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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.'"
unfortunately not. they covered that under "or better"
But really, what educational software is available for Linux?
squeak, gcc, perl, emacs, apache etc. etc. ad nauseum.
Or maybe you are talking about babysitting programs marketed as "educational". Nobody needs that.
On the third hand, Microsoft did work to repeatedly break the law to prevent consumers from having any real alternatives. I feel they should be compensated.
Why do you have a distaste for paying Microsoft for Windows whether you want it or not? After all, they should be compensated. Right?
I sure hope that australian offices move to Linux too when your students graduate.. Otherwise they'll be A BIT confused when they run across with another operating system (windows).