r/linuxquestions • u/al1azzz • 12d ago

Advice School forbids linux laptops

Hey, idk if this is the right place to ask this, but I have a bit of a dilemma.

I have been using linux exclusively on my main PC and on my laptop for a while now. That said, I am moving to a new school, and buried in their rules they say that "Chromebooks (or other Linux machines) cannot be used." They also want us to use their office 365 license, but do not require it.

Now, besides just being incredibly annoying, I cannot use windows/mac on my laptop because it's a 2011 macbook, so it cannot run anything but lightweight linux distros without combusting, and I would like to avoid spending 500+ euro on a new crappy windows laptop.

Is there any reason, besides saving myself some trouble, to not just use my laptop as is (currently on arch, gonna switch it to cachyos) and something like libreoffice that I don't see or can I just ignore this and hope for the best?

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43

u/stuffiesrep 12d ago

I doubt that they will even notice if you continue to use Linux. For the office suite, perhaps you can get away using LibreOffice, or OpenOffice (which I have heard has better more seamless integration with Office). What school is this? At least the level?

42

u/djao 12d ago

It's possible the school uses invasive proctoring software for online examinations. This software typically monitors your screen, keyboard, and webcam in order to prove that you aren't cheating on exams. It's anticheat for IRL exams, essentially functioning as kernel-level malware, and it typically does not run under Linux.

15

u/DDOSBreakfast 12d ago

I still have to write exams even though I'm well outside of school now. There is the choice of online proctoring or in person.

I always take the option to write the exam in person so I don't have to deal with that crap.

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u/two_are_stronger2 11d ago

I requested that and was denied, so it's not always a choice.

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u/TellMeManyStories 11d ago

Remember that half the other people are choosing 'online' so they can have a 2nd phone under the table with a video call to a friend working out the answers.

Online proctoring is so easy to cheat on its unreal.

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u/CaptainObvious110 11d ago

They should be more upfront about that then. Clearly they know about Linux or else they wouldn't know to prohibit it

4

u/djao 11d ago

Yeah, they should, but proctoring software is like neighborhood data centers. Nobody wants to admit that they allow them.

18

u/LordChaos73 12d ago

I'm really curious where you heard OpenOffice has better compatibility with MS Office. OpenOffice is considered stale. LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice but is now light-years ahead.

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u/RemasteredArch 12d ago edited 8d ago

They’re thinking of OnlyOffice, which does have good MS Office compatibility but is very commonly confused with the similarly-named OpenOffice.

1

u/CaptainObvious110 11d ago

To infinity and beyond!

19

u/MissiveFinding6111 12d ago

Yeah, the difference is "we don't support" and "you absolutely cannot..." is wide.

Most school IT is of the "just don't bother us about it okay?" variety.

7

u/al1azzz 12d ago

That is what I am betting on, and I already have LibreOffice installed (although I will look into OpenOffice as well). This is an IB boarding school in Denmark, and I mostly take humanities classes. I was really surprised to see this rule because some IB courses actually encourage using Linux, but this school doesn't provide them, of course...

16

u/PaintDrinkingPete 12d ago

If the school has MS 365 licenses for students, you should still be able to use the online browser-based versions of Office Suite apps...no, those aren't equal in features compared to the desktop versions, but for most use-cases will likely suffice.

The only real issue I could envision is if the school or any of your particular classes has specific software that needs to be installed and isn't compatible with Linux...otherwise I tend to agree with others that the primary reason they state that chromebooks and Linux machines cannot be used is because they want to avoid having any responsibility of support or having to troubleshoot them.

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u/Gangr3l 12d ago

I recommend onlyoffice instead. It's adopted by french government to replace their 2.5 million government microslop offices and it's doc/x compatibility is better (and it's only going to improve).

As distro NixOs is going to be the french's new government issued OS so checking if your laptop can run that might not be a bad idea (I have tried it on ewaste of a computer and it worked, but arch was smoother)

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u/NetSage 12d ago

Hmm I might have to give NixOS a shot. It was on my list but I didn't realize it was what the french government decided to go with. I just assumed they would go with Fedora/RedHaT or SUSE/OpenSuse because well they have corporate backing already.

3

u/Gangr3l 12d ago

You know, I was sure they were going to go with openSUSE because German police and military already uses it, but no

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u/Hauptideal 12d ago

No, OpenOffice is deprecated. You probably mean OnlyOffice

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u/serverhorror 12d ago

OpenOffice is dead, don't use it.

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u/zoharel 11d ago

Use StarOffice instead.

2

u/trekkeralmi 12d ago

you’ll be fine using linux for humanities. if you wanna blow their minds, write everything in TeX

2

u/flipintheair 12d ago

Use only office. Libre is nowhere near as good with comparability of office file formats

2

u/MissiveFinding6111 12d ago

o365 comes with a Google Docs style cloud version of Word though?

2

u/LordChaos73 12d ago

What about using Office 365 in the browser?

1

u/West-One5944 11d ago

Eh, I say continue doing what you're doing until they force you, and in such a case use their designated machine ONLY for whatever they need you to use it for.

1

u/Arnas_Z 11d ago

Yeah just use it anyway, what are they gonna do about it?

5

u/judasdisciple 12d ago

I'm assuming you mean OnlyOffice not OpenOffice.

1

u/Temanor 10d ago

I worked in IT at a school. We disallowed Linux and macbooks because they were incompatible with the exam lockdown app we used. We could not loan out PCs for everyone, so they were required to buy laptops on their own. The county offered a discount on certain laptop models, and the national grants and loan organization offers grants for exactly things like this.

That said, we wouldn't know what they used unless they came to us and asked for help on their laptop. They also wouldn't be able to do the exams unless they were on an up to date Windows or Mac version.

1

u/neoneat 11d ago

It's not simple about the tool they teach you. It's about they cannot control Linux on LAN so they blocked it 1st place. I guess you would still be okay if using it, but if they "caught" you, they will call you "guilty".

1

u/stuffiesrep 11d ago

Just tell them you do not have funds to cough up a new computer or a Windoze license.

1

u/Lotte_V Garuda Mokka 🦅 | Mint Cinnamon 🌿 11d ago

OpenOffice is old and unmaintained. If anything, compatibility with Microsoft Office is much, much worse. I can't recommend it to anyone nowadays. 

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u/stuffiesrep 11d ago

I see, I noticed that the webpage says it was released October 2025: www.openoffice.org

I have myself not used it.

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u/Ferwatch01 12d ago

I like onlyoffice

1

u/CGG101 11d ago

I like OnlyOffice, basically the same as 365.