[LINK] Open source and government: Brazil to install 356, 800 Green Workstations into schools (open source based tools)

[Phillip Musumeci]

[Apologies if this was noted in LINK previously.  My somewhat late alert
came via a European source, and in Europe there is much more interest in
government use of open source technologies.]
The Brazil government is installing linux based virtualised systems
into schools (plural!) in "all of Brazil's 5,560 municipalities".  The PR
blurb from the supplier is at
http://www2.userful.com/company/linux-desktop-virtualization where the
per-seat price is quoted as US$50 + {keyboard, screen}.

Some underlying technology from Canada and Brazil is proprietary but the
students see a typical linux desktop and that is what is centrally *and*
remotely managed.  A more powerful central node gets shared/virtualised
between up to 10 users.

They also note that the first 18,750 went into rural schools, presumably
where disadvantage was greatest.  This might be of interest in Australia if
budget pressures reduce the distribution of laptops into schools with little
computer access.  It would also require a mindset change by education
authorities who appear, in the main, to be locked into proprietary
technologies.

Phillip Musumeci