On 4/17/07, Greg Dekoenigsberg <gdk@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The plan for K12LTSP, from its inception, was to have it folded into Red Hat. At one time there was a channel in Red Hat Network for K12LTSP. Eric Harrison has been working for a long time, releasing update after update of K12LTSP based on first RH, then Fedora (as well as RHEL and CENTOS). He's configured packaging to comply with RH standards so that whenever RH decides it wants to make billions by distributing a viable thin-client to the world, LTSP will be there, ready to go. (Don't forget Jim McQuillen's hard work too.)
I think though that Eric is getting tired. You can only volunteer so much time over so many years and then you start to get tired. He's not complaining or saying it, but I see it. He has every right to be.
I have to give credit where it's due. RH helped send me and several groups of high school kids to various conferences to show folks how K12LTSP worked. We setup the first big FOSS/K12LTSP lab at NECC with RH's help. Now the open source events at NECC are so large and so popular that vendors who have to pay for their space are complaining. ;-^) (Way to go Steve!!!)
Does RH support sendmail or do they rely on the sendmail user community to support the product? They should just go ahead and include that "Terminal Server" button in the normal Fedora and RHEL install and go for it. They already host the K12OSN listserv. Put a couple of people on the payroll to help flush out the K12LTSP support wiki and answer questions on the list. Rebrand the product RH DesktopTerminalServer and combine it with thick-client deployment and imaging support and just watch it take off.
There is a HUGE market waiting for the first Linux distributor who can bring a viable desktop to the masses. Red Hat has navigated a clear path AWAY from the desktop so far. They've even gone as far as to distance the desktop product from their branded name by spawning off the Fedora project. Reading tea leaves here but in doing this, they have a solid track record of profitability with their server products and they have avoided making the 800lb. gorilla angry.
We need to have RH grow some cojones and find a way to address the protocols issues (for sound and video over the web) and deliver a product.
BTW, OLPC workstations would sell like hotcakes in US schools at $200 a pop. Every household in the country would be buying them to use at home too. What do you think would happen to the protocol standards if there were millions of clients that were configured to use open standards in homes all over the world?
One final note to the folks at RH... Don't underestimate the value of having a loyal base of users in the education market. It saved Apple from certain ruin during their dark years. You have a chance here to make huge inroads in US and international markets by putting out a solid suite of desktop solutions aimed at the K12 market.
;-) Paul
On Tue, 17 Apr 2007, Steve Hargadon wrote:
snip......
* Red Hat's ability to deliver. Frankly, we're better able to deliver a
thick client right now from a technology perspective. Packaging and
supporting K12LTSP is not our strength... at least not yet.
The plan for K12LTSP, from its inception, was to have it folded into Red Hat. At one time there was a channel in Red Hat Network for K12LTSP. Eric Harrison has been working for a long time, releasing update after update of K12LTSP based on first RH, then Fedora (as well as RHEL and CENTOS). He's configured packaging to comply with RH standards so that whenever RH decides it wants to make billions by distributing a viable thin-client to the world, LTSP will be there, ready to go. (Don't forget Jim McQuillen's hard work too.)
I think though that Eric is getting tired. You can only volunteer so much time over so many years and then you start to get tired. He's not complaining or saying it, but I see it. He has every right to be.
I have to give credit where it's due. RH helped send me and several groups of high school kids to various conferences to show folks how K12LTSP worked. We setup the first big FOSS/K12LTSP lab at NECC with RH's help. Now the open source events at NECC are so large and so popular that vendors who have to pay for their space are complaining. ;-^) (Way to go Steve!!!)
Does RH support sendmail or do they rely on the sendmail user community to support the product? They should just go ahead and include that "Terminal Server" button in the normal Fedora and RHEL install and go for it. They already host the K12OSN listserv. Put a couple of people on the payroll to help flush out the K12LTSP support wiki and answer questions on the list. Rebrand the product RH DesktopTerminalServer and combine it with thick-client deployment and imaging support and just watch it take off.
There is a HUGE market waiting for the first Linux distributor who can bring a viable desktop to the masses. Red Hat has navigated a clear path AWAY from the desktop so far. They've even gone as far as to distance the desktop product from their branded name by spawning off the Fedora project. Reading tea leaves here but in doing this, they have a solid track record of profitability with their server products and they have avoided making the 800lb. gorilla angry.
We need to have RH grow some cojones and find a way to address the protocols issues (for sound and video over the web) and deliver a product.
BTW, OLPC workstations would sell like hotcakes in US schools at $200 a pop. Every household in the country would be buying them to use at home too. What do you think would happen to the protocol standards if there were millions of clients that were configured to use open standards in homes all over the world?
One final note to the folks at RH... Don't underestimate the value of having a loyal base of users in the education market. It saved Apple from certain ruin during their dark years. You have a chance here to make huge inroads in US and international markets by putting out a solid suite of desktop solutions aimed at the K12 market.
;-) Paul
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