Or you could just have the kids learn a 4 digit PIN, like the majority of schools in America do...

Honestly, the cashier has a keypad, the kid just types in their PIN after the cashier adds up their purchase, and the account is debited (unless the student is eligible for a free meal, in which case the student does the exact same thing, but no money is deducted from an account - thus removing the stigma of being from a low income family, at least as far as lunch in the cafeteria is concerned)...

Imagine the savings if they simply went off computers entirely and reverted back to pen and paper! They could fire all their IT folks...

Who needs a website? You can just put bulletin boards all around town!

The savings are amazing!

Let me guess - the high school you currently attend has laptop carts full of chromebooks, and that's how you just know they'd work great for government workers?

Yeah, managing 8,300 Linux desktops and user accounts requires nothing more than a couple shell scripts...

Please explain how you propose they manage those 8,30 desktops and user accounts without Active Directory, Group Policies, or System Center - all of which are included when you license a Windows operating system...

Ubuntu wants $105/yr for their desktop management solution...

Yeah, the future of Microsoft is based on giving away free upgrades to a 14 year-old OS...

Has Linux cracked 2% of desktop users? Last I saw MS Vista had nearly ten times larger market share than ALL Linux desktops...

Because government transparency is based on their choice of a desktop operating system...

And no, it isn't based on file formats used by your preferred office application suite either.

Welcome to Slashdot! ;^)

Did you really just try and compare Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 with Kubuntu?

Apples and oranges.

It makes me question your actual experiences with both...

they prefer the games because its OSS.

Seriously, THAT is why they prefer those particular games, because they are OSS?

Puh-leeze.

Either it is because they are cheaper/free OR they are just simply better games.

Go price a management solution for your 8,300 'free' desktops - a Ubuntu wants $105/desktop per year for a system that hopes to someday be as stabil and robust as MS Active Directory and Group Policy solutions that are (essentially) free with Windows Server...

http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/...

At 8,300 desktops and $105/yr, after six years you've invested neatly $5M to manage the desktops like you used to under Windows XP... Where did the savings go?

Then again, they could just cobble together a bunch of free tools and 'roll their own' management solution, I'm sure they welcome taking on that burden in the IT department - with no additional resources... To ensure maximal savings!

It takes more than 50% to amend the Constitution...

Secession is not the same as overthrow - not even on Wikipedia...

1) somebody did a terrorist assault on the IRS. hmm I wonder who he identified with?

Because he felt he personallywas being targeted/harassed by the IRS.

2) someone shot a democratic congresswoman. hmm I wonder who he identified with?

He was a staggeringly apolitical college student, he (according to friends and relatives) had no political leanings one way or the other, he was all about proper grammar and precise language.

3) somebody bombed an abortion clinic. hmm I wonder who he identified with?

Wonder all you want, if he was a member of AARP, does that make all seniors responsible for his actions? How about the Sierra Club? The AAA?

4) somebody bombed a public event in a liberal city (boston marathon). hmm I wonder who he identified with?

As foreign students they probably didn't pay any taxes, and they didn't vote - why would they identify with a group opposed to a certain political party or be upset with taxes they didn't pay?

4) the US govt identified radical republicans as the greatest internal threat. hmm I wonder why?

Yes, the same DEMOCRAT government that admitted (and apologized, before denying it ever happened) to targeting right-wing 501c(3) and 501c(4) groups that applied for tax-exempt status.

Shocking that the party in charge felt comfortable trumping up baseless claims on their political opponents.

They also labelled anyone with political bumper stickers as a threat to the government - that's some sound reasoning there...

Zimmerman mentored underprivileged minorities (typically blacks) - the racist!

Lough ER was the most a-political person I've ever read about... He wrote to his congresswoman to force people to use proper grammar... He was likely 100% ignorant of her party affiliation! and he had no documented affiliations either.

What about the fellow that went to shoot up the Discovery channel because "they weren't doing enough' to combat global warming? He brought bags of Chik-Fil-A sandwiches to attempt to deflect blame onto right-wingers.