Linux in Government: An Interview with Les Richardson, Author of Open Admin

On the School Forge Web
site, you can read the statement that led others to consider building a
similarly styled "forge" for government. The statement reads:

There are several kinds of software needed in a school environment:
network security and monitoring to keep the school networked and safe,
grade and timetable tracking software for teachers, educational software
for classes, general network clients for email and web access.

The SEUL/edu Educational
Application Index is a directory of school-related open source software.

When you go to the School Forge site, you discover that Les Richardson maintains one
of the largest vertical repositories on the Web. There, you can find almost any type of software for K-12 and university
purposes. In addition to maintaining the Web site, Les develops
Open Admin, one of the premier education applications available;
teaches school; writes; and supports other educators on the
SEUL/edu mailing list, a branch of the
Simple End User Linux Project.

Recently, I caught up with Les, one of the busiest people I know, to discuss his Open
Admin software and some other issues.

Linux Journal: Les, you have a long
history with Linux in schools. I recently received your announcement of
Open Admin 1.6 and saw the new
features. Before we discuss the software, please give the readers some
background on the overall Linux in schools efforts. When did you get
involved and what motivated you?

Les Richardson: I like writing software and learning about technology. I'm a
science and computer teacher. Once I learn something about computers,
I like to put it into a practical application. I originally wrote my
local school's administration software using Borland's Paradox database
software and Turbo Pascal, in about 1988-90. In 1994-95, I discovered
Linux and the Internet and the UNIX philosophy and languages and so on that
go along with it. It was a whole new world.

I learned about and used Linux for the next several years. I chose Perl
over PHP-FI as my main language because it matched my interests well--text
processing, LaTeX, XML and so on. In 2000, I worked on writing an
on-line test-bank for Saskatchewan Learning. I used Perl and MySQL to write
it and develop some of the technology, along with integrating LaTeX for
PDF generation, that I later used in Open Admin.

In 2001, I was approached by Tom Hawboldt of the North West Catholic
School Division (NWCSD) to write an administration program for its
elementary schools. I wrote a simple application for them that had
a pilot test in 2001-2002. From the start, I wanted it was to be released
under an open-source license (GPL), and they agreed.

I have been working on Open Admin part-time since than point. [It's
been] part-time because I have been teaching full-time since 2002 and have been supported
financially by NWCSD and the Battlefords School Division, as well
as Rose Marie Academy in Thailand.

I like writing software, and school administration software is a nice
means of expression.

LJ: You also maintain the SEUL/edu
Educational Application Index. Tell us about this repository; it has
some impressive statistics.

LR: This is really the original work of Doug Loss. Doug was assembling
lists of educational software and authoring an on-line newsletter. I simply
wrote some tools to make his work easier so he wouldn't burn out too
quickly. He did all of the really hard work of reviewing and entering
this information. It continues to need support and nurturing to remain
current. Supporters are certainly welcome.

LJ: What's your take on Linux and open source acceptance in schools? Where
is it strong and where is it weak?

LR: The problem is that people who work in schools still don't get the
idea of community around this kind of development.

LJ: Do you see political interference in different parts of the globe?

LR: I really don't know. An entrenched Microsoft-think attitude can be a problem due to the
NIMS (not invented by Microsoft) mentality. A "community of software
developers/users" can be a difficult concept to get across to folks who
buy only shrink-wrapped software that runs on desktops.

LJ: What's the biggest challenge Linux and open source face in schools?

LR: I would say creating good software and good documentation and
training materials in a collaborative, cooperative fashion.

LJ: Has Mozilla, OpenOffice.org or any
other open-source project made an impact in schools?

LR: Their impact is accelerating, but we require good instructional
materials to be able to make the best use of these
programs--OpenOffice.org, The GIMP and so on--in schools. Teacher training and instructional materials are
crucial here.

LJ: Tell us about the Open Admin 1.6 project and how schools around the
globe can benefit.

LR: I wrote Open Admin to help support teachers, students, administrators
and parents. There are several design goals:

• Simplicity. I've tried to keep the interface as simple as I
  could. I've tried to keep the design and scripting simple and easy
  to understand and modify. I haven't built any centralized library of
  functions to be called, although that may come due to multi-language
  demands.
  The software is built on tried and proven technology, including Linux,
  Perl, LaTeX and MySQL, that is reliable and low maintenance. We tend
  to run large numbers of schools on a centrally located server [built
  from] modest hardware. I've tried to make OA as lightweight in its bandwidth
  and resource requirements as possible. For example, there are only two graphics
  on the main administration site and none on the teacher site. Also, a single CSS
  supports all format controls--things like this.

  We are planning to add student images in the near future for
  identification, if needed. So this will up the bandwidth requirements where
  this functionality is needed.

• Transparency. I've tried to move functions out of the
  central office and onto the teachers' workstations so they can print their own reports
  and manage their own classrooms more easily. In the process, this should
  simplify the job of the secretary/ies.

  For students, I want them always to be aware of their progress and
  marks in any class. The on-line grade book is the result, although much
  more work has to be done. Similarly, for parents, the parent functions
  allow them to track their children's progress in school more easily.

• Control. I want schools to be in control of their software and
  its functions rather than being at the mercy of software companies that
  charge large amounts of money to schools who have, in many cases, simple needs.
  Hopefully, OA can put control back into the hands of teachers and administrators.
  It would be nice to have a community of folks to help support this.

LJ: What's adoption like?

LR: With open-source software, this is
hard to tell. Downloads are from
all over the planet, for example, South America, North America, Europe,
Africa and Australia. In Saskatchewan, Canada, besides the two supporting
divisions (25 schools), we have at least three other divisions using it,
and pilots are ongoing in other divisions.

International schools have shown some interest in further
development. I also have fielded some questions from schools in various
parts of the US. For example, there is interest in Spanish-speaking
areas, where they are doing a Spanish translation. OA also is being tested in some
Australian schools in New South Wales.

LJ:What kind of success can be seen by
the schools using OA?

LR: From the limited feedback I've had with Saskatchewan schools outside
the supporting divisions, it has been quite positive. This is very
gratifying. It certainly lifts your spirits when someone appreciates your
hard work. The supporting divisions have paid for feature development,
but I have done all of the documentation and open-source releases on my
own time, unpaid.

We have to think carefully about what we mean by success. We will
have success with OA when we have more of a community built around
supporting it and fostering development. This is happening now, but it's
been slow.

LJ: What are your plans for the future?

LR: I will continue to add features that schools
and teachers want or what I figure they need. Upcoming features include:

• Family Reports and Functions
• Parent-Teacher Scheduling
• Student Pictures & Attendance Reporting
• Single Site Scripting
• Gradebook Upgrades
• Documentation Improvements

And further out, we are looking at adding or improving scheduling and
multi-language support. Of course, there are many other interesting things
in the world of open-source software that one could do.

LJ: I can't think of anything more fulfilling that helping the kids and
leaving a legacy.
Resources
Linux in Government:
Stanislaus County Does Linux with a Best Practices Slant

Linux in
Schools

School Laboratory
Management Blues

Linux from
Kindergarten to High School

Tom Adelstein lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife, Yvonne, and
works as a Linux and open-source software consultant locally and
nationally. He's the co-author of the book Exploring the JDS Linux
Desktop, published by O'Reilly and Associates. Tom has written numerous
articles on Linux technical and marketing issues as a guest editor for a
variety of publications. His latest venture has him working as the
webmaster of JDSHelp.org.