Skolelinux is made as free (as in speech) software, and also Skolelinux is an overall computer solution based on school's resources and needs.

· Skolelinux is a network architecture tailored for use in schools.
· Skolelinux is developed and supported by a large and growing international community.
· Skolelinux is designed to be easy and cheap to maintain.
· Skolelinux gives the students their own usernames, home directories and services.
· Skolelinux includes OpenOffice.org

Skolelinux, Debian and all auxiliary software components we use are free software � free as in freedom. The term "free software" implies the following rights:

· Freedom to use the software regardless of purpose and adapt it to ones needs.
· Freedom to study how the software works.
· Freedom to redistribute the software so ones neighbour can benefit from it.
· Freedom to modify and enhance the software and publish those modifications so everyone benefits from them.

These rights form the foundation of both Debian, Skolelinux and all the software we use. They enable us to use the various software components, put them together in our specialized network design and package and redistribute the software as "Skolelinux".

With proprietary software, such as Microsoft Windows, all adaptions and modifications have to be redone everywhere. With Skolelinux, modifications and enhancements done by a school in Norway may benefit schools in Eritrea � and vice versa. Windows is the most commonly used operative system used in schools today, but as Windows is proprietary software, it is not possible to tailor Windows for school usage and call it "SkoleWindows".

Skolelinux (aka debian-edu) is a Custom Debian Distribution. This means that Skolelinux is a version of the Debian GNU/Linux operating system that is customized for schools. Debian is a state-of-the-art, user-friendly operating system. The goal of our customization of Debian is to make it easy to install and maintain for schools. � with all applications available in the students mother tongue.

Despite how easy Skolelinux is to install, asking only a handful of (non-technical) questions, it is an advanced network solution, with many pre-configured services. With ordinary, closed, proprietary software, these services have to be configured manually for every single school � and that needs careful planning and expertise!

Amongst several pre-configured services are the following:

· Central user catalogue: One username and one password for several machines and services.
· Central storage: Regardless of which machine you use in a Skolelinux network, you have access to your files and meet an interface with your settings � an interface you are familiar with.
· Thin client solution: The applications are run on a thin client server, which is a powerful machine. The image from those applications is drawn on a "thin client", which usually is an old and cheap machine. This enables you to use old hardware. Moreover, it eases administration, as you have one server to maintain.
· Printers may be shared and made available in the network.
· A proxy server caches files downloaded from the Internet, resulting in a faster surfing experience.

What's New in This Release:

· The Debian Edu / Skolelinux project is proud to announce the 3.0r1 maintenance release. It includes more than 40 bug fixes and security updates that came to our attention after the 3.0r0 release. The most notable change is the much improved documentation, especially the Getting Started and Maintenance chapters are much more complete and cover everything which needs to be done to get started. The translation to German, Norwegian Bokmal and Italian (new) have been updated. Both HTML and PDF versions now include images, some localized, and provide internal document links. Important bugs has been fixed in the LDAP web-based Administration Tool. A load-balancing feature is included in the thin client system.



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What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

· Skolelinux is based on Debian 5.0 “Lenny” and is therefore compatible with
· Linux Standard Base (LSB) 3.2. It uses kernel 2.6.26, KDE 3.5.10, and GNOME
· 2.22.2.

· This is first Debian Edu release which has been merged with the highly
· successful LinEx GNU/Linux based educational project from the region of
· Extremadura in Spain. The most visible result being the GNOME desktop now
· being supported in addition to KDE.

· The setup of terminal servers has been improved and now supports diskless
· workstations out of the box. A new customisable PXE startup menu allows users
· to choose between a diskless workstation, a thin client workstation, and even
· a PXE-installation of Skolelinux.

· The student desktop has also been improved with shortcuts to educational
· software like GCompris, Kalzium, KGeography, KMplot, KStars, Stopmotion and
· the OpenOffice suite.

· The documentation has been further improved and translated from English to
· German, Italian and Norwegian. Incomplete translations are available for
· Spanish, French and Chinese. Please consider helping by translating to your
· native language or by reviewing the English original!

· Browser plugin-support has been improved with free software products including
· Gnash, Java and other plug-ins.

· In addition to ALSA and OSS sound system, PulseAudio has been added for better
· audio and multimedia performance on workstations and diskless workstations
· machines.

· Improved and simplified user and machine administration tool known as LWAT
· (LDAP Web-based Administration Tool).

· Improved machine and network surveillance now reporting status on all machines
· added to the network.