Skolelinux / Debian Edu comes with a standard architecture that makes it very easy to install and maintain a school-wide installation. Many services are pre-configured and enabled by default, and a lot of software is pre-installed and ready for immediate use.
Green IT
Reuse and prolonged life of old hardware reduce the environmental impact.
Low TCO
Low TCO (Total cost of ownership)because of ease of administration, and reuse of older hardware.
There is no license cost - the software is totally free
Centralized user directory services: No matter which computer you use on the network, you use the same username and password for your login.
Centralized file and directory services: No matter which computer you use, you find your files and settings the way you left them. You log in to the same desktop on any machine and nobody else (besides the administrator) can change it.
Thin client solution:
All the software is run on a thin client server instead of on the local machine (the thin client). However, it appears to be running on the thin client and all user interaction happens there.
This enables your organization to take advantage of old hardware often no longer usable for traditional installed computing. As thin clients it can still run modern and high quality software. An additional advantage is that maintenance is greatly streamlined, since all work is done on the thin client server. Install or upgrade once for dozens of machines.
Diskless workstations: For diskless workstations the terms stateless workstations, lowfat clients or half-thick clients are also used.
A diskless workstation runs all software on the PC without a locally installed operating system. This means that client machines boot direcly from the servers hard drive without running software installed on a local hard drive.
Diskless workstations are an exellent way of reusing newer hardware with the same low maintanence cost as with thin clients. Software is administered and maintained on the server with no need for local installed software on the clients. Home directories and system settings are stored on the server too.
Independant reports states that the architecture used by Skolelinux/DebianEdu will save 40% of the cost of a traditional solution. See the "Reports" section for more information.
Out of the box
Several hundred software packages are pre-installed and ready to use. OpenOffice , GIMP, KDE 3.5, Scribus, GCompris, TuxPaint etc
Available in 42 languages, with most of the software localized in the pupil's own language.
Over a thousand software packages can easily be installed for free. Some examples can be found under the menu "Software overview" and "Take a tour"
Printers can be shared and made available through the entire network.
A proxy server relays traffic between the Internet and the local network. This enables even slow connections to deliver a rich Internet experience.
Services such as a web server, e-mail server and database server are included in the base installation.
SAMBA is installed by default. Samba is an Open Source/Free Software suite that provides seamless file and print services to SMB/CIFS clients." Samba is freely available, unlike other SMB/CIFS implementations, and allows for interoperability between Linux/Unix servers and Windows-based clients.
Other benefits
Skolelinux / DebianEdu is customization of Debian GNU/Linux, which is widely known for its stability and long release cycles
Many independant software companies offer support services
Skolelinux / Debian Edu comes with a standard architecture that makes it very easy to install and maintain a school-wide installation. Many services are pre-configured and enabled by default, and a lot of software is pre-installed and ready for immediate use.
Green IT
Low TCO
Out of the box 
Other benefits