[LUAU] FW: MEDIA RELEASE - Linux Desktop Education Deployments Planned in 29 US States

[Brian Chee]

So I thought I'd share some PR Spam (I get something like 50 a day now) but
this Press Release is pretty cool in that various schools are catching on
that Linux isn't such a bad thing.

/brian chee

-- 
InfoWorld Magazine
Brian Chee, Senior Contributing Editor
C/o University of Hawai¹i SOEST
2525 Correa Road, HIG 500
Honolulu, HI 96822
Tel: 808-956-5797; Fax: 866-750-5948 Venali eFax


------ Forwarded Message
From: <srousseau at media-userful.com>
Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:30:56 -0700
To: Brian Chee <brian_chee at infoworld.com>
Subject: MEDIA RELEASE - Linux Desktop Education Deployments Planned in 29
US States


Hello Brian 

I thought you might be interested in knowing that Universities and
K-12 school districts in 29 US States and 10 countries around the
world have flocked to the "Free the Penguins" initiative - an
initiative to bring free multiplied Linux desktops to schools around
the world - to maximize desktop budget during tough economic times,
and that the initiative has been extended to Dec. 31. The computers
are also green, each 30-station computer lab or classroom reduces CO2
emissions by up to 45 tons per year and electronic waste by as much as
80% as compared to using 30 traditional PCs!

It's a great story about how an initiative has been successful in
helping students around the world get the computers they need while
reducing CO2 emissions and electronic waste.

Cheers,

Sean Rousseau

Marketing and PR, Userful

Phone: 1-866-873-9008

Email: srousseau at userful.com

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Linux Desktop Education Deployments Planned in 29 US States

Universities and K-12 school districts in 29 US States and 10
countries around the world flock to "Free the Penguins" initiative to
maximize desktop budget during tough economic times.

EDMONTON, AB ‹4 Nov 2008‹ Omni and Userful today announced that
over 50 academic institutions from 29 US States and 10 countries
worldwide have signed up to deploy Multi-station SUSE® Linux
Enterprise Desktops through the ³Free the Penguins² education
initiative. Originally launched in September, ³Free the Penguins²
provides customers with a low-cost, high-performance alternative to
stand-alone Windows® desktops and thin clients for computer labs,
classrooms and libraries. Omni, Userful and Novell have agreed to
extend this initiative until the end of 2008 in response to extremely
strong uptake from schools in the US, Canada, Australia, South
America, Europe and Africa.

Tough economic conditions have led more universities, colleges and
K-12 school districts to consider the hardware, maintenance, space
and electricity savings of Multi-station SUSE Linux Enterprise
Desktops. Using this strategy, customers can convert existing
stand-alone Windows® desktops, which spend most of the day idle,
into Linux desktops with up to 10 independent, full-featured stations
that consist of just a monitor, USB keyboard and mouse.

³While customers plan to deploy their free desktops in a wide
variety of areas‹computer labs, classrooms, libraries, outreach
sites, VOIP labs, help desk areas‹the number one reason why they
are considering Linux instead of Windows®, Mac OS® X or thin
clients is cost,² said Trevor Poapst, Director of Global Marketing
at Omni. ³Few education customers, particularly in these tough
economic times, will say no to a strategy that will allow them to
deploy over twice as many desktops for the same budget.²

³Stand-alone desktops sit idle for most of the day,² continued
Poapst. ³Dual-core or, worse yet, quad-core systems are wasteful
for users who typically use less than 10% of their computer's
processing power. Schools cannot afford to be wasteful, particularly
when budgets are tight, computer-to-student ratios leave many
children behind, and landfills overflow with digital waste. For the
most critical education applications‹web browser, email client,
typing tutor, office productivity suite, drawing programs, math and
science games, remote control and management software‹an open
source, Linux-based alternative is something all schools should
consider.² 

³We are very pleased with the response to the ŒFree the
Penguins¹ initiative,² said Tim Griffin, CEO of Userful, the
developer of Userful Multiplier. ³This free computer lab
promotion lets every school experience first hand the next generation
of desktop virtualization that is already in use in over 3,000 school
locations. The global economic situation calls for schools to extract
as much value from their limited budgets as possible. This is an ideal
opportunity for schools to save 9/10ths of their hardware and
maintenance costs.²

Grant Ho, senior product marketing manager for SUSE Linux Enterprise
Desktop at Novell, said, ³The strong, global uptake we've seen thus
far with ŒFree the Penguins¹ is a testament to the value that SUSE
Linux Enterprise Desktop is bringing to schools and we look forward to
working with Omni and Userful in the next phase of this program. Given
today's tough economic climate, schools are continuing to look for
ways to rationalize IT spend. By deploying SUSE Linux Enterprise
Desktop, schools can dramatically save on costs, while gaining a
user-friendly desktop experience that enhances productivity for
teachers and provides a first-rate learning environment for
students.²

Education institutions are invited to contact Omni for their free
licenses at +1.780.423.4200 or www.omni-ts.com/contact-us.html.
Computers must be deployed by December 31st, 2008.

More details on the "Free the Penguins" initiative are available at
www.omni-ts.com/linux-desktop/education.html. Additional conditions
apply. 

About Omni

Omni delivers a portfolio of management, security, mobility,
messaging and Linux desktop software products for enterprise users of
Novell GroupWise, SUSE Linux, and mixed Novell and Microsoft networks.
Omni is Userful's exclusive distributor of the Desktop Multiplier for
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop and openSUSE. www.omni-ts.com

About Userful

Userful is the global developer, pioneer and industry leader in
Multi-station Linux computing: the high-performance, low-cost
alternative to thin clients. Userful's powerful software transforms
standard PCs to support up to 10 simultaneous monitors, keyboards and
users, and has brought affordable desktop computing to hundreds of
thousands of users worldwide. www.userful.com

Press Contacts

Trevor Poapst

Director, Global Marketing

Omni Technology Solutions Inc.

Phone: +1.780.423.4200

trevor at omni-ts.com

Sean Rousseau

Marketing and Public Relations

Userful Corporation

Phone: +1.866.873.9008

srousseau at userful.com

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