A 10-station Linux mini computer could be what is needed to make corporate computer-based training more affordable and increase e-learning access at cash-strapped schools.
Canadian software maker Userful claims its Desktop Multiplier system also slashes maintenance costs and can make standard desktop machines work with two or three users simultaneously.
Userful's vice-president of business development, Neil Peters, says his Linux multi-user desktops need not be slower than normal PCs. "In fact, it can be faster. It depends totally on the type of applications and hardware that are being used. If one person uses OpenOffice.org and another wants OpenOffice.org, it's still in the cache. But if you're running video (for 10 users at once), you have to throw more hardware at it, using a dual-processor system."
Desktop Multiplier leverages a PC's USB port to add extra keyboards and mice, co-ordinating these with additional $30, dual-head video cards, which are plugged into the system board. The result is a low-cost Linux mini computer, which in some situations could make networks more efficient by acting as a 10-user cache, with a 10-fold reduction in cabling and edge switching.
However, Max Walderhagen, of education IT subcontractor VPC, says that while the Desktop Multiplier concept is good for greenfields sites, most schools already have single-user cabling and Windows licences.
"The downside is you've only got to have one thing go wrong and instead of one desktop failure you have 10," he says. "However, I would like to deploy something like this to give a balanced view to kids of software. At the moment, senior schools only run Microsoft and Apple."
Of course, the upside of Userful's 1-Box solution is there is only one box to manage, which can be made more reliable, too. The company contends that switching from Windows and Apple desktops is now worthwhile, with the ability to administer clusters of 10-user systems at once to reduce running costs.
According to Mr Peters, this advantage outweighs the "10-to-one" hardware saving, including the sunk cost of existing operating system licences.
"Windows costs more to maintain because it's more complicated," he says. "The cost of their software is only a fraction of the cost of maintaining the system. So they are going to save 30 to 40 per cent."
To prove his point, Mr Peters says when customers provide their own monitors and mice, Userful can supply a 1-Box multi-user desktop PC, plus office and browser software - all centrally managed and updated - for $60 per desktop a month. He describes this as of an order of magnitude less than buying and running traditional PCs.
Mr Walderhagen says, however, it could prove expensive to install in some locations. While primary school classrooms are used for much the same things every day, secondary school rooms are dynamic - used in different ways for different subjects by different teachers. He believes running video and USB cables to a distant Linux mini computer could prove awkward in this environment.