Best of breed list for HP

James Tremblay aka SLEducator <[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.linux.suse.schools.usa
Message-ID <[email protected]>
We need to evaluate this list and create a best of breed sublist.
Please, if you have experience with one of these programs, even if bad,
speak up.
We need you help to determine which ones should be suggested to HP and
possible an SLE version of our
project.
Please add comments underneath each title:


    3D

    * Art of illusion <http://www.artofillusion.org/> - a free, open
      source 3D modelling and rendering studio

    * *Blender <http://www.blender.org/> (blender
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Blender>)* - A powerful software program
      for 3D modeling, animation, rendering Official repo
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Suse-l.png> from 12 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk12.png>

---- My son and his schoolmates loved this one , it is used by many schools

[edit
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    Astro

    * *Celestia <http://celestia.sourceforge.net/> (celestia
      <http://en.opensuse.org/index.php?title=Celestia&action=edit>)* -
      An OpenGL Space Simulator KDE-Application
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Kde-l.png> from 12 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk12.png>

----this one too

[edit
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    Audio

    * *Audacity <http://audacity.sourceforge.net/> (audacity
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Audacity>)* - A powerful digital audio
      editor Gnome-Application
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Gnome-l.png> Official repo
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Suse-l.png> from 12 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk12.png>

[edit
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    BitTorrent

    * Azureus <http://azureus.sourceforge.net/> - Azureus implements the
      BitTorrent protocol using java language and comes bundled with
      many invaluable features

---- I use this one everyday! lots of good media in their service not
likely to be a good fit in a "filtered" environment.

[edit
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    Editor

    * Abiword <http://www.abisource.com/> - an award winning, small,
      fast, featureful and crossplatform word processor

---- I have heard alot about this one. never used it. My text editing
needs never exceed what I get from OpenOffice

[edit
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    Edu-Admin

    * FET <http://www.lalescu.ro/liviu/fet/> - open source free software
      for automatically scheduling the timetable of a school,
      high-school or university

    * KeePass <http://keepass.info/> - KeePass is a free/open-source
      password manager or safe which helps you to manage your passwords
      in a secure way

    * Open Admin for Schools <http://richtech.ca/openadmin/> - a School
      Administration Program.

    * openSIS <http://www.opensis.com/> - a free student information
      system for public and non-public schools.

----- seeing as I support and help develop openSIS I ma biased in this
catagory

[edit
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    Educational

    * *Little Wizard <http://littlewizard.sourceforge.net/>
      (littlewizard <http://en.opensuse.org/Littlewizard>)* -
      Development Environment for Children based on Pascal
      Gnome-Application <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Gnome-l.png> from
      6 years <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk6.png>

    * *Multiplication Station <http://www.asymptopia.org/>
      (MultiplicationStation
      <http://en.opensuse.org/MultiplicationStation>)* - Add, subtract
      and multiply exercises from 6 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk6.png>

[edit
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    Edu game

    * *Childsplay <http://childsplay.sourceforge.net/> (childsplay
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Childsplay>)* - An educational software
      suite for young children from 0 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk0.png>

    * *GCompris <http://gcompris.net/> (gcompris
      <http://en.opensuse.org/index.php?title=Gcompris&action=edit>)* -
      An educational software suite for young children Gnome-Application
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Gnome-l.png> from 6 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk6.png>

---- very well liked in my schools

    * *jMemorize <http://jmemorize.org/> (jMemorize
      <http://en.opensuse.org/index.php?title=JMemorize&action=edit>)* -
      A general purpose flash card program Java-Application
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Java-l.png> from 6 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk6.png>

    * *TuxType <http://tuxtype.sourceforge.net/> (tuxtype
      <http://en.opensuse.org/index.php?title=Tuxtype&action=edit>)* -
      An educational typing tutor for children from 6 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk6.png>

---- very well liked in my schools

    * *TuxMath <http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/> (tuxmath
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Tuxmath>)* - An educational math tutor
      game from 6 years <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk6.png>
---- very well liked in my schools

    * *TuxMathScrabble <http://www.asymptopia.org/> (TuxMathScrabble
      <http://en.opensuse.org/TuxMathScrabble>)* - Add, subtract and
      multiply in a scrabble like game from 6 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk6.png>

---- no experience with

    * *TuxWordSmith <http://www.asymptopia.org/> (TuxWordSmith
      <http://en.opensuse.org/TuxWordSmith>)* - Learn languages in a
      scrabble like game from 6 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk6.png>

---- no experience with

[edit
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    File

    * Filezilla <http://sourceforge.net/projects/filezilla/> -  fast and
      reliable FTP client and server

---- I have used this professionally, but not as an educational tool. I
like it

    * TrueCrypt <http://www.truecrypt.org/> - Free open-source disk
      encryption software

---- I don't suggest encrypting disks in schools, educators are expected
to help and supervise children in the dozens per year. if some student
should fall ill and the staff be asked to retrieve the students work,
Not having the password could make life difficult. In my networks
relying on Novell's server level file security has always been enough.

[edit
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    Image

    * *GIMP <http://www.gimp.org/> (gimp <http://en.opensuse.org/Gimp>)*
      - A powerful raster graphics editor Gnome-Application
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Gnome-l.png> Official repo
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Suse-l.png> from 12 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk12.png>

---- this is the default Photoshop replacement and the children seem to
grasp it very well.

    * *Inkscape <http://www.inkscape.org/> (inkscape
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Inkscape>)* - A powerful vector graphics
      editor Gnome-Application
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Gnome-l.png> Official repo
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Suse-l.png> from 12 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk12.png>

---- no experience with this one. I know some of the teachers have used
it and like it . so has my son

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    Project Management

    * GanttProject <http://www.ganttproject.biz/> - a free and easy to
      use Gantt chart based project scheduling and management tool

---- I use the tool called "Planner" in the default set up. if this is
it's origin I like it very much.

[edit
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    RSS

    * RSSOwl <http://www.rssowl.org/> - RSS reader that collects data
      from RSS-compliant sites

--- too many rss readers available in FireFox for me to care about
loading another one. No experience with this one

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    Score

    * *MuseScore <http://mscore.sourceforge.net/> (musescore
      <http://en.opensuse.org/index.php?title=Musescore&action=edit>)* -
      A WYSIWYG music score typesetter KDE-Application
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Kde-l.png> from 12 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk12.png>

---- my Music teacher used this and he is very capable so I never have
to support it.

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    Special

    * AMANDA <http://www.amanda.org/> - the Advanced Maryland Automatic
      Network Disk Archiver, is a backup system

---- when I tried this four years ago it was very CLI \ batch file
oriented. I already had a gui tool that would read linux disks. but it
wasn't open source.

[edit
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    Video

    * Avidemux <http://avidemux.org/> - a free video editor designed for
      simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks

---- No experience

    * CamStudio <http://camstudio.org/> - record all screen and audio
      activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video
      files

---- used and loved

    * Cinerella <http://cinelerra.org/> - Cinelerra does primarily 3
      things: capturing, compositing, and editing audio and video with
      sample level accuracy. It's a movie studio in a box.

---- no experience

    * DVDStyler <http://www.dvdstyler.de/> - a cross-platform DVD
      authoring application

---- no experience

    * VLC Media Player <http://www.videolan.org/vlc/> - a highly
      portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats

---- used and loved both as a client and as a network streaming server.

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    Vizualize

    * *Dia <http://www.gnome.org/projects/dia/> (dia
      <http://en.opensuse.org/index.php?title=Dia&action=edit>)* - A
      diagram creation program Gnome-Application
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Gnome-l.png> Official repo
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Suse-l.png> from 12 years
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk12.png>

---- No experience

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    VPN

    * openVPN <http://openvpn.net/> - a full-featured SSL VPN solution
      which can accomodate a wide range of configurations, including
      remote access, site-to-site VPNs, WiFi security, and
      enterprise-scale remote access solutions

---- no experience, no really a public HS tool.

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    Web Publish

    * *eXe eLearning <http://exelearning.org/> (exelearning
      <http://en.opensuse.org/Exelearning>)* - An eLearning XHTML editor
      Gnome-Application <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Gnome-l.png> from
      12 years <http://en.opensuse.org/Image:Fsk12.png>

---- No experience

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    Web-Based

    * Asymptopia Crossword Builder

<http://www.asymptopia.org/staticpages/index.php?page=MathCrosswordBuilder>
      - a JavaScript education application that runs in any modern
      internet browser

---- no experience

    * Claroline <http://www.claroline.net/> - a Web Based Course
      Management System. It allows teachers (professors, lecturers...)
      to create and administer course websites through a browser

---- no experience

    * ClaSS <http://www.laex.org/class/> - A complete student tracking,
      reporting and information management system

---- No experience

    * Koha <http://koha.org/> - Koha Classic sets the standard in
      open-source library automation.

---- installed setup evaluated and liked . no real world experience.

    * Sakai <http://sakaiproject.org/portal> -  includes many of the
      features common to course management systems, including document
      distribution, a gradebook, discussion, live chat, assignment
      uploads, and online testing.

---- No experience

    * School Tool <http://www.schooltool.org/> - will eventually take
      care of all aspects of school administration

---- way to beta


-- 
James A. Tremblay
openSIS Product Specialist
http://www.os4ed.com
http://www.opensis.com
e-mail james "at" os4ed.com
Phone (678)392-4031
Registered Linux user #440182
openSUSE-Education founder
http://en.opensuse.org/education
e-mail sleducator "at" opensuse.org
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