FYI,
I just had a meeting with Paul Smith (CSD) about lab gaming. He's still
very interested in getting it up and running and has no problem with the
idea per se. Wednesday afternoon/evening in C206 look most likely.
However he's not sure how we're going to implement it. Technically its very
difficult and the two people most likely to help us are both working on
new images to go on the machines for the start of semester 2.
I've left a copy of HL with him and he's going to get someone to look at
it and see how it installs, etc. He's going to get back to me as soon as
he can but we're not sure about a timeframe. He does understand that we'd
like to get it up and running as soon as possible.
I'll let you know as soon as I have any further news.
Mark.
PS For anyone interested, here's what we're looking at. Maybe someone can
suggest a better solution?
* Install/uninstall each time
Obvious problems with this and also they want to be sure that the uninstaller
rolls back properly and doesn't degrade the machines over time.
* Create a image that will be used each time and removed at the end
They are afraid that if anything went wrong with the re-imaging process
at the end of the night, they'd have a lab full of dead machines on Thursday
morning.
* Install in a folder that only a local account can access
Higher cost of management, workstation only accounts can't be traced to
students, etc. Also they don't want to be seen to install games on machines
when they're taking such a tough stand on lab gaming.
* Run it across the network
Could be slower, might not work properly, etc.
* Move it to a different lab
With the exception of C204, none of the other labs are managed by CSD so
we'd need to talk to Business School or CA about this.
