Many of us teach using computers. More and more educators are discovering that the once Wild West of the Internet is actually a very useful place. This can cause a multitude of problems when a lab full of computers is only maintained by an instructor on a as needed basis.
Many instructors are reluctant to allow IT departments to take over because most teaching labs use course specific software that can’t be easily maintained by outsiders. When instructors also need internet access for old computers, you quickly get a perfect storm of mal-ware.
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Categories: Education · Linux · Physics · Software
I just finish my TA assignment for the summer. Yes, I teach in the summers as well. Rather than work in the classroom, I spent the summer managing other instructors and all our equipment.
The last few weeks were devoted to setting up some computers for the next academic year. Mind you, these are NOT new machines. I was handed about a dozen computers from the early part of the millennium, almost all of them riddled with viruses. Most of them were still running Windows 2000. Yikes!
This adds up to a hard disk formatting and a new operating system. I couldn’t use XP because of licensing and because the computers lacked the ram requirements. Double Yikes.
Of course Windows 2000 doesn’t come with a new enough version of IE for me to use a current anti-virus utility, so I couldn’t even get service packs without first upgrading the web browser without getting on the internet. Triple Yikes!
There is an easy way around all this and it’s called Xubuntu. I found that even with a Pentium III and 128MG of ram, Xubuntu runs well, even though I had to use the Alternate Install CD since the Live CD requires more ram.
With Xubuntu, I could have a working machine safely on the internet with all the updates I need and all the packages I need in about 2 hours. With Windows 2000, I spent all day trying to safely get all the updates and holes patched.
Categories: Education · Linux · Software
