4 ms·

I think ChromeOS is the hardest. Having a computer that completely reinstalls itself from the cloud when the user 'inadvertently' breaks it, is huge for schools

I think ChromeOS is the hardest. Having a computer that completely reinstalls itself from the cloud when the user 'inadvertently' breaks it, is huge for schools. For companies it's not a big deal because their users know what responsibility is. And you can fire them otherwise. Schools don't have that privilege.

0xedd 4y ago
Installing over network is ancient. Here's one option https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19127-01/ultra27.ws/820-6772/z40006411012373/index.html https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19127-01/ultra27.ws/820-6772/z40...
- candiodari 4y ago
  ... and making it work for 50 different laptop models, all in slightly different ways and with slightly different software is a lot of work. Plus it just doesn't work over the internet. Add to that that without chromeOS you've essentially got one choice: windows. So you'll be finding out all about spyware that rootkits the OS, and constant amazement at just how many different rootkits kids can get installed on a single machine. Hell, when I was in school, I wrote a custom rootkit (bo2k like) and installed it on machines. That was fun and instructive. (I know technically you can make it work over the internet but it takes very capable admins to make that work) And yes, I hacked the school, but that was through unsecured shared folders and seeing a teacher enter people's grades in excel, not through the rootkit. That I was caught doing (because I decided to "expose" the school by giving a friend's sister her grades 2 weeks in advance, and their parents went to management. I was in detention "for the rest of the year" and I was lucky that 2 teachers demanded I would be allowed to sit my exams because I was the best in their classes)
pjmlp 4y ago
Thankfully Europe is not US in this regard, here ChromeOS is hardly something to worry about.
- mrweasel 4y ago
  ChromeOS is everywhere in public schools in Denmark. I doubt that Denmark and the Netherlands are the only two EU countryes that use them. However, ChromeBooks will also be banned i Danish schools when the new school year starts in August. The Danish Personal Data Authority (Datatilsynet) have just told the schools that they cannot use them after the summer holidays, for more or less the same reasons and their Dutch colleagues. The problem then becomes: Which laptops can you get in large enough numbers, at a low enough price, within three to four weeks?
  - pjmlp 4y ago
    In Germany and Portugal, you only see them in shopping malls mostly, and regularly with shop offers to get rid of them. Most European countries aren't so lucky, parents are the ones buying the computers, and unless you're into classes related to computing, or at university level, you're not bringing them into class (naturally covid has changed this a bit) only using them at home.
    - that_guy_iain 4y ago
      In Germany, the schools provide iPads and I suspect others provide chromebooks. Schools do provide computers for children to use in the school. Nearly all school levels have classes these days about computing. Needing to know how to use a computer is a skill they all need. Primary schools in the UK have had computers for at least 30 years.
      - pjmlp 4y ago
        Somehow I have another view on the matter, specially on the chaos that happened with sharing computers among family members during early COVID times.
        that_guy_iain 4y ago
        It's because of early covid times that I know German schools have iPads. In Berlin, one school was robbed of tens of thousands of euros of iPads.
that_guy_iain 4y ago
From what I saw when I worked at one large sized company that had an in-house tech support, they literally just install and image. Connect a cable to the laptop and install an image. You would go in there and they would have 3-4 being reset for a new employee to have. Remember, most people at work are not responsible for their computer working. In IT we are because we're doing more advanced things and we're technically able to keep it working and to fix it. However, the HR person, the sales person, etc they are not. And most countries have laws where the employer has to provide working tools, the employer is responsible for providing you with a working laptop and if it breaks it is their responsibility to fix it.
vachina 4y ago

0xedd 4y ago

Installing over network is ancient. Here's one option https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19127-01/ultra27.ws/820-6772/z40006411012373/index.html https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19127-01/ultra27.ws/820-6772/z40...

candiodari 4y ago
... and making it work for 50 different laptop models, all in slightly different ways and with slightly different software is a lot of work. Plus it just doesn't work over the internet. Add to that that without chromeOS you've essentially got one choice: windows. So you'll be finding out all about spyware that rootkits the OS, and constant amazement at just how many different rootkits kids can get installed on a single machine. Hell, when I was in school, I wrote a custom rootkit (bo2k like) and installed it on machines. That was fun and instructive. (I know technically you can make it work over the internet but it takes very capable admins to make that work) And yes, I hacked the school, but that was through unsecured shared folders and seeing a teacher enter people's grades in excel, not through the rootkit. That I was caught doing (because I decided to "expose" the school by giving a friend's sister her grades 2 weeks in advance, and their parents went to management. I was in detention "for the rest of the year" and I was lucky that 2 teachers demanded I would be allowed to sit my exams because I was the best in their classes)

pjmlp 4y ago

Thankfully Europe is not US in this regard, here ChromeOS is hardly something to worry about.

mrweasel 4y ago
ChromeOS is everywhere in public schools in Denmark. I doubt that Denmark and the Netherlands are the only two EU countryes that use them. However, ChromeBooks will also be banned i Danish schools when the new school year starts in August. The Danish Personal Data Authority (Datatilsynet) have just told the schools that they cannot use them after the summer holidays, for more or less the same reasons and their Dutch colleagues. The problem then becomes: Which laptops can you get in large enough numbers, at a low enough price, within three to four weeks?
- pjmlp 4y ago
  In Germany and Portugal, you only see them in shopping malls mostly, and regularly with shop offers to get rid of them. Most European countries aren't so lucky, parents are the ones buying the computers, and unless you're into classes related to computing, or at university level, you're not bringing them into class (naturally covid has changed this a bit) only using them at home.
  - that_guy_iain 4y ago
    In Germany, the schools provide iPads and I suspect others provide chromebooks. Schools do provide computers for children to use in the school. Nearly all school levels have classes these days about computing. Needing to know how to use a computer is a skill they all need. Primary schools in the UK have had computers for at least 30 years.
    - pjmlp 4y ago
      Somehow I have another view on the matter, specially on the chaos that happened with sharing computers among family members during early COVID times.
      - that_guy_iain 4y ago
        It's because of early covid times that I know German schools have iPads. In Berlin, one school was robbed of tens of thousands of euros of iPads.

that_guy_iain 4y ago

From what I saw when I worked at one large sized company that had an in-house tech support, they literally just install and image. Connect a cable to the laptop and install an image. You would go in there and they would have 3-4 being reset for a new employee to have. Remember, most people at work are not responsible for their computer working. In IT we are because we're doing more advanced things and we're technically able to keep it working and to fix it. However, the HR person, the sales person, etc they are not. And most countries have laws where the employer has to provide working tools, the employer is responsible for providing you with a working laptop and if it breaks it is their responsibility to fix it.

vachina 4y ago