School budgets cut, but what about making genuine savings with open source?
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From: 7 on 5 Jul 2010 16:22 School budgets cut, but what about making genuine savings with open source? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jul/05/school-building-programme-budget-cuts School budgets are being cut in UK, and probably across most of EU and America, so when are we going to see the widespread uptake of open source? It has lower cost and runs on lot lower hardware requirements.
From: Rex Ballard on 5 Jul 2010 16:49 On Jul 5, 4:22 pm, 7 <website_has_em...(a)www.enemygadgets.com> wrote: > School budgets cut, but what about making genuine savings with open source? > http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jul/05/school-building-progr... > School budgets are being cut in UK, and probably across most of EU and America, > so when are we going to see the widespread uptake of open source? I never cease to be amazed at the priorties of the School Boards. They will cut teachers, increase classroom size, and even close computer labs, but they will spend rediculous amounts of money on the athletic programs, cheer squad, and the marching band for half-time. > It has lower cost and runs on lot lower hardware requirements. Most schools have terribly equipped computer labs in the first place. In many cases, the teachers are asking for homework to be turned in using Office 2007 format, when the computers in the lab are still running Windows XP and Office 2000. Many are still 1 Ghz machines with 1 gig of RAM. At the same time, I've recently seen school budgets that want INCREASES for the sports program.
From: Clogwog on 5 Jul 2010 16:51 "7" <website_has_email(a)www.enemygadgets.com> schreef in bericht news:HcrYn.70048$wi5.30995(a)hurricane... > School budgets cut, but what about making genuine savings with open > source? > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jul/05/school-building-programme-budget-cuts > > > School budgets are being cut in UK, and probably across most of EU and > America, > so when are we going to see the widespread uptake of open source? > > It has lower cost and runs on lot lower hardware requirements. > Wake up Josh! Children love Windows and want MSN, Hotmail, photoalbums on SkyDrive, Windows live! a.s.o., all free! With Linux and it's apps, with the funny names, nobody ever heard of, they will be social outcasts, nerds and totally isolated in school! < lol ! That should make you scratch your empty head. >
From: Baron on 5 Jul 2010 17:10 Clogwog Inscribed thus: > "7" <website_has_email(a)www.enemygadgets.com> schreef in bericht > news:HcrYn.70048$wi5.30995(a)hurricane... >> School budgets cut, but what about making genuine savings with open >> source? >> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jul/05/school-building-programme-budget-cuts >> >> >> School budgets are being cut in UK, and probably across most of EU >> and America, >> so when are we going to see the widespread uptake of open source? >> >> It has lower cost and runs on lot lower hardware requirements. >> > Wake up Josh! > Children love Windows and want MSN, Hotmail, photoalbums on SkyDrive, > Windows live! a.s.o., all free! > With Linux and it's apps, with the funny names, nobody ever heard of, > they will be social outcasts, nerds and totally isolated in school! > < lol ! That should make you scratch your empty head. > You wish ! -- Best Regards: Baron.
From: Rex Ballard on 6 Jul 2010 10:40
On Jul 5, 5:24 pm, DFS <nospam(a)dfs_.com> wrote: > On 7/5/2010 5:21 PM, PeeGee wrote: > > On 05/07/10 21:22, 7 wrote: > >> School budgets cut, but what about making genuine savings with open > >> source? > >>http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jul/05/school-building-progr.... > >> School budgets are being cut in UK, and probably across most of EU and > >> America, > >> so when are we going to see the widespread uptake of open source? > >> It has lower cost and runs on lot lower hardware requirements. I've had several interesting encounters with school boards. Back in 1979, I approach Denver Public Schools with what I thought was an interesting offer. We offered them three Atari 800s for half the price of one Apple. I was immediately told that the school board, elected officials, would have to formally approve such an offer, but that the current policy mandated that the school must purchase ONLY Apple computers, and ONLY from authorized Apple resellers. It turned out that they were paying almost 30% more than we were charging for Apples, but we couldn't sell them the computers because the School board had to vote. The school board had friends who ran apple dealerships, so there was no chance of getting a contract, but they couldn't actually spell that out. I was pulled aside, in the men's room, after my meeting with the procurement people, and given the "facts of life". This assured that it wouldn't be part of the minutes, that there would be no witnesses, and that if I tried to make it an issue, I wouldn't be able to prove anything. I eventually closed a deal with a private school, Accelerated schools, who ended up ordering Atari 800s and Atari 400s, and eventually ordered 85 computers for 4 locations, and 400 students. Every student got a minimum of 2 hours with a computer, and even the first graders were able to do 6th grade math and pass standardized tests - in less than 3 months. In 1996, companies in New York were upgrading from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95. These companies were required to recycle the used machines, but the cost of recycling was about $50 per machine. Many companies left hundreds of PCs in the alleys behind their buildings. Anyone who wanted one could simply pick it up. Since these computers couldn't run Windows 95, I got the idea that it would be nice to put Linux on them, and donate them to public schools in someplace like Jersey City, or Newark. After making several phone calls, and following several leads, I was told that my offer to donate free computers to their school could not be accepted. It seems that the school board had required that all PCs had to be able to run Windows 95. They asked me if I would be willing to donate machines of that type. Since these were corporate machines, they had been wiped of their Windows software, and I would have had to spend about $400 upgrading the hardware, and $100 for Windows and even more for Word. I shared my frustration with a group of people, about 50, in a class I was taking. One of the women worked in the United Nations, for the Mexican Ambassador. She talked to him about these computers. He talked to someone in charge of the Mexico City schools, and a week later, she asked me if I could come up with 100,000 computers. I ended up contacting Red Hat, who contacted Dell, and quickly they set up a program to send the 100,000 computers to Mexico City. Red Hat had a user group in Mexico City, who trained the kids in how to install LInux. Eventually, an NGO was formed, that distributed 10 million PCs per year, to schools in emerging market countries in Africa, India, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Central and South America. Microsoft didn't take much interest, until incomes in the area started going up, and the school boards were now looking to PURCHASE computers, and were asking for computers that would run Linux. A Combs vs Microsoft exhibit shows that Microsoft reps were being told to "Win against Linux at all costs" - even if it meant giving them free copies of Windows just to get Linux out of those schools. > Which "exam boards" do this? A favorite DFS maneuver. In his own posts, he provides no specifics whatsoever, or quotes a blogger that supports his position, with no specifics provided, but then he demands all details, citations, and "irrefutable proof" of anything he disagrees with. > Which tests? There are standardized tests, like the Stanford Achievement tests, but there are also exams like the various state board of regents exams. Unfortunately, Schools are focused on training their students to have the skills that are currently used by the industry. They are NOT particularly interested in training them in skills that would make them MORE productive. For example, no school system teaches the Dvorak keyboard, even though the Sholes (QWERTY) keyboard was PATENTED in part for it's ability to slow down the typist so that the gravity loaded keys wouldn't jam, while the Dvorak keyboard has been used by the Navy because it was proven to make typists faster. ALL Computers can be configured for Dvorak very easily. On Windows, it's Regional & Language settings. It can be configured so that two keys, such as the Left-Alt and Left-Shift keys will toggle between Dvorak and QWERTY keyboards. If course, you have to learn to touch type, if you want to use the Dvorak keyboard. Moving the keys around doesn't make much sense, since your fingers are covering the most frequently used keys (aoeui dhtns). For many years, schools still wouldn't permit the use of calculators, and it was only in your Junior year of high school that you would be permitted to use a slide rule. Today, most kids don't even know what a slide rule is. 40 years ago, schools wanted you to learn how things worked, how to fix them, and the theory behind their operation. If you took auto mechanics, you learned the theory of the car, but you also learned how to overhaul an engine. If you took electronics, you learned the theory of radio, switching, and circuits, and you actually built receivers, transmitters, and switching systems. Today, most high school students know how to use a computer, and the Internet, and cell phones, but they have no clue how these things work. They don't even know the most basic theory behind an Arithmetic Logic Unit, or a memory cell. They don't even know how a hard drive works. Much of this is because Microsoft doesn't WANT them to know. With Linux, they could learn every detail in as much detail as they wanted, but Microsoft wants computers to be black boxes with blinking lights, that ONLY Microsoft knows how to turn into useful devices. The same is true with automobiles. Today, you replace the computer, for thousands of dollars, because nobody knows how to reprogram it. And they don't want you to be able to reprogram it for better milage or alternative fuels. Many cars have become so difficult to repair, and the knowledge to do so so specialized, that even the dealerships can't just hire off the street. We have become so dependent on proprietary technology, that the failure of a company like Microsoft COULD facilitate an economic crisis for many organizations and corporations. Even today, it is not possible to accurately reproduce medical documents, legal documents, and other key personnel documents that could meet the "Dan Rather" test. Remember, Dan Rather published documents on his new show that indicated that George W Bush had been flying a fighter while under the influence of drugs, and had been ordered to see the doctor. Bush was able to evade court martial by admitting he had a problem, seeking treatment, and taking a desk job that kept him out of the pilot seat. Ironically, he wouldn't get to fly a fighter again until he became President. Our total dependence on electronic records, electronic publications, and electronic communications - that don't get properly archived and saved for posterity - means that it's very easy to rewrite history. |