Re: [school-discuss] Answering Rasjid

[Simon Scott <sscott@iinet.net.au>]

On Sat, 6 Dec 2003 01:05, Víctor Nuño wrote:
> I'm afraid that this situation is similar, here, where I live, in Spain.
> There's a big Open Source movement right now, in schools. But I've
> recently read that because of some kind of power or political struggle,
> these linux distributions (based on Debian) come with almost no
> programs, so finally both teachers and pupils try to get to a Windows
> computer.

It is the same in the corporate world. I work for a large superannuation 
company that is committed to spending 7 figures on a change control system 
which amounts to little more than a bad gui frontend on a proprietary CVS 
equivalent. The word 'insanity' springs to mind, but there is nothing I can 
do about it. Technical direction is decided by upper management, most of whom 
probably use their computers to play solitaire.

The battle in the schools, however, is so much more important. Giving the kids 
a broad exposure to technology, including windows *and* linux, gives them 
more problem solving tools and ultimately this means the kids grow up to be 
better decision makers (about technology anyway :). Choose the most 
appropriate tool for the job is the message of the day.