Re: [school-discuss] Microsoft and the State

[Jordan Erickson <jerickson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Joel Kahn wrote:
*snip*
> I hope the point is obvious by now, but I'll
> summarize it just to make sure: Microsoft
> has established official relationships with
> a growing number of state governments,
> creating the impression that Microsoft's
> products have become in effect synonymous
> with technology training for unemployed
> workers--or so Microsoft obviously hopes. I
> have seen no evidence so far that any other
> entity--public or private--has even come
> close to acquiring this kind of formal state
> endorsement in the employment arena.
> 
> Now I will ask some specific questions:
> 
> 1. Is there any state, anywhere in the US,
> in which, when a person walks into that
> state's version of a government-run career
> center, that person will see info about a
> FLOSS-based program aimed at accomplishing
> substantially the same goals as Elevate
> America, but in a FLOSS context?

I would have to guess not, just as there is no Apple context. Microsoft
is big enough to be able to do this, as a company.


> 2. If this kind of FLOSS equivalent to
> Elevate America does not yet exist, is such
> a project under development in any state(s),
> with the kind of governmental support that
> Microsoft has been able to achieve?

I'm sure there are many scattered initiatives, not specifically for
unemployment training but for everything technology - education, govt.
training, etc..


> 3. If such a FLOSS program doesn't exist
> and it isn't on the way, what are the
> prospects for starting one?

You're talking about a national initiative here, which brings along
politics, funding, and a hell of a lot of elbow grease!


> I hope that members of this list will make
> their best attempts at answering these
> specific questions. I further hope that
> there will be discussion of these issues,
> eventually leading to the production of
> materials that we can show to our elected
> public servants. I'm envisioning a web site
> containing a relevant summary of what has
> and has not happened yet; a thorough and
> balanced analysis of both the benefits and
> risks of the current situation; and a
> good clear description of why legislators
> at all levels should look closely at FLOSS
> in this context--all written in language
> that those legislators can understand and
> effectively work from. Then we ground troops
> of FLOSS can start sending the URL of this
> site to city halls, state capitols, and DC.
> 
> It looks to me like there is a whole lot
> of work to be done. I'm certainly not
> qualified to be the main person in this,
> but I'll contribute what I can. How about
> the rest of you folks?

I would be interested in helping. Here's my first nugget of help,
actually. A quote we can use, "Proprietary software is profit driven
software. Open source is people driven software."

I'm actually involved in a proposal to provide a government funded,
volunteer driven open source network initiative for low income, high
density school districts. I know very little about what's going on right
now (still in the proposal stage) but maybe at least mentioning it here
can be a starter for people to get ideas from for this specific initiative.

We should remember that F/OSS hasn't come to where it is today by
marketing and shoving it in peoples' faces... it's about communities
helping for the sake of helping, to benefit everyone involved. We should
keep that in mind - that's something M$^HS (oops!) can never be.

- Jordan