Skolelinux for Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate Schools
From now on, the schools in Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate federal state will be running Skolelinux on their computers, based on a decision made a year ago. The project is now announcing its next phase.
The federal state schools will not only adopt Skolelinux as their operating system, but also use it to develop curriculum in 11 pilot schools. The 10-point plan, roughly translated as "Media Competence Is Our Schools," involves an adapted Skolelinux version, according to Burkhard Schaefer, consultant for the federal state's ministry of education, science, youth and culture: "The decision went to Skolelinux because it offered through available pedagogical network solutions from the Debian community a sustainable development based on software concepts." Rhineland-Palatinate is the second federal state after Hamburg to select a Linux solution for its schools.
Klaus Knopper (of Knoppix fame) and Professor Bettina Reuter of the University of Applied Sciences in Kaiserslautern assumed project leadership. They will adapt Skolelinux to the educational needs of the federal state and integrate the results into the international project. Knopper’s assessment of the software is that, "Based on its openness and compliance with open standards it can achieve a stability that current proprietary systems cannot attain."
A newly founded Society for Advancement of Free Software in Rhineland-Palatinate Schools should address the wishes and suggestions of teachers and administrators and pass them on to the project. Director of the society Thomas Rhode summarized the advantages of Skolelinux as, "With it, everyone can actively participate in the future of information technology and still have fun doing it." For one thing, students can take the school software home for their private use.
After the first phase, ending in March, in which schools integrate their existing networks with Skolelinux and manage them with Skolelinux servers, schools then have until April 3, 2009 to apply to get the Linux variant installed on their hardware.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.
-
Canonical Collaborates with Qualcomm on New Venture
This new joint effort is geared toward bringing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to Qualcomm-powered devices.
-
Kodi 21.0 Open-Source Entertainment Hub Released
After a year of development, the award-winning Kodi cross-platform, media center software is now available with many new additions and improvements.
-
Linux Usage Increases in Two Key Areas
If market share is your thing, you'll be happy to know that Linux is on the rise in two areas that, if they keep climbing, could have serious meaning for Linux's future.
-
Vulnerability Discovered in xz Libraries
An urgent alert for Fedora 40 has been posted and users should pay attention.
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.