Planning Stages
Friday, October 3, 2008: Meeting with Martin for Project Discussion
Linux Terminal Server Project:
- One higher end computer will run distribuition + other software as the central server; other computers will communicate to this server to run applications locally
- Uses one CPU but displays on computer that initiated the process
- For more detailed information look at A.’s post: Linux Terminal Server Project Notes.
- Potential Issues:
- Adequate hardware for the server
- If one CPU is not capable of running the window manager, how should we address this?
- What should Linux look like for them? How can we change the look and feel of the window manager (themes, icons, shortcuts, background image) to make it more accessible, user-friendly, and intuitive?
- Longevity: We should be looking for a distribution with long term sustainability and creation of updates. Martin would like to see us use Mint, but that is just one option.
- Adequate hardware for the server
Primary User Groups:
- Youth
- Possibly expanding services to include senior citizens.
Software Components:
- LTS Software
- Distribution
- Windows Manager
- Other applications
Possible Distributions:
- Edubuntu (newest release is not a full distro: Ubuntu+Edubuntu package on top)
- Strict licensing concerns therefore does not support multimedia capabilities immediately
- Mint
- We could also use the Edubuntu add-on with this distro.
- PCOS
- Martin suggested this as a possibility for it’s multimedia creation capabilities.
***We need to do more research into distributions as well as software/drivers especially for multimedia (i.e. video cameras)
Morningstar Lab details:
- 6-8 computers
- Small room
- Server will be housed in a different room (office)
Suggested Timeline:
- Mid-November trip: Set up LTS, terminal stations at Morningstar. User testing of multiple options.
- See what works and what does not, reevaluate, put together final product.
- Early December trip: Final installation.
Friday, October 10, 2008: Group Meeting
Letter to Pastor Kaitroy:
-Emailed Pastor Kaitroy to introduce the group and open up communication
Computers:
-8 Terminals (may TFTP capabilty)
-We will need to upgrade the server with RAM (goal is three 512 MB sticks)
-Discussion of Account management: we won’t be able to fully determine how to approach this without knowing if there will be consistent use of storage, who will manage user accounts (is there a tech person at Morningstar?)
-Automate updates
-Creation of user manuals
-RAID array to create redundancy?
-Customization of wallpaper and icons
Distribution of Tasks:
-A. will put the spreadsheet on Google Docs; all of us have access to the Google account (check your email for more info)
Meeting Times:
-Thursday, October 16: nuke clients; identify server and nuke
-Friday, October 17: image with different window managers
