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100,000 Linux Laptops Coming to San Diego Unified School District

eSchoolNews reports San Diego’s one-to-one computing initiative will deliver Linux laptops to each of the district’s 100,000 students in grades 3 to 12 (the district has 130,000 total students).

“Looking for a cost-effective way to deliver portable computing to every student, the San Diego Unified School District is installing machines with desktop Linux and other open-source software. In turning to open source, San Diego joins a growing number of school systems aiming to extend computing resources affordably to more users.”

The article notes that most students in the district could not afford computers at home, putting them on the wrong side of the digital divide. And as the eighth-largest school system in the USA, cost is also a major factor for the district itself. Open source thus provides the best value proposition for the district and its students.

Custom hardware from Lenovo rounds out the district’s strategy.

Meanwhile, familiarity with open source operating systems and applications will be very marketable skills in the next few years. Congratulations to San Diego on this wise move to benefit its student population!

Update: Miguel Guhlin also covers the issue in his blog.

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