Linux has been growing in importance for years in the darkened server closets. In the consumer world of personal computers and mobile devices, however, Linux hasn't fared particularly well.

The governor of California has launched a new initiative to compile open source textbooks for the state. He hopes that the plan will help cut costs and improve the quality of education. The effort seems very promising, but the state's complex standards and arduous textbook evaluation process will pose major challenges.

"Last Friday, 24th of April, the foundations for vendor independent ICT education in the Netherlands were laid down.

I got an email from Jeremiah Gray announcing a new issue (#2) of Hackett and Bankwell, the educational comicbook about Linux and Free and Open Source Software from Intarcorp Ltd. Issue #2 is currently only available in electronic format (PDF) and they have decided to release it under a Creative Commons license. Thank you!

DFEY-NW (Digital Freedom in Education and Youth) is a group formed in response from a growing need in the Northwest of England for a group to encourage and promote young people's involvement with the free software community by creating a social space to make it more comfortable for young people to get involved with GLUGs and FSUGs.

Linuxoutlaws' own Fab wrote about Skolelinux being deployed in German schools today. This reminded me that I wanted to write a few notes on SkoleLinux for a while now. SkoleLinux (also called debianEDU) is a Debian based distribution focussed on being deployed in School contexts.

Our computer science department also has a number of computer labs with Linux machines, accessbile remotely and for physical access. There are also a few Windows machines for those who prefer Visual Studio, although these machines are generally inferior when it comes to speed and stability. So why do students still flock to them?