Acadia moves ahead with desktop Linux

“Laptops pre-loaded with Xandros geared primarily to math and science students

Starting in September, about 4,500 Acadia University students and faculty will have the opportunity to use Xandros Inc.’s Linux desktop operating system.

All Acadia first-year students receive notebooks as part of their tuition. This year they will be receiving Dell Latitude D600 laptops pre-installed with both Microsoft Corp.’s Windows and Xandros Inc.’s desktop Linux distribution. Of these 4,500 users, Acadia expects between 300 and 400 of them — mostly in the computer science and math departments — to regularly use the Xandros desktop, said Donald Teed, academic software administrator at Acadia in Wolfville, N.S.

In total, Acadia will purchase 9,000 Dell D600 laptops but will only obtain the next 4,500 when the batch to be distributed in September is retired. Acadia’s notebook program has been in place since 1997 and the Linux template has been available for students since 1998, Teed said.”