Promoting Open Source in Schools

[Marc Lijour]

On Friday 16 December 2005 20:59, William Park wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 16, 2005 at 07:16:08PM -0500, Marc Lijour wrote:
> > On Friday 16 December 2005 17:58, William Park wrote:
> > > On Fri, Dec 16, 2005 at 07:40:38PM +0000, paul sutton wrote:
> > > > Hi
> > > >
> > > > I was wondering if anyone in the Toronto area. has been involved in
> > > > getting open source into schools and if they could share their
> > > > experience.  In the Uk I have just joined with some of the more local
> > > > linux users to promote Linux in torbay, partly as we live locally so
> > > > it's much easier to do things on a local level,  the rest of the DC
> > > > lug are spread over quite a big distance (Well in Uk terms anyway), 
> > > > I think in the uk no one is more than about 75 miles from the coast.
> > > >
> > > > As i am planning to be in the Toronto area about End of April / May I
> > > > will hopefully be able to take part in group meetings, and possibly
> > > > projects,  even though I am also going to be looking for work
> > > > initially,
> > >
> > > It will likely be waste of time.  Not sure how UK schools are funded,
> > > but here Ontario Gov funds the school.  Tough sell to begin with. 
> > > Then, you have to deal with IT staffs at Ministry of Education, various
> > > school boards, and then teachers/secretary.  None will welcome Linux,
> > > because Linux threatens their job security.
> >
> > Please allow some exception there ;-)
> >
> > > And, you can't fire those people
> > > who refuses to learn Linux.
>
> Okey, except one that I know of. :-)
>
> But, in all honesty, thin-client alone will eliminate 90% of IT cost,
> because it eliminates desktops altogether and all associated cost like
> payroll of sysadmin, maintenance, upgrade, configuration, etc.  I have
> better chance of making my living as porn stud, than as Linux salesman.
>
> I'm just awed by Microsoft's prowse in all this.  When they say Linux is
> job killer, they are right on.  While we Linux amateurs talk about
> technical merits of Linux, Microsoft talks directly to the decision
> makers and IT staffs.

Exactly.

It would be nice to have a model school (with the help of some visionaries), 
and then get the experience up to the media showcasing extraordinary 
activities to get the attention..
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