| KDE Linux reaches 52 million Brazilian kids |
Apr. 24, 2008
 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 content available for use with it, here (Portuguese only).
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