I am a teacher for Information Technology for 11th and 12th grade.
I have used OpenSuse for the past several years, beginning with dual booted systems with Win2k to now only Suse since. ( It is still an issue but, Win2k is the only reliable method for using AutoCad. )

Everything thing that is needed is available to myself and my students in both the lab and at home and more. Web design, Graphics, Networking, Programming, Database, Network Admin, Word processing / Presentation / Spread sheets and so much more.
I'd hate to start a list by name of programs because there is so much and I do not want anything to be left out.

I take care of the network for the adult programs as well as my classroom. All servers save one is Linux.

From the time they do their first installation, learn to work on and even play on - they have gotten out of the controlled world into a much more advanced computer usage.

I am not sure if this is the best forum to make a post but I have wanted to somewhere for some time. I do not get to help in the community other than maybe introduce growing minds to real possibilities but

I want to say thanks to everyone that does.


kumado

I am quite sure that The Implementors are listening.

Yes, Linux/Unix is a far more advanced and capable environment than Microsoft Windows is (designed to be). I agree that it definitely is an environment that students in an Information Technology class ought to be seriously exposed to ... particularly since the world of computer technology is rushing headlong to handheld devices, and all of these are based on Unix/Linux and other open-source technologies.

The open-source worlds are particularly full of tools: Perl, Awk, Prolog, "R" (for statistics) ... the list goes on and on and on, and it's all available. You quite literally cannot teach it all. (In an entire lifelong career you'll never encounter it all.) But you can present it as a rich smorgasbord and give students a cross-section sampling of it.

I also suggest that it is useful, not only to help the students learn about this, but at the same time to let it be known that you wish to learn from them as all of you collectively proceed. No matter how much of the subject you now know, if you open that door, you yourself will learn much and many wheels will be well-greased.

In my high school, I was in a class on "Science Fiction" the very first time the course was being taught. The teacher smiled and said, "I know nothing about Science Fiction. But I know that all of you do. So, let's both learn together." At the end of the semester, that course was, by her own admission as well as ours, one of the very best learning experiences any of us had ever had. We all brought our own experiences, our own favorite books and authors, to the table, really got into it, learned by sharing, and, IIRC, every single one of us ("of course") made an "A." I've still got many now well-read books that were introduced to me for the first time at that time.

Kumado, I agree with you. I have dove head long into Linux myself until eventually it has turned into a professional career.

I would also like to point out for you a new cheap computing environment that was recently released called Raspberry PI. It can provide your students with a cheap alternative to their home computer in which they can play around with, break, and fix again. This way, "Mom and Dad don't have to get angry that I broke the family computer again out of curiousity!"

You mentioned you used AutoCAD. I dont know if you are aware about the LibreCAD software for design? Still lack the 3D capabilities that AutoCAD offers but is a good program.

Good luck to you!

I have missed that there were replies to this post but thanks for the replies and the information!

I had glanced at the PIs, but you made simple, good points, thanks - I need to look into that more, time is the cruncher.

It is now a couple of years later and I still solely use 'nix ( openSuse 13.1 64 - atm ) for the entire course.
It is all I have used at home for a long time.
The kids all have mobile and windose at home so I try to concentrate on the basics in lab since they can go out and work in so many areas once they leave, with just Linux.
I teach in the areas of A+, Networking, Programming ( C/C++, php, js ), Web design ( html, css ) in kwrite or kate, 2D and
3D graphics with Gimp and Blender, CAD has moved to the engineering class.

When I started, the tech coordinator disconnected my room. I was told my kids had wired a loop-back that killed the whole hill.
After that and an L3 switch, I was assigned an IP range from our ISP with 4 live IPs, I put up my NAT, wrote a firewall, set up squid, then web server, moodle server, DNS servers an internal camera server, DHCP, NTP, Samba ..... We got "so good" that we ran all of the administrator, treasury, adult class offices and adult class rooms ( Post-secondary ), as well as my lab, all of the high school side stayed under the tech coord ( which I was very glad ). We did repairs, maintainance and network, file server, for around 10 years.

They have won at the local universities game conferance for 6 years straight by doing C/C++ with SDL or HTML5 projects from scratch.

The latest projects include a beowulf cluster for a Blender render farm.
All of this looks kinda impressive but I know so little - there is so much to cover ....

The move to Linux has been the best in so many ways, not just money, I hope someday the kids can see it too.

Kumado,
Thanks for writing back. It sounds like you and your students have had quite an adventure. It sounds like a great learning experience. Regarding Raspberry Pis, they have come a long way with kits and available resources since I last mentioned them in 2012. There's now a ton of documentation and projects with Raspberry Pis are well documented as well, generally.

We have had our first run with a Pi
One of my students actually has one and was willing to "goof around" with it.
Side insert: We go once a year to the game convention. As part of a test, he installed
a 'nix and Appache. He rsync'ed a web html/css/js Whack-a-mole game another had been
making to it. We then connected to a router and had mobile play on it. Was cool and
be a great gimic at the show next year.

Hope we can do more with

I wish I were not an instructor, so little time to get to play with everything. Really
depends on what they kids are wanting and willing to get into.

ttfn