Mark Shuttleworth on Why LTSP is Important
OK, so I just got out of a BOF session with Mark Shuttleworth and the LTSP guys. And there was a lot of good information in there, which is definitely worth sharing.
To start the session, Mark talked a bit about why he got interested in working with the LTSP guys, and why he thinks LTSP is important. The whole thing started as they thought about what is happening in the open source world that is unique and special, and one of the first things that came to mind was LTSP. Not only that, but it was important to one of Mark’s other projects which had to do with providing a cost effective way to supply computing infrastructure to Schools in South Africa.
Mark went on to say; “I think LTSP is a good solution for a whole host of problems, but it is starting where infrastructure and support costs are critical.” It seems that for Mark getting into the cost-critical sections of the market will provide great stories that drive the technology into other more change averse market segments.
Another critical piece for Mark is his agenda to unify the user experience across various technologies. “It works the same when it boots from USB, or from the Live CD, or from the hard drive, or from the network.” If we are going to see open source take off on the desktop users have to believe that they know what is going to happen, and that the same thing is going to happen every time; “Predictability and reliability are key.”
The Ubuntu team worked hard to make sure LTSP works with the same bits as the live CD, witch works with the same bits as the hard drive install, and that works the same as if you had booted off of a USB key or USB hard drive. They also worked hard to put out a proof of concept release edubuntu, which is great, but now the focus has to shift into making this easy to customize for individual educational needs.
I think Mark is exactly right on all of these points, and that the integration of LTSP into has produced something that is easier to manage, and it is only going to get cleaner and better over the coming year.