NSW school students could be supplied with Linux-based laptops as part of the state's efforts for the Digital Education Revolution [DER].
According to the Australian IT, the president of the NSW Secondary Principals' council has been pushing for laptops running non-proprietary software such as Edubuntu, the version of Ubuntu specifically designed for the education sector.
Up to $56 million could be spent on the laptops, which will be issued to NSW secondary school students.
The laptops could also come pre-installed with a suite of open-source applications such as Open Office, Firefox and Gimp, according to a submission from the Council to the Government.
Google previously won a major Gmail contract with NSW's Department of Education and Training.