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Washington Memorial Library Given $500,000 Grant

Shelby Coates's picture
Submitted by Shelby Coates on Tue, 2009-12-15 19:25
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Christmas is coming early for the Washington Memorial Library. Tuesday the downtown landmark was awarded a $500,000 dollar grant by the Knight Foundation. The library will use the money to replace 40 out-dated computers with 85 new desk top and lap top computers. The library will also add more computers to its children's wing and provide free wireless Internet that expands beyond the library walls. Training classes will also be given on the new technology.

 

Knight Foundation officials say the new changes will strengthen the downtown community.

 

Bibb County commissioners will match the grant, bringing the total to one million dollars for the library.

Comments

by kwhatcher - 2009-12-17 10:36

Free Software!

I agree! We shouldn't be spending money on high end computers just to spend more money on a bloated closed source operating system.

The library could use http://edubuntu.org/ and save thousands on hardware and software.

This site uses open source, just look at the Drupal logo at the bottom!

I just can't imagine this hard won money away to Microsoft. Just read some of these article from slashdot:

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/12/15/2218224/Microsoft-Acknowledges-T...

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/12/14/0111204/Office-2003-Bug-Locks-Ow...

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/11/24/2141247/Major-IE8-Flaw-Makes-Saf...

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/11/22/1419255/New-Attack-Fells-Interne...

by Iverylm - 2009-12-16 14:04

Set Library Free

 

 

Its fantastic to have Washington Memorial Library upgraded with new technology, computers, and wireless. Will the network infrastructure will be based on server(s) and “green” diskless thin clients/recycled / re-used desktop PCs, using Linux and Free Open Source Software (FOSS)? Let the server(s) carry the workload of 60,000 plus hours.

 

For the children's area, GNU + Linux and free software would be ideal for the 10 computers. There is Qimo4Kids and Sugar (same as One Laptop Per Child) for kids to develop and learn computing concepts.

 

A Free society requires license Free Software!! Atlanta Public Schools, with 48,000 students, uses Free Open Source Software on thin clients in classrooms. Set the Library Free!!!

 

IVERYLM