One Desktop Per Ten A Workable Model
by Kristin Shoemaker - Sep. 20, 2008Comments (1)- Related Blog Posts
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The Digital Divide -- there isn't a nation where it doesn't exist, yet it seems so relative. In one place, a child going online via dial up using a PII seems at a disadvantage. Elsewhere, that child has a tool that could change his life.
The opportunity to learn not only facts, but how everything fits together is platform independent. The PII is just as valuable as a new laptop costing thousands. Both are meaningless if children can't access all they offer. Any technology costs money.
Open source has much to offer here. Lower costs, good support for old hardware, and software that can be modified to individual needs. OLPC champions low-cost laptops for every child. Userful takes a different approach.
First, a confession on my part. I became familiar with the Userful product line while working as a systems librarian at a public library, and I suggested to the director and trustees that this was an appropriate solution to our public computing issues. Three stations were installed at the library, and four years later, they are still in use. I will admit that in some areas and situations, other open source systems and hardware configurations (such as the XO laptops, or other small netbooks) might be far more appropriate.
The Userful systems have definite advantages over more "traditional" educational or computer lab configurations. The Userful Multiplier can run on a number of Linux distributions (and can even be found in the Ubuntu repositories), and allows one desktop computer to accommodate up to ten users (six is the typically recommended configuration, however). It's not a thin client arrangement, though thin clients can be adapted for extra ports. It is, at heart, a single desktop with multiple video cards, and user accounts and configurations mapped to each specific "seat."
It is the open source software that makes this successful. It isn't resource intensive, in terms of processing power, system tasks and services, and electricity (or network connections) required. The desktop, even when powering six seats, does not need to have bleeding edge (or overly expensive) hardware components. Though Userful is able to supply hardware, it isn't required and hardware acquired through grants or donations can be used. Software support and upgrades can be purchased through Userful, but again, since a specific distribution is not required, a more hands-on approach is possible if desired.
The Userful Desktop software is a custom Linux distribution with the Userful Multiplier built in. It contains the usual suspects in open source applications: GIMP, Firefox (and Epiphany), OpenOffice.org, and a number of educational applications geared towards the younger crowd (such as TuxPaint and gCompris).
Userful Desktop supports over thirty languages. Keyboard layouts can be switched between users. Language support has always been an appealing reason to choose open source in educational, public computing, and (naturally) areas where the population might speak a number of different languages.
Certainly it is more expensive to deploy a Userful Desktop system than purchase a few XO laptops or other Linux netbook devices. It is a matter of scale, of course. A school system might find the balance tips in favor of a multi-head desktop system depending on the number of students. Either of these options is a powerful, positive way to minimize the effect of the Digital Divide.
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