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Re: [school-discuss] More: Things teachers like . . .




Marilyn Hagle wrote:
Yes . . . you are right. They allow me to use it in my lab, and I am
thankful for that.
It is a bit more complicated than that . . . I was the tech facilitator
for all elementary schools 10 years ago . . . married my boss - the tech
director & had to become a teacher again (its a Texas thing) . . . husband later became director of purchasing . . . current tech director
probably lets me do Linux stuff because of my husband .. . but I have
always been out there as a threat to the tech administrators I suppose .
. . I try to stay out of their way and be as cooperative as possible. .
. also I have to be a good girl because husband is in central
administration . . . soap opera stuff . . .
Seems immoral to me however that my school district is cutting teachers,
and programs while not considering savings in software. I hope
SB1579(?) comes back to life and makes gov agencies consider all
software options.

**
Enjoyed your article about Open Source. It helped me understand how it
works.

Marilyn
<snip>

Marilyn,

If you're in Texas then I'm surprised that the Director has gone against the DIR's recommendations. One of the things that came out of the work on our bill was this directive:

http://www.dir.state.tx.us/standards/srrpub09.htm


Executive Summary
The United States, European Commission, and other nations have started addressing the use of Open Source solutions in public sector and e-government applications. Many of the applications used in government could be obtained and improved using the Open Source model (e.g., registration, licensing, certification, permitting). This should support purchasing best value solutions and removing the reliance on an individual information technology vendor.

Agencies should consider Open Source solutions in information technology procurements, and the criteria for selecting a specific solution should be based on best value. Agencies should use products that support open standards and specifications in all applications. Agencies should consider obtaining full rights to the software code it procures wherever this achieves best value.

Also, we have this one:

SRRPUB09-OSS
Open Source Solutions and Resources

http://www.dir.state.tx.us/standards/srrpub09-oss.htm

Even though we have some directives, I still would recommend that you refrain from making this an issue at work. Others have in Texas and got worse than a threat.

I promise, however, that SB 1579 has not gone away and that our legislative sponsors will be on a crusade this year.

You'll also see some changes that your director can't ignore.

That's all I can say. Except, Sam Hiser has a great interview with the Vice Chairman of Novell:

http://consultingtimes.com/chris_stone.html

Cheers!

Tom