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posted by janrinok on Tuesday May 26 2015, @12:30PM   Printer-friendly
from the life-is-easier-with-FOSS dept.

The European Union's interoperability page reports:

Using open source in school greatly reduces the time needed to troubleshoot PCs, [as indicated by] the case of the Colegio Agustinos de León (Augustinian College of León, Spain). In 2013, the school switched to using Ubuntu Linux for its desktop PCs in [classrooms] and offices. For teachers and staff, the amount of technical issues decreased by 63 per cent and in the school's computer labs by 90 per cent, says Fernando Lanero, computer science teacher and head of the school's IT department.

[...] "One year after we changed PC operating system, I have objective data on Ubuntu Linux", Lanero tells Muy Linux [English Translation], a Spanish Linux news site. By switching to Linux, incidents such as computer viruses, system degradation, and many diverse technical issues disappeared instantly.

The change also helps the school save money, he adds. Not having to purchase [licenses] for proprietary operating systems, office suites, and anti-virus tools has already saved about €35,000 in the 2014-2015 school year, Lanero says. "Obviously it is much more interesting to invest that money in education."

[...] The biggest hurdle for the IT department was the use of electronic whiteboards. The school uses 30 of such whiteboards, and their manufacturer [Hitachi] does not support the use of Linux. Lanero got the Spanish Linux community involved, and "after their hard work, Ubuntu Linux now includes support for the whiteboards, so now everything is working as it should".

[...] Issues [with proprietary document formats] were temporarily resolved by using a cloud-based proprietary office solution, says Lanero, giving the IT department time to complete the switch to open standards-based office solutions. The school now mostly uses the LibreOffice suite of office tools.

[...] "Across the country, schools have contacted me to hear about the performance and learn how to undertake similar migrations."

As I always say, simply avoid manufacturers with lousy support and FOSS is just the ticket.


[Editor's Comment: Original Submission]

 
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  • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday May 26 2015, @03:03PM

    by LoRdTAW (3755) on Tuesday May 26 2015, @03:03PM (#188046) Journal

    *Fail Horn*
    Nice try. Next time a newbie tries to learn how to use FOSS and rage quits because some jackass tells them to use man, I'll remember your little jab and have a snicker. A newbie will not be able to properly glean anything from man unless that man page is very verbose which they often arent (ntfsclone is one of the more straightforward man pages). This is why a search engine is the newbies friend because there is a wealth of verbose information with the steps and commands laid out in plain english (or whatever your language of choice is). man is akin to a service manual for the experienced technician, not a getting started guide for the customer.

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  • (Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday May 26 2015, @04:01PM

    by sjames (2882) on Tuesday May 26 2015, @04:01PM (#188088) Journal

    Actually, way back in the before time, I did learn to use Unix largely from reading man pages.

    • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday May 26 2015, @04:12PM

      by LoRdTAW (3755) on Tuesday May 26 2015, @04:12PM (#188099) Journal

      Remember, you did. Everyone learns differently.

      • (Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday May 26 2015, @04:29PM

        by sjames (2882) on Tuesday May 26 2015, @04:29PM (#188115) Journal

        Yes, I did, therefor it can be done. I'm not claiming it's the best way for everyone, just refuting your claim that it can't happen./

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @07:36PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @07:36PM (#188218)

      Secretaries used to use vi-like editors and were comfortable with LaTeX. Now, somehow we pander to the lowest common denominator. People like him will tell you that it's too hard for people like secretaries to run. I don't think people have gotten dumber. I think Windows treats you like you are a dumbass and people like him accept it as fact.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @10:25PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @10:25PM (#188326)

      I have a severe non-verbal learning disability. To me, man pages are the worst shit I've ever come across - little more than wall of text notes to people who already know how something works, as a reminder of how it works.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @08:35PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @08:35PM (#188259)

    Wow, what an idiot.