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Trisquel Edu is a fully free operating system designed for all kinds of educational centers, from primary schools to universities. It is built on the Trisquel 2.2.2 LTS (Robur) branch of Trisquel, and includes a set of educational packages and classroom management tools.
Educational packages
The default installation comes with the GNOME desktop and very few user applications, making it easier for the teacher to have the exact set of programs needed for the students. The programs can be easily installed using a graphical application that includes the following educational bundles:
- Development
- Anjuta - C, C++ and Python IDE
- Eclipse - Java IDE
- Emacs - Advanced editor
- Planner - Project resource manager
- VirtualBox - Hardware virtualization system
- Gtranslator - App translation tool
- Compilers and tools for C, C++, Python and Java
- OpenOffice.org Base - Database management
- Image and design
- Text and HTML
- Science and engineering
- Audio production
- Ardour - Digital audio workstation
- Audacity - A fast, cross-platform audio editor
- Pulseaudio utilities - Fine tune the audio daemon
- Rosegarden - Music editor and MIDI/audio sequencer
- Activities and games for kids
- Gcompris and JClic - Educational activities for children
- Gnome games
- Kpercentage and Tuxmath, - Math trainers
- Kanagram - Anagram game
- Khangman - "Hangman"-like game
- Gbrainy - A trainer for the brain
- Blinken - "Simon"-like game
- Ktouch - Touch typing trainer
- Kturtle - Logo programming environment
- Kverbos, Kvoctrain and kwordquiz - Vocabulary builders
- Ktuberling - Virtual potato
- Gpaint and Tux Paint - Simple drawing apps
- Networking tools
- Amule and Transmission - File sharing tools
- Ekiga - VoIP softphone
- Pidgin - Instant messenger client
- Etherape - Network visualization app
- Firestarter - Firewall
Management tools
The main Management tools included in Trisquel Edu are iTALC and LTSP.
iTALC - Intelligent Teaching And Learning with Computers
iTALC is a classroom control tool that allows the teacher to remotely view the display of every student in a handy grid. The teacher can interact with the displays (which are updated in real time) in many ways, like remote control, locking, remote program execution, etc. It can also be used to display the selected user's screen with a projector, or broadcast it to the other students' monitors.LTSP - Linux Terminal Server Project
LTSP is a thin-client environment, comprising a computer (or a set of computers) serving a network-bootable GNU/Linux image, and a set of thin clients that will load the image from the server using PXE (Pre-boot eXecution Environment). The image consists of a minimal client capable of starting a remote X11 user session against the LTSP server. The thin clients are diskless, as all the data is stored and managed on the server. With all of this, you can get the following advantages:Easier management: The only computer that needs to be managed is the server. It contains all the users, programs and data files, and the diskless clients have no configuration and thus require no maintenance. The students can start the session from any client. If you install a new program on the server, it is instantly available to every client, and the users do not ever need to restart the session.
Scalability: If you need to connect a large number of clients, a set of servers can be set up to work together. Depending of the kind of applications run, a standard server can be host about 30 to 50 simultaneous clients.
Reusing old computers: You can use any computer from the last 10 years or so as a client, as long as its hardware is supported by GNU/Linux and is capable of booting with PXE.
Low power consumption: Instead of using old computers, you can get fanless and diskless thin clients that are low-heat, silent, inexpensive, easy to maintain, and run with less than 10 watts of power, 1/10th of a standard CPU unit.
