Schools Save Big with Open Source

By James Gaskin, NetworkWorld.com, 07/11/06

I asked before about success stories of schools using Open Source Software. Here's a few examples with dollars attached.

Reader John sends in the first story, detailing his $100,000 savings. Yes, $100,000.

"Our school has been running the Linux terminals for students for over two years. We currently have 110 student terminals available. We use OpenOffice for our student and faculty. The conversion has been a great success, savings are over $100,000 while our users remain satisfied with the computer tools they have available. You may read this article for some details. In 2003 we were running near to 110 five year old machines with Windows NT and Office 97. We also had new machines that were running Windows NT and Office97 and needed a software upgrade. The $100,000 savings was the amount saved from switch to a Linux terminal server configuration on the student lab PCs and switching to OpenOffice on all faculty and student PCs."

That's a lot of savings. Reader William's story focuses on an elementary school.

"We successfully transitioned an entire public elementary school's student computers from Win 95/98 to K12LTSP; it has been an outstanding success. The average classroom went from having 1-3 working student computers to an average of about 7 (and as many as 12). The student/computer ratio by the end of the year was 2:1. Because we wanted to take advantage of existing desktops, most classes run off an individual server but the entire 5th grade (about 40 stations in 4 classrooms) runs off a single P4 dual core server. The software just works - training and transition were minimal and everyone loves their computers. More importantly, we've seen a fundamental seachange in how computers are used in the classroom - this is the point that is often overlooked in these conversations. And, by using existing old, donated and new, inexpensive thin clients, we did this all for about a tenth of the cost of the "proprietary" paradigm. Our school system was impressed enough that they will be piloting K12LTSP in 6 other schools next year."

K12LTSP is the (Linux thin-client distribution for schools) mentioned in more detail back on July 3.

Finally, Reader Daniel brings up some savings not normally considered. "Current estimate is that using OSS and thin client architectures coupled with donated PCs from local businesses, the parent volunteers have put 250 working PCs in the school for about a tenth of what it would have cost using WinXP PCs. And the total cost of ownership numbers are impressive: acquisition and deployment costs are less than a third of conventional costs (new thin clients running OSS vs. new standalone PCs with WinXP Pro, Office XP, and NAV), operation and support costs are far less due to only managing the servers (the clients are more like appliances, and you can hang 25 or more clients off a single server), clients use less electricity (6 Watts vs. 60+ Watts, and they are diskless and fanless, so no moving parts), clients last longer (7-10 years vs. 3-5 years) and retirement cost will be lower because new thin clients are lighter (4 lbs vs. 30+ lbs) and you have to pay by the pound to have them hauled off."

Cheaper upfront, cheaper to run, cheaper to haul away. That's thinking ahead. Any business could save similar amounts with Open Source as well.

Back to Small Business Tech Notes

Comments

The story didn't specify how 100.000 USD was saved.
I guess by *not* upgrading to newer versions of Office and Windows?

Posted by: mangoo on July 12, 2006 02:30 PM

Thanks again for showcasing these examples. We have a website and email list for schools new to Open Source software at http://www.K12OpenSource.com. Our Open Source Lab last week at the National Educational Computing Convention generated great crowds, with over 200 people at our first session and consistent attendance from beginning to end. Fun photos at http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=necc2006+opensourcelab&m=text

Posted by: Steve Hargadon on July 13, 2006 02:49 AM

The Bill/Melinda Gates Foundation, with the recent contribution from Warren Buffett, will make free Microsoft software available to schools forever; effectively removing the Linux cost advantage. Not only will the schools benefit from Warren's contribution but Microsoft corporation will benefit also. The Foundation will provide MS software to schools for free, paying for it with Warren's money. Microsoft will charge the Foundation full price. Since software is almost all profit, Microsoft will put most of Warren's contribution in its pocket. Now we know why Bill is the richest man in the world and Warren is (was) the second richest. Brilliant move, Bill!

Posted by: David on July 13, 2006 09:07 AM

David, Bill is a lot greedier than that.

Pocketing Warren's donation is small fry compared to much of Bill's other shonky behaviour; for example, think of things like his getting the US DoT to lean on Brazilian competitors who were donating free AIDS drugs to Africa, all apparently done so that Bill's own pharma-corp investment would look fancier.

Bill's been that particular about money (and power) since he raided some uni dumpsters for source code in the early days. Then he had the cheek to write his Letter To Hobbyists. No visible change there in decades. )-:

Posted by: Leon Brooks on July 13, 2006 08:31 PM

A project packaging Free Software for Public Schools is EDU-Nix.org - Open Source Schoolware, it is a Linux Live CD that also includes numerous Windows versions of Open Source Software for Public Schools.

Posted by: garcia on July 13, 2006 10:11 PM

This is so true. There are several schools that are doing this. BTW, hi Steve, I've seen you on the K12OSN list! Keep doing what you're doing.

Free/Open Source Software is the most ethical thing that a school can use. I had one school running K12LTSP for two trouble-free years until the district politicians found out about it and yanked it out. However, I now have two new ones, one running LTSP on Debian, and another one running K12LTSP, and both of them LOVE IT. Heck, I myself run K12LTSP (the CentOS version) at home on a dual Athlon 1.2GHz box. It kicks.

There is a nearby school that has been running LTSP on Debian for years, and they showed me their setup. It's terrific. Not only are the kids learning how to develop software for *any* platform, i. e. not just Windows (they're actually learning ANSI--not Microsoft-specific--C and C++...what a concept!), but with a small part of the money saved, they bought a bunch of 19" LCD monitors.

Posted by: Sum Yung Gai on July 13, 2006 10:26 PM

Since the Foundation is a not for profit entity, it should not be doing things that directly and massively profits the folks that control it, I believe, if true, that that sort of gift would be a tax law problem. The Gates Foundation should not be generating market share for Microsoft, its fundamentally wrong, also I would think a violation of the terms of their agreement with the Government not to use scorched earth competative practices, an Anti Trust violation.

Posted by: Aaron Feldman on July 14, 2006 08:34 AM

Well software is one source of cost for schools but hardware is an even larger cost. Microsoft software just loves the newest pricey hardware. Thin client requirements are much less and you just put the unit in place, set it to boot with floppy or pxe, connect it to the network and you are all set. Thus overall deployment costs are way down.

Additionally the K12LTSP thin client server package includes centralized management of accounts and applications which is a real winner for schools. No more lost student files... Application settings and preferences are set on the server as well.

Posted by: Mary Jo Spencer on July 14, 2006 09:03 AM

Another slightly older case study with charts explaining the savings: http://k12.idealcorp.com/

Tony

Posted by: Tony on July 14, 2006 09:40 AM

Hey thats what its all about is freedom.

Posted by: Reggie on July 15, 2006 01:06 AM

Hey thats what its all about is freedom.

Posted by: Reggie on July 16, 2006 08:58 PM

>The Bill/Melinda Gates Foundation, with the recent >contribution from Warren Buffett, will make free >Microsoft software available to schools forever;

I'd like to see some attribution on this slant, because I can find no reference to any such arrangement. If you're simply flaming B.S. because you hate MS, you're a jerk.

Posted by: Tom Feldsten on July 17, 2006 12:59 PM

The combination of FOSS, specifically K12LTSP, and thin client devices are an excellent way for schools to leverage their computing budgets. More importantly, it will provide students with an introduction to FOSS and how they can become active participants in Free and Open Source Software projects.

Using proprietary software in schools provides a diminished educational experience because students have no access to the source code. They cannot actually "see" what makes it tick. They also are not free to copy and distribute proprietary software to their classmates. Using proprietary software in schools teaches students to become "click monkeys" without inviting them to dig into what they are using and perhaps figure out how to make it better.

Dr. Joe Doupnik at the University of Utah has a useful motto to describe what happens in his classes...it goes something like this, "We run on what we write." That's learning by doing and then understanding. None of that kind of learning is possible when using proprietary software.

BTW, the Microsoft "tax" on new computers (Windows and Office) is typically $400 per computer. That Dell Dimension $399 special becomes a $799 PC when you add Office. I understand that there are educational discounts for licensing Microsoft software, but it is all on their terms. The goal of Microsoft's educational discounts is to condition students to want Microsoft software when they leave school. Then you get to pay the Microsoft "tax" on your PC and your next PC and your next PC.

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS is one of easiest to install and use Linux distributions...it comes on a single CD and includes OpenOffice.org. Price is $0.00 or you can buy the CD's from osdisc.com for a couple of bucks and save yoursedlf the download time.

There is not good reason for schools to spend money licensing proprietary software for their students to use in class.

Posted by: Tim Wessels on July 19, 2006 10:27 PM