Maybe the answer for local schools facing daunting technology challenges lies with the penguins.
You know, penguins — those who worship free and open-source software, including Linux and the operating system's mascot, a penguin named Tux.
I've been hearing from the penguins since I wrote recently that if Silicon Valley CEOs want the state to improve K-12 education, then they should take a bigger role in helping those schools deploy classroom technology from this century.
"One viable solution to getting the old computers working again is to install Linux on them," Peter Perpich, a San Jose Web application engineer, wrote in an e-mail. "Linux needs significantly less processing power than Windows and is free. There is also a wealth of free open-source software for the platform."
Perpich was thinking of Davis Intermediate School when he wrote to me. My column talked about how the San Jose school was grappling with a problem that illustrates the struggle many cash-strapped schools have when it comes to computers. The PC lab at Davis is filled with computers that are so old they can't handle an upgrade to the Windows version they're running. The Windows version is so old that Microsoft will soon stop supporting it, leaving administrators worried about increased vulnerability to viruses.
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