A Year Ago: Space-aged millennial school chooses Linux

Linux at school... Open Source is getting them young

Perhaps heralding a new era in education, the first school in Britain to open this millennium has put all its faith in the open source phenomenon, Linux.

Parrs Wood High School in Manchester ,which opens today, plans to base its new computer network entirely on the alternative OS. The unusual step has been taken as part of the Government's new City Learning Centres initiative aimed at providing access to technology for everyone in Britain's cities.

The high-school will feature a number of other impressive technological innovations making it one of the most wired schools in Britain. Parrs Wood is to provide Internet access in all its classrooms, video conference links to seven other European schools and electronic links from its laboratories to local primary schools. It will even have access to digital television and will make its own Web site available over digital TV.

Colin Tenwick, vice president and general manager of Red Hat, which is supplying the Linux systems for Parrs Wood is understandably chuffed to be involved in the project. He told ZDNet UK News: "Parrs Wood is a technology-first in terms of its positive commitment to the application of information technology and Red Hat is happy to be able to support this extremely innovative school. We see new technology as underpinning education and we aim to provide schools like Parrs Wood with the software services and support to create sustainable learning environments for the future."

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