-Archives: http://www.opensolaris.org/jive/forum.jspa?forumID=54 > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://mail.opensolaris.org/pipermail/ug-bosug/attachments/20070404/e4b39746/attachment.html>
