Why Schools should start using Linux , not Windows ?
Ubuntu is powered by Linux kernal (based on Unix ) which is Open Source and is the product by thousands of world class programmers contributing their code , sharing their expertise with the Linux project voluntarily , as the part of community .
Ubuntu by far , is most usable , user friendly , Linux variant ever . Ubuntu is based on Debian , which powers most of the Corporate Servers . It contains over 20,000 Software Packages available for being installed .
Unix / Windows being proprietary hampers growth of programmers as they can never have complete control over the machine / can never know how things work deep inside the OS. Linux on other hand allows users to customize it the way they want , being open source it allows users to look into the code , modify the code and play with it .
Having made source code of an operating system available to 6th graders is like allowing them to do open heart surgery. The more they will experiment with it , the better understanding they will have about “How & Whys” of functioning of either of them .
Linux is relevant everywhere , be it Mobile devices ( Android is powered by Linux Kernel ) , Computers in Homes , Industries, Government Offices .
Linux is powering thousands of Servers of Google , Facebook , Twitter and majority of Fortune 500 Companies . Companies like Oracle , Google , Facebook also openly supports and contributes to Linux Project .
Linux supports all major programming languages like Java , C , C++ , PHP , etc .
Windows usage is ever declining ( Domestic & Industrial ) because of its long list of Demerits : Security Flaws , Bad performance over time , less control over machine , to name a few .
Linux is supported by million users strong community , Corporations like Canonical which is behind Ubuntu , Edubuntu , Kbuntu , RedHat which is behind Fedora , Red Hat Linux which powers servers of majority Fortune 500 companies .
To be part of Open Source Community , Linux happens to be prerequisite as it’s first step in the ladder. Linux being World’s largest Open Source project powering millions of machines ( Desktops / Servers ) worldwide.
Every year Google conducts its programming event called “ Google Code-Jam” for international school students in which 100% participating organizations are Open Source Based. Students work on project with any organization they like . Google rewards them after successful completion of project .
All Supercomputers in entire world are using Linux as their primary OS [6]
Beside that majority of Departments of US government switched to Linux , Fortune 500 companies like Oracle are using Linux for its security , stability & performance .
Linux / *nix is included in Engineering / Any Computer Science Courses in every University around the Globe .
We at Schools are building futuristic children , who can explore the world and gets their hand on latest technologies available in IT domain . The sooner the children will start using linux , the better they will get overtime .
As Schools is going Open Source, Students will have access to knowledge about technologies working behind Servers / Mobile Phones / Any Computing Device or which they are using .

References :
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_adopters
[3] http://www.westhost.com/blog/2012/12/24/fortune-500-companies-drool-over...
[4] http://www.linuxfoundation.org/publications/linux-foundation/linux-adopt...
[5] http://www.slideshare.net/linuxmalaysia/linux-open-source-usage-in-the-f...
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercomputer_operating_systems