Problems installing SkecthUp on a School system????
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I can't imagine it not being "compatible". That's what they say because they do not want to move their fat buttocks and bother with what should be their job; serve the needs of the school they are in contract with.
The Google toolbar and the front/start page are both "opt-out" possibilities on installation so that should not be a problem - it's just an excuse. I would even go further and demandthat they also install an easy to use, free image editor you can set SU up to work with (for kids and those who are inexperienced, I would suggest Paint.NET for this purpose).
I also teach SU to a couple of students interested at a local secondary school and we have not had any kind of problems at all although obviously there are regulations and restricted use of the computers, too (one pain is that we cannot simply install plugins for instance but at a beginner's phase you can live without them anyway).
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We don't know what the schools computer system is like, what the IT consultant's responsibilities and liabilities are, and regardless of their reasons (IMO) it is wrong to install anything on someone else's system without their approval.
On my system, it seems that on occasion, Sketchup attempts to logon to the Internet without direction from me. Except for the firewall, I would not know it was doing so. You can say that there is no harm in that, but that is an option beyond my control. In addition if SU is part of a problem that shuts down a computer, or the schools system at some point in time (damage to program files, computer's registry, libraries, other users data, etc.), who is responsible, and who fixes those problems. If the computer is part of a network, any problem may be compounded. We don't even know if the IT consultant has the resources to learn and maintain SU on the school's system. He is not going to take our word that SU is harmless.
Sorry to lecture, but a topic I feel like scratching:-) Like running this forum, there are no free lunches.
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While I agree in part with what HonoluluDesktop says, an intolerant network is counter-intuitive.
An analogy: Installing traffic signals at each and every intersection in a city is not conducive to the orderly flow of traffic--in all cases.I use SU at my office, on a network monitored by off-site IT, with excellent communicative personnel. I have not experienced any roadblocks. Granted, we are a small company, and we do have admin rights at our workstations.
I probably would not be able to access Sketchucation in any other circumstance.
As a matter of fact, our unique setup has two hardware firewalls/filters due to circumstances soon to be corrected, and still no problems I am aware of. -
@mitcorb said:
While I agree in part with what HonoluluDesktop says, an intolerant network is counter-intuitive.
We ARE talking the United Kingdom here. We are also talking mid school term. IMHO, HonoluluDesktop is absolutely correct in his assumption. British IT departments within educational establishment will not, under any circumstances, install software, until it has been fully cleared with upper IT management. It is as simple as that. I am absolutely sure that if Matt wants SU installed on the school PC's it will happen, but not until the summer break (vacation to you guys on the other side of the Atlantic
), and after it has been agreed to (It took 2 years of me asking at Wolverhampton University before they finally had SU installed, and then that was in the following year, after I left). Basically the whole of British state education today, runs on Microsoft XP, and the last thing IT managers want, especially in an establishment such as a school or university, is a system that is broke.Yes, it's utter madness. But it's also very British.
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So how it worked here (also using XP):
- at the beginning of the summer break I walked into the office of the head-master (we'd never met before) in this secondary school saying that I wanted to teach SU in the following semester.
- He said he knows nothing of computers (he is also a PE teacher) so I should go to the teachers teaching this computering stuff to the students and talk to them
- So I went to them (who are also the "IT guys" for the school) they asked what we needed to install and if I could bring in everything on my usb stick at the beginning of the semester.
- I was granted admin rights and could install everything myself with no issues.
I know this may sound too liberal compared to that paranoia over there and even I was a bit surprised but if that is the pace schools are advancing with modern computer technology, the students graduating there will always be a couple of years behind.
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I remember hearing long ago, that students are going to learn because of the teachers, and in spite of the teachers, and, I assume by extension, in spite of resource limitations.
And really, what is education, but a process of teaching one how to think coherently or systematically. Above and beyond the mere accumulation of facts. -
@gaieus said:
I know this may sound too liberal compared to that paranoia over there and even I was a bit surprised but if that is the pace schools are advancing with modern computer technology, the students graduating there will always be a couple of years behind.
There's a Hungarian chap Atilla, who used to work where I work (I also work in a school), who could never work out why in England all wash basins have two taps instead of one mixing tap, and that the hot tap is always either as cold as the cold tap, or is so hot that you end up just using the cold tap after all, so to avoid scolding yourself. And of course, there is never any soap.
Like I said, this is 'Great' Britain
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Ah well, I have also always wondered about this. Then I concluded that the Brits are all nuts because they live on an island and think they are pirates.
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The Brits are not as anal as the TED (Texas education department), here you have a board for everything, I live in Plano, and to get anything going in the SU side I need to meet with a school board, they meet with their IT dept, we all then meet with the PISD (Plano independent school district), at which point I get vetted and re-vetted, scrutinised, questioned, sent away for decision making, have to start again from scratch as they lost the minutes or there was a missing decision maker and then I get refused and thanked for my time and urged to try again next year as it will be a better financial year (as it cannot be as bad as the current)
If it's an election year (local elections) nothing can or will be achieved, but everything gets promised.Here in the states we may not have the British flare for queuing, but we certainly got a unique talent for kissing ass.
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Should I also mention that this is a Catholic school (run by the Cistercian Order)?
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@tfdesign said:
install SketchUp on a USB stick.SketchUp isn't supposed to be portable, but it can be done. I think you point the installer to the USB stick that you have plugged in to your own computer.
Do a google search on SketchUp and portable, and you will get a whole load of info. Please tell me how you get on!
This got me interested in being able to use SU in work, they recently upgraded to Win 7 and UAC has stopped me from installing SU, but when i searched in Google this is the result........
This just pisses me off
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Sorry Rich, I don't quite understand? You're pissed off with pirated SU software, or pirated software as a whole? You don't have to use a pirate version of SU just to make it portable!
I've given up on putting my foot down on pirating, because I just conclude that it is going to happen irrespective of what measures you take to stop it. I have 2 LP's both released on worldwide record labels. I don't think anyone who has expressed an interest in them have actually bought copies, they've just downloaded them from torrent sites. I suppose it's like using cassette tape in the old days- I used to tape records, then later on, if I liked them enough, go out and buy them.
Primarily I'm anti-krack'd software, because I believe in shareware (or freeware, if it is good- like SU free). Using kracked software does nothing but support the main players, Autodesk, Adobe, MS Office etc etc. Kracked software keeps these dinosaurs in power- which is wrong, because in turn that also stifles competition and more importantly, innovation.
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yeah I'm pissed off to see the 2nd and 3rd results are links to pirated versions. But that's the way the world turns these days. For me, shareware plays an integral role in modern computing. So while SU remains an excellent Free 3d modelling software, it's Pro version still remains popular for those who want a free lunch.
I just don't understand the need for this approach ??
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@unknownuser said:
I just don't understand the need for this approach ??
You're still not being clear to what approach you mean.
The portable approach or the pirated approach?
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sorry for the confusion. Pissed at the fact that when I searched for 'sketchup portable' the result back was more piracy related than anything else.
But I'll definitely look into the portable aspect of SU. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Hi all
Interesting topic that's been kicked off here, thanks for all the feedback. I have a suspicion tfdesign is correct in that they will eventually install it but not until it has been cleared by IT senior management which could take many long rambling months. I'm only there until June so it may well not be any good for me, it just seems crackers that it's this way,
I'll let you know how I get on.
many thanks
Matt
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Although I can (somewhat) understand the concerns of these IT guys but IMO some more flexibility and at least some speed in such cases would be good. But the worst part is that I really have to feel sorry for you and the kids because by experience I know that playing around with SU is a really great fun. They are still free from many stupid conventions we have and SU helps them to express their fantasy so well!
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Patience Gai, patience!
Students do have the chance to download SketchUp at home too you know? It is free! Matt could always demonstrate SU from a laptop and projector if absolutely necessary, until SU has been installed on the PC's (which I imagine are all clone workstations?)
There.The bureaucratic IT manager speaking within me!
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I too had problems getting SU installed on my Schools Network (UK)
It had to be approved first (took about 6 months) then manually installed on 8 computers.There's lots of good free software out there but it's a pain to get anything installed on the network.
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Stickies, which originally and still does, come free with Mac OS, was another free app that all schools should have on their PC's. I mentioned it to the IT crew at Wolves. They just looked back at me as if I was trying to do their job better than they could! This freeware PC version is brilliant- highly recommended!
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