Smoothing Troubled Waters: the Linux Method Using Linux and Open Source software concepts to tackle political and technical issues Harry Ainsworth Board Chair, Multnomah Education Service District Eric Harrison Supervisor of Network Information Services, MESD

MESD School Districts

Free Software ➢ Free software is software that comes with permission for anyone to use, copy, and distribute, either verbatim or with modifications, either gratis or for a fee ➢ Free as in freedom ➢ Libre, not gratis ➢ License encourages sharing ➢ Free software is as much social as it is technical ➢ Free software is cohesive rather than divisive

Part I: Castles in the Sand Everyone has their own little empire

Problems ➢ Separate wide area and local area network administrators ➢ Duplication of efforts ➢ Poor communication ➢ Mixed environments, Mac & PC of all vintages. ➢ Support biased one way or the other ➢ Inequitable services ➢ Technological growth stagnated ➢ Very little trust or cooperation

Philosophical Leap of Faith ➢ If we could make our wide-area network efforts and expertise accessible, the districts would received more for their money ➢ Local area network services are agency overhead, with careful design we could reduce districts' overhead as a bonus ➢ Offer choices and guarantee no lock-ins, always have a way out! ➢ Builds trust ➢ Mitigated the huge risks we were taking

Solutions ➢ Merge local & wide area network management ➢ Modular designs: let the districts pick and choose what they want to use ➢ Platform inclusive, avoid the PC/Mac wars ➢ Low cost of entry ➢ Prefer no license fees ➢ Use existing hardware ➢ "Cookie cutter" configurations

Solutions (cont.) ➢ Standard protocols ➢ Interoperability a must ➢ Avoid proprietary solutions ➢ Solve our own problems first, prove it works ➢ Distributed management ➢ Departments/Districts maintain control ➢ Be brutally honest about what works and what doesn't ➢ Be willing to change course when it makes sense

Results ➢ Districts saw that we had their best interests at heart ➢ Trust improved dramatically ➢ Started to work together ➢ Locally ➢ State-wide ➢ Many districts took us up on our offers, using our services or mirroring our configurations ➢ Half the districts using our file/print/ solutions ➢ Half of the student/staff account management

Part II: The Big Budget Crunch

Problems, Round II ➢ Budgets tank ➢ Double hit of ESD equalization and recession ➢ Most districts have old, unreliable hardware and no capital improvement funds ➢ Tech support laid off ➢ Microsoft audits

What We Are Doing ➢ MESD uses expertise to find new uses for useless desktops, tests out different ideas from the districts ➢ Pool of expertise: we try to help each other ➢ Partner with peer agencies, seek economies of scale

Results ➢ Improved service ➢ Greater reliability ➢ Expanded service offerings ➢ LAN/WAN budget decreased by $200,000/year ➢ An additional $100,000 decrease possible next year

What Have We Learned? ➢ Taking risks can have huge paybacks, if the risks are properly mitigated ➢ With careful design, implementation, and documentation, new services can be offered at near zero marginal costs ➢ Peer support, we can cover each other's weaknesses ➢ Our talent pool can be extended beyond our borders

What Have We Learned? (cont.) ➢ Flexibility: can quickly adjust to changes without bureaucratic overhead ➢ Teamwork: anyone can use our work, anyone can contribute back in some way; be part of a big team ➢ Hedging bets: provided leverage to fight off untimely audit

What Have We Learned? (cont.) ➢ Make it easy to get in, make it easy to get out. ➢ No vested interest: makes it easier to have honest evaluations of technologies. Compare and contrast without fear, make the right choice even if it is the choice to do something different (as long as your choice supports standard protocols)

Projects ➢ Linux in Schools Project: ➢ ➢ K12LTSP, the K-12 Linux Terminal Server Project: ➢ ➢ SquidGuard web filter: ➢ ➢ K-12 Open Source discussion board: ➢

Miscellaneous Articles Linux & Learning: The Free Software Revolution: Graduation Day for Linux: ● Microsoft pitches schools new licensing option: ● Business Linux: ● Ask the Expert: K12Linux Initiative: : ● Red Hat CEO pushes Linux in schools: ● OpenSourceNow: ● My summer vacation without windows: ● Tux on the Upper West Side: ● Students Score Big Opportunities For Learning Using Linux: ● Penguin Enrolls in U.S. Schools : ● Open Source Opens Education: ● Filter The Web With squidGuard: ● Viva La Revolucion: ● Linux in Higher Education: Open Source, Open Minds, Social Justice: ● Secretaries use Linux, taxpayers save millions: ● Namibia wisely spurns M$ 'gift' in favor of Linux: ● Peruvian Congressman's Open Letter to Microsoft: