Re: have thin clients had their day?
On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 5:46 PM, Vagrant Cascadian <vagrant@freegeek.org> wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 07, 2009 at 10:46:01PM +0900, Nigel Barker wrote:
>> There was a thread on edubuntu a while ago suggesting that today's
>> demands (flash everywhere, streaming this and that) are too much for
>> thin clients and that we once again have to join the "hardware arms
>> race".
This discussion on the Edubuntu list echoed past discussions on that
very list as well as discussions on the K12OSN list, the Schoolforge
list, and of course here on the Debian-edu list. Depending on what
curricula your school uses, thin clients have either remained useful
or they have become all but useless the last few years. The fact of
the matter is that here in the U.S. most schools buy web or network
based applications that tend to run flash.
This trend started around 2005 when a few websites started embedding
flash widgets. By 2007 I had to pull my last LTSP, the one where
Fedora was born, out of our Department of Education. It was replaced
with stand-alone desktops that utilized a roaming profile via a
samba/ldap/nfs server.
For the last few years, many of us have turned to DRBL because of its
ability to run 'fat' clients. With so many schools buying Atom-based
chipsets, the CPU power has become something to work with. I tweak a
Debian-Edu desktop and then layer the DRBL scripts on top of it. I
still manage a few thin client setups in our City and County Parks,
but here the scale is limited to a few workstations.
>
> ...snip...
>
>> I hope that diskless workstations will become an easy option. I know
>> you are currently working on it, and thank you for that!
>
> yes, diskless workstations are one direction to take. debian-edu is working on
> some options for that, and newer versions of LTSP include a configuration
> option called LTSP_FATCLIENT which is similar.
I've been watching this development with Debian Edu, and It Is The
Greatest Development that I Have Read in 4 Years of Tracking all the
Education Lists. This is brilliant, simple, elegant, and it bridges
the divide between the PI generation and the Atom generation.
Thank-you.
>
> additionally, newer versions of LTSP include support for LOCAL_APPS, running
> specific applications locally, while most applications run on the server.
Unfortunately, there is almost no teacher in Hawaii's 300 public
schools who I can tell to open an editor, modify a file, and then
choose which applications to run locally. This falls well outside of
the one hour a week for teacher admin parameter.
>
> and lastly, work is being done on LTSP to support running specific applications
> on the server, but most of them on the thin client.
>
> so options are on their way or are even already developed, though they all
> require more powerful clients. as more people use computers in a wider number
> of areas, the demands on the hardware simply increase.
>
>
>> I also hope for a speedier ltsp that allows us to keep up with the
>> modern web. What will happen when we move to KDE 4? Could it be
>> possible to have a choice of a lighter wm?
>
> i was extremely impressed by LXDE's performance for an LTSP server. i would
> like to work on making that an option for future releases.
I will ditto the LXDE performance enhancements and potential for
success if included in future releases.
>
>
> live well,
> vagrant
Aloha
--scott
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