Slashdot Mirror
Windows on an iMac (says the invoice); Red Hat's Alternative
A user writes "According to a story at The Register, schools who want to take advantage of educational bulk licensing agreements with Microsoft have to count all PCs (and Macs!), even those not running Windows." One package of software applies to all installed PCs and Macs, including those running Linux or BSD, so schools end up paying for stations that Windows (and other programs) cannot or do not run on. Microsoft's justification is that the agreement requires an "institution-wide commitment." Coincidentally,
bc90021 points out that "RedHat announced its Linux Pilot Program for schools today. Designed to improve the overall learning experience for children, seven North Carolina school districts have already joined. One county director is quoted as saying: 'With the money we saved from not buying proprietary licenses, the school district purchased additional resources that directly [a]ffected the learning experience of our students and brought us into the 21st century.'"
In the US "Microsoft Schools Agreement 3.0," for example, "100 per cent of all Pentiums, Power Macs, iMacs or better" are specified, whereas the FAQ document for the UK Microsoft School Agreement says "You need to count 100% of all Pentiums, Power Macs and iMacs."
So AMD's are OK? Phew!
The Microsoft agreements provide other software than the OS. Most Mac users use Office and therefore can benefit from an agreement. At the University level, it is most beneficial to have agreements that cover entire campuses. It is too bad Apple has not been as aggressive in the educational markets (like they used to be). Now Apple just has token programs like the iBooks in Maine. Too bad we dont live in Maine. Lets not talk about Star Office for Win32---Yukk. And LInux (believe it or not) does not have serious market penetration...just the way it is.
I'm not excatly sure how legal something like this is and what rights MS has to prosecute if the school simply ignores them and only notes PCs runnning windows?
Don't the schools ever bother to contact their lawyers when faced with something like this? Don't any of these people write to their political representatives over issues like this? I was under the impression that in the US you can sue over something like MS "requiring an institution wide commitment". Isn't that criminal in the US? Since when does MS have the right to require *anything* whatsoever. Isn't this in the legue of charging for services not rendered, or goods not sold?
I am shocked and amazed by the arrogance of that company. I wrote a post asking if someday MS would make it a criminal offence to not have a PC in your house with Windows on it. This does seem very close to that sort of behaviour. I would assume that others would be too because it the future of their children that is at stake.
For kids who want to learn what makes computers tick, sure.
In driver's ed you don't learn to build a car, you learn to drive it. Likewise, in junior high/high school computer class you learn to operate a computer, not program it.
Kids who want to delve into computers further should be able to do so, in specialty courses.
Not to say that the general classes should be Windows. I think you'd have more kids be genuinely excited to use computers if they were Macs, because Mac OS (X) is just such a pleasing, non-intimidating platform.
mark
If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. -- Carl Sagan
I paid $25,000 to your campaign, and I want my $95M in revenues, dammit!"
Ya know, it doesn't suprise me that much that politicians are for sale. But I never cease to be amazed at how low their prices seem to be.
Well, if you use the computer like a TV or a Nintendo, then yeah. And alas most educational software doesn't rise even to that level. But if the computers were used as real data-loggers, real info-miners, and real automation-control units, then those kids would be learning to cope in the world of 2025 (their eventual home) than currently is the case. Computers are way more important for their conditional-logic abilities than for number crunching... and no matter how well the old pen-and-paper has served us in the past, it clearly is not the info tech of the future.
The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach
Does installing WINE on a *nix machine count?
I mean, after all, it provides virtually the same functionality as windows.
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
Windows upgrades $18
Core $15
Office $24
all three of the above $48
SQL server, Visio, FrontPage, Project, Publisher $5 (each)
Vis Studio $2
Looking at their education main page, I believe that this is an annual license fee. However, let's assume you're the head of I.T. for a school district. Do you really think you're going to get a better deal than that for those licenses?
Don't think so. So, you swallow your indignation (if you have any), and buck up...
mmm... yeah... You see, we're putting the cover sheets on all TPS reports now before they go out...
Yes, but is this an essential course for everyone to learn? Will most people need to be able to program compilers in their professional lives, or use Word?
I say have the advanced programming classes. Have good teachers to teach them. But I don't see why even most students would want or need to take them.
mark
If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. -- Carl Sagan
We will soon find out, because the population increases and the amount of teaches decreases.
As the difficulity of the work increases the need for teachers increases.
Dont you think, interactive software would teach a student just as well as a teacher could?????
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
MS brought in the idea of 'training for business'. Instead of just using a word processor to produce a report or essay it became 'necessary' to learn to use computers as a help to later getting a job. This 'meant' that students had to learn what business wanted: Word, Excel, Access.
In other words, replace education with training.
The assumption was made that when the student went looking for a job 6 or 7 years later the MS software will still be what everyone is using.
How will knowing details of Office 2000 or XP be much use with using Office 2009 anyway?