IT staff said that Linux cannot connect to the school's Internet (EduStar) and refused to try

Question

I live in Victoria, Australia, where schools connect to the Internet via EduStar. In my school, we have to ask the IT staff if we want to connect to EduStar. I just installed Xubuntu 20.04 on my laptop and want to use it as my main OS. When I asked the staff, they told me that it is not possible to use Linux and refused to try.

Is what they said true?

I use a Dell Inspiron 5593 2020 with a Qualcomm QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Adapter.

Solution 1

This is a political question, not a technical one. Technically there is no reason why a Linux system wouldn't be able to use an Internet connection when Windows with the same hardware works. However the refusal of IT staff to allow it can be a real obstacle. You have basically four avenues:

1. Try to bypass the restriction. Present a Windows PC as yours and have it connected to the school network, then without telling the IT staff copy the settings to your Linux laptop and use that. If they do MAC address registration you may have to install Windows on your laptop, register it on the school network and then switch back to Linux. This may be the easiest way but it is also risky because if IT staff finds out you may face some sort of retribution.

2. Challenge the ruling. Depending on the (real or pretended) reasons for the Linux ban you may succeed in having it lifted or at least getting exceptional permission. Often the reason is just that the IT staff lacks Linux knowledge (and motivation to learn) in which case you may succeed by promising you won't bother them in case of a problem. But if they managed to convince themselves and/or their management that Linux is a security problem then that avenue is barred.

3. Comply. That is, use Windows in school against your better judgement. You may ease the pain by setting up dual boot so you can still use Linux outside of school without having to buy a second machine.

4. Change school.

Solution 2

There is no technical reason for being unable to use Linux. But if the IT team don't have any knowledge of Linux they won't be able to support it. What's worse is that they won't be able to tell whether network problems they have are caused by Linux. You and I know that's unlikely but they don't.

The problem now is that they know you want to connect a Linux machine and they have explicitly forbidden it. You can't now claim that you didn't know it was banned. Technical solutions that enable you to bypass the blockage could just get you into trouble and I really wouldn't advise anyone to do that

You aren't the first person to hit this sort of barrier. If you don't have enough political 'clout' to force the issue then you need to gather support from people who have.

Solution 3

The main question: Can Linux be used?

As everyone else has said, there should be no technical reason that Linux cannot access your school’s Internet connection.

For more specific information, I did a web search for “edustar internet”. The first result was an eduSTAR page on the Victorian government’s website, which says:

The eduSTAR platform provides schools with:

• A range of ICT services, which includes some of the following:
  • eduSTAR.ISP — Department’s internet service provider (ISP) and internet security systems and reporting
  • …

This is not particularly useful, but at least it has contact details, which I intend to use if no clear answer is provided here.

The second result was a Victorian school support article about eduSTAR. Unfortunately, this article is not accessible via HTTPS, so I used the version archived in the Wayback Machine. It suggests that Android should work, as long as it can use a proxy. If Android works, then distributions commonly referred to as “Linux”, like Ubuntu, should also work.

The only other information I could find was that at least one Victorian school specifically prohibits Linux (and everything else, besides Windows and macOS) and requires devices to be inspected before being granted network access.

What can you do about it?

Get informed. Check your school’s documentation for connecting to the Internet (you said they don’t have any) and rules for devices generally (do they say anything about Linux?).

Also, you should not have to give any reason at all for using Linux. But if you do give a reason, give a proper reason. Like SnakeDoc’s comment says, the argument about Visual Studio is false and makes it look like you do not know what you are talking about. That is not good when you are accusing them of not knowing what they are talking about.

With all the information available, you can choose from the following options:

1. Bypass the rule. There are two ways to do this:
   1. Connect directly using Linux. You may do this by copying the settings from Windows. This is probably a bad option, because it would annoy the school. If you are not in a position to change schools, you probably do not want to annoy the current school.
   2. Run Linux inside a virtual machine. For this method, you should ensure that Linux has only indirect (NAT) Internet access. This way, from the network’s point of view, Linux is not really an operating system; it is effectively just another normal program. This should be fine, provided you are allowed to install your own software, which it sounds like you are. (This is basically what rackandboneman’s answer says, but I started writing my answer much earlier.)
2. Challenge the rule. You may do this by asking why it matters which operating system you use at all, by pointing out that Linux is safe and should connect just fine, and by pointing out that it is unfair to force students to purchase powerful hardware and licences for proprietary operating systems. But this is probably a bad option, because it would also annoy the school, unless you can get enough support from more powerful people.
3. Comply with the rule. You may do this by running Windows at school (and using it only for school business) and Linux away from school. This is probably the best option, provided you are allowed to dual boot.
4. Change schools. But you have already stated that you cannot do this.

Solution 4

My company laptop has Windows. The software to connect to the VPN only works on Windows, so I can not change. Yet... all my tasks pretty much require Linux.

What's the solution? Boot-up windows, connect to the network, then run Linux in a full-screen VM and bridge the network connection.

Solution 5

Keep using Windows as a main OS for the laptop, set up ubuntu as a VM (most modern Windows OS have HyperV capabilities included, so it should be easy) using NAT networking. That way, you get to use ubuntu without making it the IT staff's problem in any way.

View more solutions

Comments

[Admin]

Does your school have any documentation on how to get machines onto the school network? If so, it should be possible to walk through the directions and make adjustments that will work on Xubuntu.

[Admin]

No, they don't provide any documentation, just the minimal requirement which my laptop all match

[Admin]

In that case, you may need to "borrow" a friend's computer for a couple of minutes to examine their network settings and configure Xubuntu to match them. Do note that some IT people will be openly hostile to people putting Linux on the network so, if you do manage to get connected, try not to do anything that will given them justification to have Linux banned from campus 🤐

[Admin]

Thank you for your advice, I will try that!

[Admin]

Looking at instructions from some universities that mention "edustar", it doesn't look complicated for them (no certificates or anything too enterprise-y). The most problematic bit might be proxy configuration.

[Admin]

@muru Thank you

[Admin]

Just because Visual Studio is trash does not mean you cannot use another IDE ;) I assume you have a windows machine. Let them to show windows serttings and then you just copy silently to linux. Another aproach is to use android phone/tablet connected to wi-fi and tether the connection to your laptop. I mean even It has android phones and some of them can support FOSS roms.

[Admin]

@QuanHuynh I love linux, and recommend trying it. But, your IDE of choice has nothing to do with the operating system. Visual Studio is just one of hundreds of IDE's you can use for C++ on Windows, Linux, Mac, etc. CLion by IntelliJ is one I've heard great things about, and there are plenty of others. Most are OS agnostic these days. Do not choose an OS purely based on an IDE...

[Admin]

Thank you @SnakeDoc, but I am so sick of setting up any IDE and I used to have an amazing time with Linux before so I'll stick with it.

[Admin]

Does And when I ask the staff, he told me that it won't work Linux and refuse to give it a try. mean that they said "Thou shalt not use Linux on our network"? Or does it mean they said "We won't provide any support for you to use Linux or our network because we don't know how to make it work and don't want to take the time to figure it out"? If the former, you are stuck (unless you want to cheat a little). If the latter, this should be easy enough to figure out, starting with a functional Windows configuration.

[Admin]

I actually think you should go above your IT department. I've looked at anti-discrimination laws in Australia and unfortunately this isn't covered - but I think you could make a strong case to your head of school that this discriminates against people who are less well off by forcing them to use a proprietary OS and maybe higher spec hardware. It's not in anyone's interests to enforce that. Completely understand that the school won't support you if it doesn't work, but they shouldn't be preventing you from connecting using a good OS that poses no security risk.

[Admin]

@manassehkatz-Moving2Codidact I asked him to connect my laptop to school's network and he told me that Linux cannot connect to school's wifi, he doesn't say why

[Admin]

The Vic. gov doesn't pay techs much; no higher qualifications aren't required (outside of a MSCE certificate) so they don't get very experienced staffers doing IT. They're saying it doesn't work because they don't know how, nor have any idea as to how to even try. Where staff are interested & capable; they usually soon leave the edu.vic system as almost anyone pays more.

[Admin]

For what it's worth - the network is likely secured with SSL certificates - and they do not have a script written and/or do not wish to support Linux, and it will be up to you to figure it out on your own. My university was similar here in the US. They aren't saying "no", they are saying "we don't support that configuration".

[Admin]

@QuanHuynh if you have a .pfx (Personal Information Exchange) file, you can convert it into .cer and/or .pem files. and then install them. don't forget to set up to auto proxy network.

[Admin]

As an aside, and saying that as a Linux enthusiast, I was surprised how well Visual Studio works to develop C++. They have come a long way regarding standard conformance, probably not least thanks to Herb Sutter. Usability has always been great anyway.

[Admin]

Your school does not have an IT department, whatever they call themselves. Your school has a Windows helpdesk.

[Admin]

This question has generated a huge amount of speculation, but no clear answers. As promised in my answer, I have contacted the eduSTAR team to try to obtain an official answer. Knowing OP’s school would help too, but they might have a good reason for not telling us.

[Admin]

I believe the question is not about the technical capability of Ubuntu. "Is what they said true?" at face-value means the SX community needs to determine whether the IT staff is lying to you. Many of the options given are antagonistic (e.g. bypass, or challenge), thankfully there are enough posts advising caution. Please don't view your IT staff as your adversary. My hope is if you have interest, to apply to IT team and help them expand their resources to support Linux as viable. They may not see enough users because of the lack of support, and this creates a cycle.

[Admin]

With “not possible” they mean “they will not allow it since they don’t have the time to support you”

[Quan Huynh]

Thank you for your detail recommendation. I will try the first one right tomorrow and the second if no sucess. I am using the third one right now. And, I don't have the fourth option :)

[doneal24]

Fifth option. Run Windows as the base OS and use it to connect to the network. Run Linux in a VM or container with a bridged network to Windows. Not ideal but a bit easier than changing schools.

[Silvio Mayolo]

Yeah, my last school's policy was "we don't disallow Linux, but you can't ask IT for help", so it was really just a game of "find the senior student who likes Linux and ask them for the instructions". A lot of it can just be the IT folks not wanting to / not getting paid enough to care about other operating systems.

[Revolver_Ocelot]

">If they do MAC address registration" then you just spoof whatever MAC you want. Most likely on your windows machine, before registering it ad switching to linux.

[Brian Drake]

If OP’s issue was that they were required to run a Windows program, but did not like running Windows, then this would be a great answer. But OP’s issue has nothing to do with Visual Studio, as discussed at length in comments on the question. It is not clear how this answer addresses the actual question.

[Brian Drake]

+1 Installing Ubuntu in a VM is not necessarily the best option. But if you are going to do it, this is the way.

[James_pic]

It's not totally implausible that there are technical reasons a Linux machine can't be connected up. I can't speak for EduStar, but in corporate settings, it's not that uncommon to mandate some kind of "endpoint protection" in a BYOD setting, either as a matter of policy, or by having to use some kind of awful VPN client that enforces it. Most of the time, it's relatively easy to by pass this (either by ignoring the policy, or by using an alternate VPN client that doesn't use the enforcement mechansm) to get a Linux machine connected, but this can land you in hot water.

[Brian Drake]

As far as I can tell, WSL (both versions) does not allow you to use “a Linux environment of your choice”: it allows you to choose from distributions provided by the WSL publisher (Microsoft). It does not support Xubuntu directly, but does support Ubuntu, where you can install Xfce yourself. But if you ever want to use something more exotic, you may need to switch to an ordinary hypervisor.

[Brian Drake]

@James_pic But if there were such requirements here, then I would expect that: (1) They would be clearly documented. (2) They would involve the installation of special client software, which OP would be aware of from before their switch to Xubuntu and should have mentioned in the question.

[Simon Baldwin]

Agreed and post edited to reflect this.

[Austin Hemmelgarn]

‘Performance isn’t as good as a native install’ But it’s generally better than a VM, depending on the exact workloads and how poorly designed your AV software is. And, FWIW, you actually can run just about anything in WSL2, provided the distro itselfsupports it, it’s just nontrivial if they don’t have a pre-packaged image in the Microsoft Store.

[Esther]

How would the school know that you are connecting with Linux? I sincerely doubt they are monitoring for things like that, most likely they just don't want to be bothered with setting it up.

[Brian Drake]

@Esther As far as I am aware, Australian school students are treated as minors (even if they are adults), there is a good chance OP is a minor, and being a minor means you should expect those pesky grown-ups to keep an eye on you. So even if the school is not routinely monitoring for things like this, we should expect that the school might find out. And, as Tilman’s answer pointed out, OP might “face some sort of retribution” when that happens.

[Brian Drake]

+1 The first sentence answers the question directly. The rest of this answer discusses the risks of breaking the rules, and advises against doing so, which is appropriate for an underage environment.

[Brian Drake]

Also see Bernard Peek’s answer, which I have just upvoted.

[user253751]

A "No Linux!" ruling does mean you're not allowed to run Linux in a virtual machine... or FreeBSD... or anything without a start menu... or maybe a fullscreen video of a Linux system. That's just how school IT departments operate. I got banned from school computers for running a very short batch file which opened and closed empty command prompt windows, because it was "hacking"

[Brian Drake]

I listed the options in the same order as in Tilman’s answer, but I am not sure that we should be listing “break school rules” as an option at all.

[Brian Drake]

@user253751 Did you run this batch file on a school computer? OP is talking about their own computer. Is it the same thing? Also, I said (emphasis added): “This should be fine, provided you are allowed to install your own software …”

[user253751]

@BrianDrake I'm just showing you how overzealous school staff can be. If they say "no Linux!", they're not going to accept "but it's a virtual machine!!!" as an excuse. The reasoning process is going to be: "Is it Linux? Yes. Did we say no Linux? Yes we did. Your access to school information technology resources is now disabled due to your inability to conduct yourself responsibly. We will also be contacting our lawyers. Buh-bye!"

[Brian Drake]

@user253751 I don’t think OP actually said Linux was banned, but I did say that OP shouldn’t annoy the school (even if they’re not actually doing anything wrong), so you might still have a point. I’ll sleep on it and maybe edit my answer.

[mckenzm]

I'm not sure they would be keen on unsupported versions of Windows connecting either, What do you call a "modern" Windows OS? XP thru 7? DDR2 memory upgrades typically cost several times more than the laptop is worth.

[Iluvathar]

Another way is to use Ubuntu as the host and connect to the network using Windows as the guest. Not necessarily convenient (if you need network from Ubuntu), but may work in some use cases.

[Joshua]

@Revolver_Ocelot: My college did MAC address registration. Them: What is your MAC address. Me: What would you like it to be? Point being made, we then went through the procedure to find out what the hardware MAC actually was.

[Stobor]

With Windows 10/11, WSL is also a decent option compared to running a full-blown VM for the times you are forced to use Windows.

[towe]

"Commercial Anti-Virus" is a pretty good hint that the other answers are correct in citing lack of interest and knowledge as cause for not supporting other OSs is the reason behind their policy.

[rackandboneman]

@mckenzm HyperV is in 10/11 too, not sure about the editions though.

[Jon Bentley]

Note that the question doesn't claim Linux is "forbidden", "banned", or "blocked" as this answer assumes. The question merely states that IT think "it is not possible to use Linux". It could well be that they simply think Linux is incompatible with the network.

[Rodney]

If the only requirement to connect to their network is to get out onto the Internet I personally would find another route eg mobile broadband dongle / phone tethering. (I don't know how reasonable data rates are in Australia)

[DevSolar]

@doneal24: Running Linux in a VM on Windows just means you now have to admin both operating systems plus handling the VM intricacies. My suggestion, when forced to use Windows by circumstances, would be more along the lines of Cygwin, which gives you the Linux tools and apps on Windows without adding a VM and a whole OS layer. (And I tried WSL2, and I cannot really recommend it for a variety of reasons.)

[SiHa]

This. I'm a dev for a large coporation. We all have Windows laptops, and use Ubuntu in WSL2 for our day-to-day work, reserving windows for email/teams/internet

[WoJ]

if you added the point 4. there are others possible too ("take their job", "invalidate the MS contract", ...) :)

[Rabbit]

Hi! Welcome to AskUbuntu. It is stated in the original post that they are using Xubuntu 20.04. I would encourage you to read posts carefully in order to provide the most helpful reply. Some flavor of Ubuntu is the most common distro used on AskUbuntu

[mckenzm]

@rackandboneman just thnking. Xubuntu generally means no better than a core duo 1.4GHz with 4GB, Possibly even 2GB. Plus you would need to consider VT-x compatibility. So an XP era Machine that may not have full drivers for Windows 7. An NX6320 or Pavilion DV5 can run full Ubuntu based distributions. OP is lean for a reason.

[VishApp]

You can run windows in a VM, connect to VPN and use Linux as primary. If It was me, I'd go for that.

[Opifex]

@akostadinov What good would that do if he can't connect the Linux to the school network...?

[Gizmo]

Another option 6) Run Windows in a VM on Linux, expose the network adapter to Windows, create a host-to-vm adapter, in Windows enable Internet Connection Sharing on the second adapter. Enjoy using the shared connection from Linux.

[VishApp]

School network is wireless or wired according to standards. So it should be connectable with Linux. If school uses some weird VPN software that only works with Windows, then that software can run in the VM. While routing might be tricky, it's worth the effort if that means to avoid windows as a main OS.

[Admin]

Welcome to Ask Ubuntu! It's not clear if this supposed to be a new answer or if you are looking for help to your issue. If it's the first case, please edit your answer to make it clear that it's an answer that tries to solve the OP's issues. If it's the second case, you should ask a new question by clicking the Ask Question button on the top right. You may then link to the question of this thread if it helps provide context to your question. Thanks!