KDE Linux reaches 52 million Brazilian kids

[CadCrazy]

Brazil's Ministry of Education ("MEC") is installing Linux in labs used by 52 million schoolchildren, reports KDE developer Mauricio Piacentini. Piacentini's blog post describes MEC's "Linux Educacional 2.0" as "a very clean Debian-based distribution, with KDE 3.5, KDE-Edu, KDE-Games, and some tools developed by the project."

(Click for a larger view of Linux Educacional's KDE-based desktop)

Piacentini's write-up suggests that Linux Educacional 2.0 includes some enhancements over normal KDE 3.5 that came about as a result of usability testing of the first version. Chief among the enhancements is what appears to be a launcher, located in the top middle of the desktop. The launcher appears to resemble the AWN (Avant Window Navigator) used by the Everex-sponsored gOS desktop.

Piacentini says that typical labs use one server and seven satellite PCs, each of which supports two KVM (keyboard, video, and mouse) stations. Thus, most labs have 15 available workstations. For labs in rural locations with limited electricity, a single server can support up to seven KVMs. There's also a set-up with a large TV monitor for special needs children. Some 29,000 labs will be completed this year, with 53,000 labs set up by the end of next year.

MEC has also used Linux in an "integrated projector," described as a single hardware unit that integrates a "projector, CPU, bundled content and DVD player," Piacentini writes. He adds, "With it, digital content will no longer be restricted to the info lab, and will be usable by teachers in the traditional classrooms as well."

A separate "one computer per student" (Um Computador por Aluno, or UCA) MEC computing initiative aims to roll out some 150,000 PCs, with KDE and Linux also likely tapped for that effort, Piacentini writes. His blog posting can be found here. MEC maintains a page about its Linux distribution, and educational available for use with it, here (Portuguese only).

Source

[Pathik]

Go Linux Go! Great news.

[Faun]

Go brazil go

[gary4gar]

I am Happy
More People Using = Larger support & acceptability

[praka123]

"Mauricio Piacentini writes about a deployment of systems running Linux and KDE in Brazil's schools; some 52 million students are to be served by this initiative. 'What is interesting about this project is that it not only provides infrastructure (computers and net connectivity) but also open content to students in public schools. The software installed on these systems is "Linux Educacional 2.0," a very clean Debian-based distribution, with KDE 3.5, KDE-Edu, KDE-Games, and some tools developed by the project.' The distro comes in Portuguese only at this time." quarterbuck notes that Linux is making other inroads in the BRIC economies (Brazil-Russia-India-China): India and China are getting a custom-designed Ubuntu laptop from Dell, and Russia is making their own Ubuntu laptop this year.

http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl.../04/25/1159232
Did u noticed?Linux Pre-loaded laptop from Dell in India