[sf-lug] Fwd: help moving a public middle school in San Francisco to FOSS

[Christian Einfeldt]

hi

On 9/1/07, Steve Bibayoff <bibayoff at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
>
> > > From: "Christian Einfeldt" <einfeldt at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > I need some help figuring out how to make OOo handle a massive 6 MB
> > > .xls file better.
> [Rest snipped]
>
> Could you state what exactly the problem you (Christian) is having? I
> just quickly scanned the info, but couldn't see what problem you where
> having.


thanks for asking.  The problem is slow loading.  I can't seem to find any
other way to describe the problem in greater detail.  The school recently
purchased a decent box from Zareason Inc. with 2 GB RAM and two dual core
chips each at 1.8 ghz, and it still takes about 110 seconds to load that
file.

On a HP with 256 MB of RAM and about 1 ghz single chip, the file takes no
less than 12 minutes to load!!!

Someone has suggested using Moodle, but I have no experience with Moodle,
and while I am willing to learn, I am hoping to find a magic bullet by
Tuesday morning, when the teacher in question will come back to work, as he
will need to use the file to submit a report on his students' behavior over
the first two weeks of school.  I would love to get him started on a FOSS
solution from the beginning, because he is more likely to stick with
whatever solution he starts with.  I just found out on Friday about this
possibility of moving him to FOSS.  As with many things at California
schools, decisions are often made the day before the need arrives, or on the
day that it arrives.  Sad, but true, especially for the inner city schools.

Talk about the digital divide.  I am living on the wrong side of the tracks
with this school, and I am bound and determined to do what I can with FOSS
to give these hardworking kids the education they deserve.  A bit of
background is relevant here.  75% of the students are from households below
the federal poverty guidelines, and yet under the new administration of the
last four years, this school has gone from being third from last in the
district to first or second in the district in terms of standardized
testing.  The demographics of the school are as follows:  ages 10 to 13; 65%
of the students are African American; 17% are Latino; 10% are Asian; 7% are
white.  Digital divide?  You bet.  And yet these kids have dug themselves
from the bottom of the heap to the top.  It's really impressive.  These kids
have worked hard.  They have proven themselves.  They deserve the best.
They deserve FOSS.
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