Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

venox · 2008-03-02 19:03:22

I'm looking for a good Linux distribution to install on a ~40 PCs programming laboratory. The desktops need to be user-friendly for both Linux and non-Linux users (which means that's probably a KDE/Gnome desktop). I think that a rolling-release distro (like Arch) is out of question, since updating 40 boxes would be really messy (if there's no automated way to update all the machines at once).

What Linux distro would you recommend installing on such lab?

freakcode · 2008-03-02 19:32:12

Arch. Despite it's being rolling-release, that doesn't mean you need to upgrade every hour - e.g., you can plan your updates with sync of the release of the snapshot ISOs.

Anyway, in the end it's all Linux...

finferflu · 2008-03-02 19:34:09

Not to sound too obvious, but how about Ubuntu? Since you don't want to upgrade often you could as well go with a LTS (Long Term Support - 3 years of security updates for the current packages) version, even though I am not following the project anymore and I don't know what was the latest LTS one.

Last edited by finferflu (2008-03-02 19:34:37)

venox · 2008-03-02 19:50:41

Yeap, I was thinking in Ubuntu too. And, actually, I can't see a reason for not using it. I mean, Ubuntu is a great and user-friendly distro (make no mistake: I'm an Arch user for a long time and, since then, I've never installed another distro on my desktop).

Syncing Arch with the release of the snapshot ISOs is a good idea too. Maybe creating a local software repository an updating once a month would be a good idea. The only thing is that some updates need some file editing (although, they're kinda rare). Okay, I can make a script that automatically fix all the files, and just run the script on every machine. But stills...

Last edited by venox (2008-03-02 19:52:12)

skottish · 2008-03-02 20:27:04

My vote is for Kubuntu. KDE is very much Windows like, so new users will get the hang of it quickly.

gummibaerchen · 2008-03-02 21:12:23

There are some cards, called "Wächter-Karten" in German.
With these you only have to have an image on the server, and at every boot the image gets transmitted from the server to the clients.

So you only need to update that image.

Also there are tools for upgrading many machines remotely at the same time.

blu3ness · 2008-03-02 21:25:49

My school has a computer lab with Xubuntu, I think people like it, they are faily old machines too, but the apps run fine.

lilsirecho · 2008-03-02 21:49:35

All of the machines can be independently loaded with Faunos with a single USB stick (or many) and give KDE with over 600 packages.

The packages can be upgraded and run in the booted system, saved or not at the discretion of the user.

Each downloaded package can be opened in ram with pacman.

Operating in ram is fastest possible mode for executing linux.

A school in France is using such a system....

Best to you....

SiC · 2008-03-02 22:38:38

No matter what distribution you are going to operate, thats quite a few machines to setup at any one time. I'd recommend that you use the distribution you are most familiar with. So why not use Arch?

Probably the best way to do it would be to use kdemod for your desktop. Two of the machines should be set aside for special functions. The first machine is your test machine. You perform all the updates on here manually. Make sure the updates work etc before you roll them out to the other machines. (I am assuming they are all similarly specced if they are in the same lab).

Setup a ftp server on the second machine and use that as your repository. When you have sufficiently tested the updates, update the repository as needed. You can then run say a weekly cron job on each of the lab machines which will update them to the latest packages in your repository. This will significantly reduce the amount of work you have to do to maintain the lab. Also has the advantage of reducing the amount of bandwidth you use when updating them. Whilst downloading 100-200mb of updates on one machine isn't too bad, hammering those out accross say 40 machines is completely different. Whichever distribution you decide on running, you will need to maintain a local repository.

Also if you need to re-image a machine, then all you need to do is grab the packages from the ftp server locally rather than going accross the internet. Means you reimage much faster.

cactus · 2008-03-02 22:56:28

I would recommend setting up a thin client environment.
With a shared root drive, you can pxe boot your machines.. update the master mountpoint via chroot, and then reboot your workstations... bam. lab updated.

SiC · 2008-03-02 23:00:50

cactus wrote:

I would recommend setting up a thin client environment.
With a shared root drive, you can pxe boot your machines.. update the master mountpoint via chroot, and then reboot your workstations... bam. lab updated.

That would work too... provided your clients have PXE boot capability. Not all machines do however.

Last edited by SiC (2008-03-02 23:01:29)

cactus · 2008-03-03 01:06:25

You could always boot to floppy (or cd or something), and have that fire off a pxe boot instance. There are lots of pxe boot floppy images out there... if the machines are old enough to not have pxe boot support.

SiC · 2008-03-03 01:30:37

cactus wrote:

You could always boot to floppy (or cd or something), and have that fire off a pxe boot instance. There are lots of pxe boot floppy images out there... if the machines are old enough to not have pxe boot support.

Thats true. Most modern machines do support PXE boot, but a lot of onboard net cards don't have the PXE boot rom added ime. You usually have to spec for that when getting the systems made up.

Reasons · 2008-03-03 03:11:04

If you're all good with gentoo, you could try to pull off what this video does.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tfT9zMo0WHw

Arch Linux

#1 2008-03-02 19:03:22

Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

#2 2008-03-02 19:32:12

Re: Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

#3 2008-03-02 19:34:09

Re: Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

#4 2008-03-02 19:50:41

Re: Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

#5 2008-03-02 20:27:04

Re: Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

#6 2008-03-02 21:12:23

Re: Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

#7 2008-03-02 21:25:49

Re: Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

#8 2008-03-02 21:49:35

Re: Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

#9 2008-03-02 22:38:38

Re: Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

#10 2008-03-02 22:56:28

Re: Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

#11 2008-03-02 23:00:50

Re: Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

#12 2008-03-03 01:06:25

Re: Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

#13 2008-03-03 01:30:37

Re: Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

#14 2008-03-03 03:11:04

Re: Ideal Linux distro for a computer lab

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