Do You Edubuntu?

Edubuntu, the Linux-based operating system and open-source educational software suite, is so startlingly good in so many ways that it's difficult to know where to begin. So let's start here: it's free. That's right, you can download Edubuntu from the Web site or request a copy or two on CD and they'll ship it. All the way from Belgium. Free!

What you get is an operating system and software bundle, plus every application in Open Office—the open-source community's answer to Microsoft Office.

Apprehensive about exploring open source? Believe me, I get that. I recall my first experience installing a Red Hat distribution on a spare machine around 1996. It was a Microsoft world back then, so it felt like a deliciously seditious act. But, alas, I just couldn't do enough stuff with it.

Today's a different story. Anyone who has surfed the Web using Firefox, the default browser bundled with Edubuntu, knows that open-source software can be every bit as good—even better—than its proprietary counterparts. If you've never done so, the time to take the plunge into a completely open-source computing environment is now. With Edubuntu, Windows users will feel comfortable doing 90 percent of their computing tasks completely intuitively with this system (open-source programs can open, save, and share most files native to Windows/Vista environments).

It's not possible to cover the entire galaxy of Edubuntu here. Instead, I'll detail two aspects—installation and application—that pretty much represent my overall experience.

Installation: If you've ever installed a generic copy of Windows from scratch, you know how painful it can be. You can literally spend days hunting down the correct hardware drivers for a given machine, and the last thing Windows does is prompt you to configure your Internet connection, all but requiring a second wired machine just to set it up. When I installed Edubuntu on three different generations of laptops, each with different wireless cards, I was astounded at how easy it was. In every case, the first thing Edubuntu did was sniff the wireless card, install it, and hop right onto the Net. Plus, every display was configured and sized just right, every touch pad and sound card functioned, hardware just worked.

That said, installing optional software can be trickier than with Windows. When installing a program designed for the Ubuntu family of Linux or its daddy, Debian, Edubuntu's Synaptic Package Manager will do most of the thinking for you. But if you want to load stuff designed for other Linux-based distributions, be prepared to be sent back to school. Most are made available in "tarballs," compressed packages that need to be properly placed, decompressed, and installed through a terminal program via command line Unix instructions.

Edubuntu also snubbed the trusty SanDisk Cruzer flash drive I keep on my keychain, apparently due to the device's Windows-based U3 software, according to the Usenet gurus I consulted online. Similarly, I got my USB webcam working, but only in kinda-sorta fashion. Bottom line: with USB outboards, Windows still dominates, so expect plug-in stuff to be hit and miss.

Application: Edubuntu works great on stand-alone desktops and laptops, providing everything you need to set up a classroom server-client network. Ever dream of building your own online research center in your library, but lacked the funding? Well you can do it on the cheap with Edubuntu. The machines on your network needn't sport the latest and greatest processors either; Edubuntu lets you set up thin clients, allowing your server to do much of the heavy lifting, so you can set up a network running on donated equipment.

What else can you do with Edubuntu? For starters, anything you currently do with your PC or Mac. Browse the Web using Firefox, create, view, and edit photos and videos. Record a podcast using Audacity, IM using the universally friendly Gaim messenger, make phone calls on Skype, listen to music, watch a DVD, and do everything you do in Microsoft Office using the superb Open Office suite instead. Do a lot of PowerPoint presentations in your building? Hop on to Impress, the open-source counterpart. Like me, you may find it's superior to the one you've been paying for all these years.

Got a lot invested in all your Microsoft-created files? Don't worry about compatibility. You can open, edit, and save in all the familiar file formats.

Now to the educational software. You can create and administer online tests using Keduca; brush up on your Spanish, Latin, percentages, fractions, or geometry; explore the elements using Kalzium, an interactive periodic table, or the night sky using KStars, an online planetarium. You can even explore basic computer science in the Logo language using KTurtle. There are some very sophisticated image and photo-editing tools and even the very youngest students can enjoy creating cool graphics using the very popular Tux Paint program. Plus, they can use open-source applications to do things as elementary as learning colors and the alphabet. The list goes on.

And yeah, wise guy, I know what you're thinking: it comes with solitaire. But if the principal catches you playing, don't blame me.