Mandriva says while various Linux distros offer educational discounts and Linux source code is, of course, available for free, no other Linux distro offers academic institutions full support at a low price. The new Academia Program from Mandriva aims to change that.
Under the program, educational institutions can buy a site license with an unlimited number of seats at that site. Moreover, Mandriva is not requiring that these sites provide usage reports.
Mandriva has created the academic distribution from its core Linux, and then tweaked it with some applications specifically aimed at educational institutions (called the Academia Add-On), such as online training modules, its knowledge base, and courseware backed by the Linux Professional Institute. Then, the institution sets up a local FTP mirror that Mandriva maintains and that students, teachers, and administrators can milk for their own personal Linux use.
Mandriva’s Academia Program costs $2,999 ($2,499 euros), and the Academia Add-On collection costs $4,299 (3,499 euros).
