Open system for all (was Re: Testing Ground.)
Le Lundi 11 Décembre 2000 00:44, Barrett Conrad a écrit :
> Debian Jr folks,
> Hi there. I am Barrett Conrad of the New Orleans Technology Assistance
> Program, part of Tulane University's CACTUS (Community Action Council of
> Tulane University Students). We are a newly formed group of students,
> mostly from the Computer Science department, that is developing a project
> to help "bridge the digital divide" here in New Orleans.
Good idea. Congratulations.
> We have gathered
> a number of old computer parts to assemble and build a network of
> x-terminals, running Linux, within an existing community project.
We have done that (not yet documented !) to equip a primary school in
Belgium: I suggest you go with the LTSP tools (www.ltsp.org) to set up the
servers and clients. Our clients are 486 and >, with only 8MB Ram, a VGA or
SVGA screen and a simple network card. The server is a "strong" machine.
I have hints for the network too.
> We plan
> to use this setup as easy access to the internet, word processing, and
> other tools, as well as being a resource for skill building and education
> of both technical and non-technical material.
Fot the work processor, look for something really simple and not ungry: I am
convinced LYX or KLYX are the best as they also impose the user to look at
the content before looking at the form. Same with other tools: remember KISS
Keep It Simple, Stupid - it is always a good start.
> We have also been looking
> around for software that can be easily used and helpful (and of course
> entertaining) to our children. Our search has brought us to Debian Jr.
> Besides Debian being the Linux distribution we chose to use,
Good idea for the easy maintenance.
> the Debian Jr
> project looks to be a great asset to our project. My purpose in posting to
> this list it to offer our project as a testing ground for Debian Jr to both
> improve our project and Debian Jr. As I have tried to follow the progress
> of Debian Jr, I have see that many of you have tested it on your own
> children, but I think we could offer you a place to test Debian Jr in a
> larger and more educational setting.
For applications, look at projects like www.seul.org/edu of freeduc to start.
We have also decided to go for LOGO as it appears to be the best programming
tool for children. LOGO appears to be not aonly a programming language, but
also a tool to learn geometry, to struture the thought, to have children
collaborating on a project ...
About LOGO, I have a need for help: we need a free, open-source, multilingual
LOGO that runs on GNU/Linux. There are some open, but not multilingual.
Apparently there is a good, pretty windows version that is open-source MSWLogo
see http://www.softronix.com/logo.html
It is Borland C++ 5.02 and exists in English, German , Portuguese, Japanese
and French.
Does any of you know enough C++ (I don't !) to try and compile this on
GNU/Linux with a library like WINE for example. I suppose this is not to
complicated for the one who knows ! Thanks already for the help.
I am also implied in the developpement of a JAvalogo, but this one is not yet
open-source and is for the moment mainly French. If any of you would like
more info, please ask.
> I would also like to know if any of
> you have tried projects similar to the one we are attempting and what
> successes (and failures) you have had with them. I hope that we can find
> each other of some help and we look forward to working with you.
Please do not hesitate to ask questions.
I am now (at least) building a site telling all we did.
>
> Thank you,
> Barrett Conrad
> bconad@tulane.edu
Best regards,
Nicolas
--
Nicolas Pettiaux
Avenue du Pérou 29 - B-1000 Bruxelles
Email: nicolas.pettiaux@linuxbe.org
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