Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) is a free and open source terminal server for Linux that allows many people to simultaneously use the same computer. Applications run on the server with a terminal known as a thin client (also known as an X terminal) handling input and output. Generally, terminals are low-powered, lack a hard disk and are quieter and more reliable than desktop computers because they do not have any moving parts. This technology is useful in schools as it allows the school to provide pupils access to computers without purchasing or upgrading expensive desktop machines. Improving access to computers becomes less costly as thin client machines can be older computers that are no longer suitable for running a full desktop OS. Even a relatively slow CPU with as little as 128 MB of RAM can deliver excellent performance as a thin client. In addition, the use of centralized computing resources means that more performance can be gained for less money through upgrades to a single server rather than across a fleet of computers. By converting existing computers into thin clients, an educational institution can also gain more control over how their students are using computing resources as all of the user sessions can be monitored on the server. See Epoptes (A Lab Management Tool). The founder and project leader of LTSP is Jim McQuillan, and LTSP is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. The LTSP client boot process On the LTSP server, a chroot environment is set up with a minimal Linux operating system and X environment. Either: the computer will boot from a local boot device (like a harddisk, CD-ROM or USB disk), where it loads a small Linux kernel from that device which initializes the system and all of the peripherals that it recognizes, or the thin client will use PXE or Network booting, a part of the onboard Ethernet firmware, to request an IP address and boot server (the LTSP server) using the DHCP protocol. A PXE bootloader (PXElinux) is loaded which then retrieves a Linux kernel and initrd from a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) service usually running on the LTSP server. Using the utilities in the initrd, the kernel will request a (new) DHCP IP address and the address of a server from which it can mount its root filesystem (the chroot mentioned above). When this information is retrieved,