[school-discuss] New strategy

["Marilyn Hagle" <Marilyn.Hagle@gpisd.org>]

Hi all,

I think you are right.  My most recent strategy has been to not even
mention Linux (sounds heretical) but to just stress Open Source
Software.  In our most recent newsletter to our parents I told them
about using The Gimp, Blender3D, and LyX in class . . . and explained
how Open Source Software is the result of collaborating programmers from
all over the world (hope that was accurate enough) and how these
programs are professional grade software.  Then I gave information on
how to download them from the internet.

We are also big OpenOffice fans here, and I will make sure I talk about
that in our next newsletter.

I hope the parents start downloading!!

Marilyn

>>> adelste@netscape.net 12/06/03 12:03 PM >>>
Jeff,

OSSI has a couple of initiatives in the works to acquire hardware for 
schools. One of those could be part of the "No Child Left behind Act". 
I'll write to you off-line since the negotiations are sensitive at the 
moment.



cfiaime@cfiaime.com wrote:
> On Friday 05 December 2003 05:20 pm, Tom Adelstein wrote:
> 
> 
>>OpenOffice 1.1 runs well and it is free as in beer and as in software.
> 
> 
> Greetings Tom,
> 
> In my day job I teach computer science at Concordia University
Wisconsin.  
> Slowly but surely I've been introducing Linux to the campus hierarchy,
and I 
> use it extensively in my courses.  Lets face it, teaching programming 
> languages could get expensive if not for the various open source
compiliers 
> which are available.
> 
> The college of education has discovered OpenOffice in part because of
my 
> prompting.  I've used both StarOffice 5.2 and OpenOffice in class and
agree 
> that it is the only way to go.
> 
> Two weeks ago we had an installfest as part of a hardware class. 
Fifteen 
> students -- not all from the class -- came to eat pizza, drink soda
pop, and 
> install Linux on a goodly number of new and old machines.  They are
spreading 
> the word, too.
> 
> The same hardware class, plus a couple of other students, are helping
me with 
> an LTSP demo for the school district.  We are starting to get a foot
in the 
> door, it just takes time.
> 
> I like your idea of finding the old computer systems that are running
Windows 
> 3.11 or Windows 95 and upgrading the software.  That helps the
organization 
> and each user.
> 
> Thanks for your comments.