You probably don't need to reinvent the wheel on this
one -- Free Geek has been doing this type of work for
a while, and would probably be glad to share the
details of their work -- see http://freegeek.org/ for
more details.
Also, starting with an Ubuntu/Edubuntu, or another
linux distribution would extend the life of the
computers you give out. On the computers you send out
(whatever distro/config you use), it would also be a
good idea to extend the basic configuration by making
sure that all the necessary codecs, etc are installed,
and that the repositories for installing additional
software are enabled.
These two blog posts give a good overview of how to do
what I describe in Ubuntu; similar tutorials exist for
other distros as well:
http://onlyubuntu.blogspot.com/2007/03/install-mplayer-and-multimedia-codecs.html
http://linuxondesktop.blogspot.com/2007/05/13-must-do-things-on-new-ubuntu-704.html
By completing these steps prior to handover, you will
give your users a more solid machine.
Cheers,
Bill
--- Steve Bergen <sbergen@cstorefront.org> wrote:
> As some of you know, we at The Children's Storefront
> in Harlem are
> collaborating with The Harlem Wireless Initiative to
> give away computers
> to Harlem families in 2008. We have been very much
> appreciative of
> numerous Independent Schools around the country that
> have donated old
> computers to us.
>
> I have put together a first pass of what we will put
> onto each Mac image
> and PC image. I would love suggestions from any of
> you for software that
> would enhance this list.
>
> See http://thechildrensstorefront.org/ts/image.htm
>
> Thanks in advance for your time. Happy new year,
> everyone! Steve
>
> p.s. we are now enrolling people for 3 Summercore
> sessions, 2 in NYC area
> and 1 in Florida (see below or our Web Site)
>
> Steve Bergen
> CIO and Computer Teacher, The Children's Storefront
> e-mail: sbergen@cstorefront.org
> An Independent School in Harlem
> address: 70 East 129th Street, New York, NY 10035
>
> also co-director, The "Summercore" Teaching Company
> ...
> http://www.summercore.com
>
> Summercore 2008 includes July 7-11 and July 14-18 at
> Horace Mann, NY
> as well as July 21-25 at Shorecrest in St.
> Petersburg, FL (all 3 open to
> public)
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative
> commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike
> license.
>
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[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
