Maybe the answer for local schools facing daunting technology challenges lies with the penguins.
You know, penguins — those who worship free and open-source software, including Linux and the operating system’s mascot, a penguin named Tux.
I’ve been hearing from the penguins since I wrote recently that if Silicon Valley CEOs want the state to improve K-12 education, then they should take a bigger role in helping those schools deploy classroom technology from this century.
“One viable solution to getting the old computers working again is to install Linux on them,” Peter Perpich, a San Jose Web application engineer, wrote in an e-mail. “Linux needs significantly less processing power than Windows and is free. There is also a wealth of free open-source software for the platform.”
Perpich was thinking of Davis Intermediate School when he wrote to me. My column talked about how the San Jose school was grappling with a problem that illustrates the struggle many cash-strapped schools have when it comes to computers. The PC lab at Davis is filled with computers that are so old they can’t handle an upgrade to the Windows version they’re running. The Windows version is so old that Microsoft will soon stop supporting it, leaving administrators worried about increased vulnerability to viruses. Replacing the computers isn’t in the budget. And so the school principal has been considering disconnecting the machines from the Internet, rendering them slightly more functional than paper weights.
But think about Linux. It’s a generic term for a number of operating systems that can be downloaded and installed for free. It runs efficiently on ancient computers and it is practically immune to viruses (which are primarily written to attack Windows machines).
Sounds pretty good for Davis and for thousands of schools around the country, which are struggling to pay for teachers, let alone computers. (The Oak Grove School District tech team says it will explore Linux as a solution for Davis school and Perpich has volunteered to help.)
But I sympathize with administrators who are not racing to embrace Linux. Some schools and districts might feel hemmed in by existing contracts with commercial software companies (think Microsoft and the legion of companies providing applications). Or they may rely on applications that are incompatible with Linux. And there is an institutional bias against change. Adopting Linux could require more training for tech administrators and teachers. And once you install a Linux system, how do you find outside help to support it?
That said, I’m convinced that schools that are short on cash (show of hands?) should take a serious look at Linux.
Robert Litt, an Oakland public school teacher, who runs a technology lab with 30 computers, took the leap about three years ago. His cost: $0. He scrounged recycled computers — computers people were throwing away — and brought them to life with Linux. Without Linux, he says, there would be no lab.
“Oakland is broke.”
Yes, the unknown can be scary but sometimes change takes courage.
“I’m not a Linux genius,” Litt says, “but there are enough Linux geniuses out there that like schools, that if you have the gumption, you’ll get it supported.”
Litt was lucky enough to find Partimus, a small band of volunteers that has taken on a tech support role for a half-dozen schools in the East Bay and San Francisco.
The outfit, led by Cathy Malmrose, who runs a Linux hardware company in Berkeley, has donated computers, helped set up labs, and provided training.
The Silicon Valley CEOs calling for better K-8 education might want to use their bully pulpits and their altruistic work forces to encourage Partimus-like teams of volunteers in the South Bay.
Creative Arts Charter School teacher Maria Jenerik, whose San Francisco students just finished a stop-action computer animation project, says Partimus was key in getting her 30-computer lab going.
“The real beauty of this,” she says, “was it was for no money.” And, she says, there was absolutely no way she could have made it happen without the free software.
Which is something for struggling schools everywhere to think about.
Contact Mike Cassidy at mcassidy@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5536. Follow him at Twitter.com/mikecassidy.
