Slashdot Mirror
All schools In Denmark switching to Linux
Someone who can read Danish writes "According to this story
(in Danish) Denmark has taken the first steps to start using Linux and Staroffice in all schools (1.1 million students).
Sun has agreed to provide Staroffice for free, or on
a CD-ROM for 10 Danish crowns ($1.5)."
That's absurd! There aren't even that many kings in Denmark!
I can only speak COBOL, and that badly. I don't even know what danish is. Is it like VB?
Sensibility wins out over pig ignorance. Expect the trend to continue.
I work as a Network Engineer in a state-run university in Pennsylvania. The new Microsoft lisence terms (a.k.a. software rental)are beginning to cause major worry in a 2500-plus seat environment where old versions running on ancient comptuers allow us to get by. The concept of moving to a StarOffice or other productivity suit us now (an a year ago unthinkable) being seriously considered.
Ryan Dorman, CCNA Network Communications Specialist Millersville Univesrity
Time for Gates to say "there's something rotten in Denmark" and get on the plane.
Dutch Treat?
- - - If the sun is a star, why can't I see it at night?
how come these articles never seem to have any follow-up? do they stay with linux or give up after a year?
but as the US has consistently proved in the past decade and still not caught on to is that they're not the center of the universe. The loss of Microsoft's power will not be starting in the States, but rather in the countries with the good of the nation rather than the economy on their minds. UNIX has been a staple of Computer Science since the 70s (pre-70s i'd be hard pressed to consider anything on the frontier known as computers as a staple), and IMHO has a good number of decades left in it.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
. (forgot period)
The article speaks mostly about Sun's StarOffice and how students will be offered it, not that every school will switch to Linux...
I'll leave translation to someone who has stronger danish skills than me though.
Wax-Museum Fire Results In Hundreds Of New Danny DeVito Statues
I've started to question the authenticity of some slashdot stories recently, especially after things like this. If the editors don't read stories posted in our own language... Anyone out there want to verify this?
Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!
Just out of curiosity, what's the point of reading any comments about this article? Exactly how many Danes post to slashdot?
Isn't this what Microsoft has been repeatedly accused of? They the first hit free, get them addicted, and tie them into the costly upgrade path. While I like seeing more people using Linux and Open Source software in general (not the smallest reason being that, as a contributor of (small) projects to the community, I feel like a part of everyone's work is making it out there to the masses), I wonder if Sun intends to some day change its mind about OSS/FS when StarOffice has become ubiquitous.
A solution to the problem with music today
I neither agree or disagree with that statement. But Microsoft sure does dominans the hot gritz.
Sex - Find It
Well I can't read Danish (or speak either), but I don't think the article mentioned what distribution was choosen and why. It would be interesting to know. At least to me.
"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
yes i do
i may have bigger for you.
bigger? my, my...
A quick and dirty translation of most of it. Denmarks 1,1 million school students and teachers can now turn their back to Micosoft. At least when it comes to office programs. A deal between UNI-C and Sun enables students and teachers to download StarOffice 6 from Sun and install it on their home computer. They can also buy a CD-ROM version for 1.3$ pr. CD-ROM. Sun has made the deal with UNI-C according to the guidelines made by the minister of education made public, regarding hos educational institutions should act when they are offered free office programs. Among the demands are that such program donations should be without expences for the goverment and that UNI-c, Denmarks IT-Center for research and educations must administer the distributions of licenses. UNI-C gets it's expences covered via the 1.3$, the price of distribution. Sun provides a server computer with the free Linux OS for the students and teacher that wishes to download StarOffice...
--
Why do people post here who don't like linux?
I mean, this is a nerd site, primarily devoted to linux and other geek things.
This comment:
"Not everyone wants to be losers like you slashdot!"
This would mean then, that you are a loser, for posting on slashdot. Idiot.
Free software for school use
By Keld Louie Pedersen
Denmark's 1.1 million students and teachers can now turn their backs to Microsoft corporation. At least when it comes to office software.
A deal between the Silicon Valley company Sun Microsystems Incorporated and UNI-C means that the country's students and teachers can download the office program StarOffice 6.0 from Sun at no cost and freely install it on their home computer. Alternately, they can buy it on CD-ROM at cost, 10 kroners per CD. The schools can buy StarOFfice in packages of 50.
Sun has made the deal with UNI-C according to the guidelines announced by education minister Ulla Toernaes (Left Party) on October 30th, on how educational institutions should act when offered free office software. Amongst the requirements are that such software donations are without cost for the state, and that UNI-C Denmark's information technology center should be responsible for distributing licenses.
UNI-C's expenses are covered by the 10 kroner the distribution of CD-ROMs brings. Sun makes a server with the free Linux operating system available for those students and teachers who want to download StarOffice 6.0.
"UNI-C exists to help the Danish educational world, so we're naturally very pleased to be able to distribute this type of initiative from Sun", says Dorte Olesen, director of UNI-C.
The world's undisputedly most wide-spread office system is Microsoft Office, although this does not exist in a version that can be used on computers with Linux as the operating system.
Because of Microsoft's dominance in both office and operating systems, several government institutions are working on creating alternatives, primarily the combination of Linux and StarOffice.
If all 1.1 million students and teachers make use of the offer, the total value will, according to Sun Microsystems, be around 200 million kroners.
--Joakim Ziegler
The GPL firmly kills any chances of a bait and switch. If SUN tried to tighten the screws they could switch to open office...
Got Code?
All schools in Denmark? HUGE HUGE Win for Open Source and Linux.
The support costs alone from the 1 million or so students will make sure Redhat stays profitable for a really long time.
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
Anyone interested in doing something along these lines, and avoiding M$'s protection racket ("y'know, for a few dollars a year per station, I could make sure that you don't get hassled by software license audits"), should check out k12ltsp.org. With corporate donation programs starting to pass along some decent hardware to schools, a kick-ass lab can be had for just the cost of the networking infrastructure.
Even heroes have the right to dream
Denmark must have made the move simply to save money because in this day and age it makes no sense to teach on anything but a Windows system unless the class is specifically geared to teach something else like working in a Unix environment. As much as I support Linux and as much as I don't like Microsoft's grip on the OS market, Windows is still the standard. It makes a lot more educational sense to be teaching people Windows instead of Linux.
Gotta say I can't bring myself to support this move at all.
...mmmmm...danish...
Its because people don't bother to report on people switching to Windows, it's a given fact that you were probably running Windows to begin with.
Now there has been stories where places have switched to back TO Windows on slashdot before. I recall one from last year.
Free means no restrictions, ironic the FSF's GPL forces restrictions, isn't it? What's your definition of free?
& for many years they've been switching to Windows more 'n more.
Sun is making StarOffice available free for Danish schools--that's pretty much all the story is. Not really news since Sun has been promoting StarOffice pretty widely. The schools are under no obligation to use StarOffice, and it sounds like there is no Linux involved at all (except the server from which you can download StarOffice)--it might all be StarOffice for Windows that is being talked about here.
An agreement between silicon Valley based Sun Microsystems and UNI-C has resulted in a free available download of office suite 6.0 for all school pupils, teaches and students in general.
Alternatively they can buy the program at cost , 10kr per unit. Schools can buy them in quantities of 50.
Sun has made and agreement with UNI-C following the guidelines, that Secretary of Education Ulla Tørnæs (Liberal Party) published on October 30'th, for how educational institutions heeds to act when offered free office suites. One of the requirement is that like offerings impose no cost on the government and the UNI-C IT-Center for research and Education handles the distribution. UNI-C covers its cost thru the 10kr charge for the physical CD-Rom. Sun provides a server with the free Linux OS installed for the students and the teachers that wishes to download StarOffice 6.0.. UNI-C mission in life is to help the Danish educational area, so we are delighted to act as a go between for such an offering from Sun, states Dorte Olesen, Managing Director. for UNI-C.
The worlds undisputed leader in office systems is Microsoft's Office, that does exist in a version that runs on the Linux OS.
Due to Microsoft's dominant position of the Office productivity domain as well as the underlying OS is causing more and more public institutions to seek out alternatives. Primary the combination Linux and StarOffice.
If all 1.1 million students , teachers uses the offering the combined value of the gift from Sun Microsystems will be around 200 million kroner.
Help fight continental drift.
"Sun has agreed to provide Staroffice for free, or on a CD-ROM for 10 Danish crowns ($1.5)."
Wow...1.1 million kids are going to have to share one CD-Rom? Anybody have a couple hundred CD-R drives ready?
In a stunning speech a few hours ago, President George Bush declared Denmark a "den of malcontents and terrorists". And announcing to the UN in an emergency security session the need to: "bomb the hell out of them" for obvious stockpiling weapons of mass destruction and denying their people American software, goods and services.
Denmark, whose main exports include those silly little wooden shoes and tulips, was unavailable for comment.
In other news, Microsoft led a resounding stock rally.
For free software to skolebrug From KELD LOUIE PEDERSEN Denmark 11, millions skoleelever , students and teachers can be actually turn Microsoft Corporation the back. At least at a pinch kontorprogrammer. A agreement between Silicon Valley - the activity Sun Micrososystems Inc and UNI C implies , that country skoleelever , students and teachers for free can be downloads kontorprogrammet StarOffice 60 from Sun and freely put in that at their hjemmecomputer. Alternatively can be they purchase that at a CD ROM to absolute cost price : kr. a piece The schools can be purchase StarOffice to boxes à 50 piece. Sun has making the agreement by UNI C after they guideline , that undervisningsminister Ulla Tørnæs V ) published the 30. october by , how uddannelsesinstitutioner shall relationships themselves , catching they become quotation for free kontorprogrammer. Amid the demands is , that such softwaredonationer is all expenses paid by the commonwealth , and that UNI C Denmark IT - center by research and degree shall stand by the distribution from licenses. UNI C gets his spending overlayed via they kr , that the distribution from CD - Roman producing. Sun sets a servercomputer by that for free Linux oprativsystem at the disposal of they skoleelever , students and teachers , there hope that downloads StarOffice 60. UNI C is why to to be of use the danish uddannelsesverden , so vi is naturally pleased to could morning a such specifically initiative from Sun , says Dorte Olesen adm. dir by UNI C. Universe unconditionally best widespread kontorsystem is Microsoft Officer , there however no exist to a version , so that applies to the computer by Linux that executive program. On account of Microsofts dominans in såvel bureau - that the executive program works settled several public authorities at that give rise to alternatives primary the combination Linux and StarOffice. Of which all 11, millions skoleelever , students and teachers using themselves from the quotation , bishop the collected asset according to Sun Microsystems up to ca. 200 millions features. louiedk@jpdk
You tried your best, & you failed miserably,
The lesson is:
Never Try
Ah my friend, you are a perfect example of what the grandfather post is humourously addressing. Get out, get a sense of humour.
Actually it doesn't say that any schools are switching to linux at all. Just that schools are being offered free copies of StarOffice from Sun. End of story.
There are all sorts of reasons to use Linux in schools. One being the Thin client model found at K 12 Linux.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
..I mean we all know that Sun is a little bit evil too :0)
All up though: "Skide godt egon!"
This is something that needs to happen on a larger scale here in the U.S. If Sun were smart, they'd provide obscenely cheap and even easier to install distributions for schools, churches, charities and students. Not that its not already out there - but I'm talking about some slick ad campaigns, seminars, tutorials and all sorts of stuff that would encourage the non /.'r to get out there and get it installed.
Yeah, Apple has been trying to do this for years with their education program. Then again, they're not offering obscenely cheap software that is easy to install on donated Pentium III's.
healyourchurchwebsite.com - WWJB?
it is!!
Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. it's the only thing that ever has.
Apparently Hemos didn't read or understand anything in the article except what the submitter posted.
..., submit it to Slashdot saying "This article (in Mongolian) says that every computer user in Mongolia is being mandated to switch to Linux and OpenOffice. Microsoft has, of course, tried to prevent this, but we told them to get lost." And it would be accepted!!!??? And THAT is journalism????
So I could put up a website, fill it with something like...
"l;jq fodsu alfjkls ahjrlah jkslfas Linux l arl4kj ajksdhflkjsah j afsfgd af hsfd Linux kjhwrjk wajklsf hdlsahf OpenOffice lahlkjfkajfd wahekhj ahi ghksafhjd ufw gjsakgf hjdsssag hj gfeyuigza67 ghuc gje4 g2hjg Linux. Dwkhj fdoisads Microsoft lskjfskjha rekjh kwsjkh kjs hjkshkj kjd."
The article is only talking about _offering_ CDs. What percentage of them will be accepting the CD and will switch?
If AOL offers a CD, is 100% switching?
Stupid!
It does not mention anything about schools switching to Linux.
a ^= b; b ^= a; a ^= b;
The article was written in Danish, guy. The "you didn't even read the article" thing doesn't work here, considering that only a minute per-cent of Slashdotters understand Danish. Perhaps this person is one of the majority.
While Apple is certainly having a nice product in their hands, they often are too pushy with their adds, and have the tendency to skew the facts...
:-)!
On the other hand, while Linux OS certainly has its own share of FUD zealotry, this kind of thing certainly brings a smile to my face:
1.1+ Million switchers in one day, try to beat that
P.S. For Apple zealots out there... you may insert your fav flame below this line:
Don't get me wrong the LTSP stuff is great but to hard to manage in my experience. If you wish to deploy the linux desktop load a bare minimum install to the client (yes that means you need a drive in the machine). Use a redhat kickstart to install the clients. The kickstart install should replace the inittab with one pointing x windows at your terminal server. Most all refurb and currently installed clients have drives anyhow. Now on the server the only thing to do is turn on XDM and you have a full up system
LTSP requires a ton of configuration and requires boot rom's and nfs to mount root drives. This is to many pieces and parts to fail. I run hundred's of clients in this fashion and it requires darn near 0 effort to maintain by the sysadmin.
Got Code?
but it's nice to know I can still count on a good old microsoft ad right there in the comment section. :)
If ony something like this were to happen here in Slovenia, where schools seem to be owned by Microsoft.
Even people graduating from CS hardly konw Linux even exists. And those who do, usually drop out of college during first 2 years. That's what I did...
Riiiiight....not the center of the universe...please name a country that has been worried over, fought over, looked to for, etc since 1950. You can't. I'm not saying that trends don't start elseware, and that this _isn't_ a signifigant tbing for Linux vs. M$, its just that in the battle for acceptance over M$, it has to be the current leader (U.S.) or no one else to lead the charge. Steps like these, however, will certainly inspire others inside the "keep of the evil giant". GO Denmark!
What a sensationalistic headline! Look, I don't read ONE FREAKIN' WORD of whatever language this is, but I can tell by the first paragraph that this is about Sun StarOffice and not linux:
En aftale mellem Silicon Valley-virksomheden Sun Micrososystems Incorporated og UNI-C indebærer, at landets skoleelever, studerende og lærere gratis kan downloade kontorprogrammet StarOffice 6.0 fra Sun og frit installere det på deres hjemmecomputer. Alternativt kan de købe det på en CD-ROM til ren kostpris: 10 kr. pr. styk. Skolerne kan købe StarOffice i pakker à 50 styk.
Looks to me like Sun is letting them download gratis or buy on CD for 10 KR. Something about pack of 50. No mention of Linux till later.
Really editors, can't you just LOOK at the article for a second, just out of idle curiosity?
(/me searches for articles in Chinese that have the word "Linux" so I can submit them under the title "China Bans Windows, Gives Every Citizen Linux Computer")
zcat mountain_dew.gz | nose > /dev/kbd
Look, I work at a school that has converted itself to Open/Staroffice. I just love the way some people assume that no one can change the way they do things anymore or that if they have to, there must be a financial reason behind it. If the past is any indication of the future - there's a hell of a lot more change coming.
Case in point: One of the arguments made against using Open/StarOffice here was this very thing - that everyone would have to learn something new. A few of the teachers were concerned about our conversion to Open/StarOffice; this was my basic response:
1) Yep. That's what we do - we learn new things here at school. You expect the students to learn new things. Well, once in a while, the teachers must adjust also.
2) This is hardly the first time (and probably won't be the last time) that we have changed office-type software. As I had only been at the school one year prior to this, I did some checking.
Before using Office 97, they were using 95. Before that, some were using Word for DOS, some Works. Before that, Wordperfect. Before that, XYwrite and Visicalc. Etc. Change is inevitable.
The big difference here is that there's a lot more in common between Open/StarOffice and MS Office than MS Office and say, the Wordperfect suite. Sometimes, I think that people that slam on the usability and 'retraining' costs, haven't bothered TRYING it themselves! It's not that hard folks, really.
3) Standardizing on Open/StarOffice lets us give a FREE copy of Openoffice.org to every student, every teacher, every parent (should they want it). Truly a win/win situation here! No more BS with students showing up with a paper they typed at home and not being able to open it at school.
4) Which teacher would like to give up his/her position to enable us to afford licensing for Office XP (yes, I was serious!)
For us. the REAL question was - can the replacement software do EVERYTHING the last one could - at least for what we use it for? For the teachers and students the answer was a definate 'yes'.
I won't even get into the biggest advantage of all. Being able to use a cross-platform office suite means having the ability to GO cross-platform at some future date. Whether we do or not will depend on Microsoft.
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
Don't make me photon you and mine your sector.
Penn State and Pitt are "semi-private" Commonwealth affiliated institutions. They get interesting tax status, charge in-state students less, and get some Commonwealth funding.
Then there are the more traditional state colleges: Lock Haven, IUP, Shippensburg(??), etc.
that's some of the dumbest FUD I've heard in a long time. Germany's bundestag switched, brazil certainly loves the penguin, and denmark switched their schools. So where do you get off saying that the US is the only way to get things to change? Just because the US was the leader in the 1950-2000 era certainly does not mean that the change won't come from abroad. It's that kind of ignorance and defeatism that hinders the progress and adoption of the OSS community.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
Hey, I know the answer to Hamlet's question!
Using C syntax, for any value of to_be:
int ans = to_be | ~to_be;
Clearly, this will always be -1.
I suggest that everyone intrested in alternate office suites check out OpenOffice which is like StarOffice without the fat. I have used MS Office products for the last 8 years almost exclusively and I can honestly say that OpenOffice is ready for the needs 99%+ of MS Office users. I am already using features in OpenOffice like Cross-Referencing and automated indexing that I never figured out in Word (if they exist, which they probably do.)
I started my first real project with it 2 days ago (which is documentation for a program I wrote) and everything is moving quite smoothly.
Overall, it is both Free and highly recommended by me. If you want to ditch office please look at OpenOffice!
The obligatory:
4. ???
5. Profit!
Sorry, I had to...
Are they switching for any reason besides the fact that it's free? If MS went to Denmark and agreed to give them as many licenses as they needed also for free, would they bother switching? Does the government there intend to direct its resources in any amount towards contributing OSS to the community? Will the students learn about Linux and OSS, or will they just use it? If my friend Bob decides to switch to Linux and I submit it as a /. story, will you print it, too?
Hi,
I'm from Denmark, I can read the article, so I figured I'd clear up a few things:
An entity, which is called UNI-C, has reached an agreement with Sun Microsystems about distribution of their StarOffice package. Schools, teachers and students will be able to get the software for free if they download it (from a linux server, running on the danish school network known as Sektornet) or for a fee of ~ $1.50 on a CD.
UNI-C is a semigovermental entity, that does networking for the public school system and the universities, hosts the DIX (Danish Internet eXchange) and things like that. Danish law says, that for a public school to accept free software, the software must be of no expense to the state, and its ditribution must be handled by UNI-C.
So, in conclusion, no, every school in Denmark is not switching to Linux. They may switch to StarOffice, on some platform.
But hey, it's a step in the right direction...
Oh, and merry x-mas everyone.
Bo
If you're going to start every fucking comment with "Riiiiight...", at least spell it correctly. Nobody's interested in your weak attempt to impart intonation. Not to mention your ignorant view of how the world works.
Fucker.
Linux switches to all schools in Denmark!
We haven't slashdotted the server? :(
Nope still running. DAMN, this could start a new trend. Just because it is in Danisch.
It's people like you that keep people like Ashcroft and Dubyah in power.
In a full press release made available shortly after President Bush's recent speech attacking Denmark, the Administration outlined suspicions linking the Lego Corporation of Denmark to Al Quaida and the attack on the World Trade Centre.
Apparently, the attack was planned using a 43,000 lego brick scale model of the two towers. The Administration suspects direct involvement by Lego Corporation's scaled modelling experts and has now declared Lego products a Weapon of Mass (Modelling) Destruction. The Administration is now compiling a list of all people who have made substantial Lego purchases in the last few week and will be immediately calling them in for questioning and possible detention over the next few days.
Here is a follow-up on Linux, which Slashdot published:
Largo Loving Linux
One year later, the city of Largo is still happy with their decision to switch to Linux.
Not only that, but Largo has found that their overall IT costs have shrunk by one-half to two-thirds, compared to similar cities:
> Harold A. Schomaker, IT Manager/CIO for the City of Largo, says Largo spends a total of 1.3% of its gross budget on IT. This includes hardware, software, salaries, and incidental expenses. He says the typical small city spends over 3% of its budget on IT, with some approaching 4%. "Between 3% and 4% is about right," he says, "with most closer to 3%."
I'm Danish, and have just read the article. It doesn't say that all schools will be making the switch to Linux.
It just says that Sun is offering StarOffice for free to all schools and their students.
Which basically means, that maybe a few percent of them will run StarOffice on Windows, but I seriously doubt that a significant percentage will be switching to Linux.
Besides, this is about business not politics. And Europe alone is a much bigger market than the US. And then we're not even talking about India. Billy didn't go there for fun.
-- Cheers!
While individuals and small installations may go back to Windows, I suspect that for most large installations, the cost advantages and reliability of Linux are so compelling that they tend to stay with it.
Sun has offered FREE licenses of Star Office for every student/teacher in all danish schools. It can be downloaded for free, or they can buy a cd for about $1.5.
Mind you these are windows versions we are talking about. No mention of Linux anywhere.
Denmark is flirting with Linux but so far nothing solid has materialized. Time will tell I suppose.
More info about Uni-C (in English):
http://www.uni-c.dk/generelt/english/index.html
- Peter Brodersen; professional nerd
Years ago, the Pennsylvania Deutsch
were similarly renamed Pa. Dutch...
Go figure!
That you don't understand any language besides english?
3 GM plants that were closed earlier this year are RIGHT NOW manufacturing tanks, hummers, and military parts for the last few months.
It doesn't matter if Iraq is telling the truth. Bush already has the war marked on his calender.
I don't think this is true exactly. Sun is the copyright holder, they can distribute the software on any terms that they wish. I think that's why they can link Open-office with closed-source libraries like the template code and other extras and sell it as StarOffice.
It's only fair though. Sun bought the star-office code for a lot of money and released it GPL. They didn't have to do that, but they did. They also put quite a few developers and other resources into managing the resulting open-office.
Just as with Mozilla and AOL, I'm sure a large part of the work going into open office today is still on Suns dime.
If Sun wanted to tighten the screws as you said, all they'd have to do is remove some of the developers that they have on OO and put them on StarOffice only code; although I don't think they have any reason to do that.
Based on upvotes, Ageism is the only "-ism" Slashdotters care about and think isn't SJW
Danish is a small and amusing language, hard to learn if were not forced from birth.
// Jens M Andreasen
Now, what was your question again?
mvh
send + more == money?
Do you realize that your answer to the parent post does little more than strengthen the first point that the parent post made?
As to the remainder of your post, Linux and other open sourced software is steadily gaining momentum in many establishments in many countries outside of America. There is no need for a 'charge' as you put it. The current 'steady progression' will prevail quite nicely.
Slightly OT, but I sometimes wonder if Americans (USA) realize just how many people outside of their country look to America (USA) with a growing distaste. Oops, mod -1 unamerikan.
> Huh? Where is the connection between Redhat and StarOffice?
You're not thinking very hard.
Once the schools are no longer dependent on MS Office, then they are no longer tied to Windows.
So why would they keep shelling out money to Microsoft for Windows, when Linux can do the same thing for free?
The move to Linux is an obvious next step.
The attack and the reasons leading to it have to be plausible. Even if it is "cheap oil" and "make money by capturing oil sources" it has to be hidden so that such reasons are not too obvious.
Without plausibility there is a risk of the general population of the US actually starting to see what the politics of their country is. Do you think the people running the show in the US want to risk a revolt by the general population?
Ever since adopting Linux at my business, I've been able to fire 95% of my IT staff. It's so stable, the computers never crash anymore. That means no downtime for my workers, 100% of their time is focused on making me money. And with no licensing to pay for, even more money goes into the bottom line. All the software we use is free, and my one remaining IT guy spends all of his time looking for new software for us to use. To give him a break, I have him detail my Mercedes once in a while. He has no choice, there are 19 laid off IT guys ready to snap up his job if he gets lackadsaisical. I don't even have to hire programmers, there are thousands of OSS adherents just aching to write something to "stick it to Gates". All I have to do is mention some hoary line about "damn proprietary software licensing taxes", and I have people ready to take bullets for me. Since Linux is so efficient, it will run on lesser computers. That means I can delay hardware purchases even more. Since the IT part of my business is so low maintenance, I'm thinking of moving my entire business to India. My costs total costs should dwindle to practically nothing.
Linux is great. I'm laughing all the way to the bank.
Microsoft Works is not an abortion, it's an oxymoron
Like 'Taped live', 'Military Intelligence', 'Tax Return' or 'Government Organisation'
OXYMORON n.: A rhetorical figure in which an epigrammatic effect is created by the conjunction of incongruous or contradictory terms
More oxymorons here and here (and I'm sure you can search google for more.
P.S. Could someone please explain what 'Commonwealth affiliated' means in one of the replies above, for the benefit of us UK folk, to whom 'Commonwealth' means something probably quite different.
"but as the US has consistently proved in the past decade and still not caught on to is that they're not the center of the universe."
Get out of town.
My God this is hugh!
So what is this Line X you speak of?
I guess this post must've been written in COBOL, and that would mean that I too can speak COBOL. It looks pretty much like plain english, isn't it hard to write en unambigous compiler for something like this?
Of course I might be wrong, AND stupid...
Enig? Det alt for hot det smor!
They are indoctrinated from birth, look at some of the jingoistic books they read in primary school. The media covers indoctrination outside school and so Its little wonder they turn out like they do.
Nothings good unless its american, nothings real unless it happens in america, people arent important unless they are americans (of an accepted religion) and so on..
It seems every little linux convert story gets posted here. Whats the big deal. People act like its some big deal that people can actually run linux. Its not that bad of an OS... People do use it...
I heard that a Slovenian company called Planika
is looking to hire one person with Linux skills.
"Sun has agreed to provide Staroffice for free, or on a CD-ROM for 10 Danish crowns ($1.5)."
And how, exactly, is this dumping any different than the tactics Microsoft uses?
It points out both that MS Office doesn't run on Linux (why would it be relevant that StarOffice runs on Linux unless they're considering moving to Linux?)
And in the next paragraph it says that several public institutions are working to move from MS products (Windows/Office), primarily to Linux/StarOffice.
What it all leads up to is that this application is ready to move to Linux. Of course that doesn't mean that other software might hold them back on Windows.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Slashdot.
Oil is expensive, but not nearly as expensive as the cost of invasion. Or war. Saving several million, or even several hundred million, doesn't stand up to the billions of greenbacks that a war with Iraq would require.
A stupid move on Bush's part? Yes. Done for shady reasons with crappy motivations? Yes. Are oil prices part of that motivation? Not really.
The US doesn't get that much of its oil from Iraq. It's not like there aren't other members of OPEC willing to sell to us. Or Texas, for that matter.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
In this context, the term refers back to language first used in the charter given to William Penn that the King of England signed off on in 1732.
I believe Massachusetts and Virginia also formally style themselves as commomwealths. There may be others.
give me a
The thinking is a bit outdated and backwards. So many district levels are clueless ppl that they tend to depend on 1 person (normally a MS type person) to tell them how to do things. The trick is to teach the MS type how to do Linux and to keep it below the radar of MS itself.
Right now, I am helping a school district install SquidGuard on a used box to deal with cida. My next step will be to build a box for he office that has hylafax, sane, and cups for the office. I have told them about GIMP for MS/Mac and FilmGIMP. I have been talking to them about using diskless work stations and will show them shortly.
Sadly, the admin who has a clue tried to get them to use OpenOffice to save some money, but they talked to a MS person and decided to use MS Office. Considering that we (Colorado) are in a major recession and spiralling downwards, they did not need this expense.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Microsoft may have a strong foothold in the US
So does McD!
...Dane. Will this make you mark me Redundant?
So if your country's name is Netherlands, why are all of the exports from your country labeled "Made in Holland"?
Seems like you would refer to yourselves the way you wish to be called, eh?
You're not a Limburger by any chance, are you?
I've visited areas of The Netherlands where folks were quick to point out the fact you just mentioned, and objected loudly to the whole country being referred to as Holland. So why is it that every single souvenier I have ever seen from your country is labeled "Made in Holland"? Once your country reaches a concensus on what to call itself, then you have my permission to go around evangalizing others on the topic.
And by the way, others might have known what to call your country if it had been identified in the World Cup earlier this year. Oops!
Sincerely,
Randy Oostdyk
And what's wrong with 30+ year old technology? Why the hell are we using "DVD"s when we should be using videotapes?? CD's? Screw that. I want records. Anti-lock brakes and fuel injectors in cars? No way. I want 2 drum brakes and a carbureator. What's with this "progress" thing, anyway? Computers shouldn't be any easier to use. They should be just as difficult as they were in the 1970's. After all, that's what technology is all about. Not changing. Not progressing. Now damn it, where's my reel to reel tape drive and my 300 baud modem?
Slightly OT, but I sometimes wonder if Americans (USA) realize just how many people outside of their country look to America (USA) with a growing distaste. Oops, mod -1 unamerikan.
I would gratefully pay twice in taxes just to get the US to quit subsidizing every other fucking nation on the globe. Every little piss ant country out there is biting the hand that feeds 'em. I say, quit feeding them. Let Europe defend themselves against the whole Middle East. Let Africa starve. Fuck 'em.
If somebody were to shit on the US to my face, they'd get a fucking foot up their ass, and hopefully, I'd be able to punt 'em back to whatever little shitbucket country they came from.
Do one-liners really need to require a body? Feh!
The REAL jabber has the user id: 13196
What you do today will cost you a day of your life
AP News (12-24-02)
As the year draws to a close, we once again see the well intentioned, yet perpetually confused Linux Hippes preparing for yet another mass migration. Thier target this time: Denmark. The reason: The Danes have decided to employ Linux in the schools.
Said Timmy, The Head Linux Hippie "This is like totally rad. We was gonna go to Europe last summer when the EU was pushing Open Source. Those plans got cancelled though when we found out that BMG was copy protecting CD's, infringing on our free-use rights"
"Then we was gonna go to some back water in Spain which was gonna deploy Linux to every house hold. The downside was that we couldnt get Cheetos and Code Red there. We toyed with the ideal of going to China, with the added benefit of bootleg Harry Potter movies and X box games but found out they were blocking internet porn. Japan was an option cause they also got that kiddie cartoon stuff, but raw fish sounded disgusting."
"Denmark sounds cool though. Its kinda like Germany except they got those great big dogs instead of German Shepards. Plus its like only a hop-skip-jump to Amsterdam and the Red Light District. Some of could actully get laid, if we have a fist full of fifties."
Someone who cannot read Danish writes: "All schools in Denmark switching to Linux"
Despite there being at least two stories here on Slashdot concerning Home Depot's move to Linux, there hasn't been a single peep about the fact they abandoned the effort because Linux was not up to the task. In fact, you will find precious few actual success stories concerning Linux, just a lot of "me-too" pressers. It would appear the only places Linux is getting any real traction is where socialist governments and dictators have mandated its use. What a shame that it can't stand on its technical merits, but instead has to use politics and ideology to get acceptance.
For those who missed it
It's like referring to the US of A as California.
As a Texan, it is most degrading to be associated with California.
OT, however, but it always puzzled me that folks from The Netherlands are referred to as "Dutch" and folks from Deutschland are called Germans.
I can read Danish. And after reading the article I have to say that the subject line of this Slashdot post is misleading. The article is about StarOffice, not Linux. The only mention of Linux in the article is about the server that Sun will provide for the schools to download StarOffice, that server will be running Linux.
The headline should read something like 'All danish schools (potentially) switching to StarOffice'.
There aren't even that many kings in Denmark!
Aside from the joke...
The term "crown" referring to a monetary unit comes from the fact that some old coins had a bas-relief crown stamped into them. It's analogous to the term "Benjamin" referring to a 100 USD note, which carries a picture of Benjamin Franklin.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Even the American kids jump in, out of genuine protest (over what? aren't we plundering the world for their benefit
Just so's you know, Americans are aware that other people, especially Europeans, often raise an eyebrow at us. Out of politeness due a senile ancestor, we rarely mention how impressed we are by this.
Shame on them.
1.1 million students
Wow. I didn't realize Denmark was so small. Here in the US, cities like Chicago, LA, and New York probably have that many students in their school districts. I wonder if any of them would consider switching to Linux? It would save them a ton of money if they had good Linux administrators.
As the son of a high school computer teacher, I know that Macintosh makes really great offers to elementary and high schools for Mac computers.
.001 percent
of the student population used *nix boxes in their dorm/house.
A whole lot of schools pick them up, and kids learn Macs in school.
Then they go to college and buy a Windows box.
Just because the school is adopting an OS doesn't mean businesses or consumers will, it just means more business for Linux admins in Denmark schools.
Heck, they have Unix boxes at my old college, and only
"Slightly OT, but I sometimes wonder if Americans (USA) realize just how many people outside of their country look to America (USA) with a growing distaste. Oops, mod -1 unamerikan."
there's a growing sentiment of that inside the US too. I, for one, would like to move to Canada sometime in the next decade...
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
Bill: Oh look Balmer! The .NET signal is in the air! Quick! To the Software Choice Cave!
Balmer: Holy Linux, Billman!
The article does not claim that the schools are switching. It only says that staroffice will be available for download. Here is a quick translation with a few typos
Free software for school use
Denmarks 1,1 million school pupils, students and teacher can now turn to back to microsoft. At least with respect to office programs.
A deal between the silicon valley company Sun Micrososystems Incorporated and UNI-C causes that all the school pupils, students and teachers can download the office program Startoffice for free and install it on their home computwer. Alternatively they can buy it on a CD-ROM for the price of frabrication: 10 kr per CD (This is about 1 $). The schools can buy staroffice i packages of 50 cd's
The deal that Sun made with UNI-C follows the directions laid out by minister of education Ulla Tørnæs. They were made public October 30th, and they describe how institutions of education must act when offered office programs for free
One of the demands are that such donations do not cost the state any money, another demand is that UNI-C (The IT-center of research and education of Denmark) must administrate and distribute the licences.
UNI-C will have its expenses covered through the 10 kr that the CD's cost. Sun will provide a server with the cost-free OS Linux for the pupils, students and teachers who wish to download StarOffice 6.0.
>>UNI-C exists to help the danish education world, so of course we are happy to be able to mediate such a special initiative from Sun, says Dorthe Olesen, administrative director of UNI-C.
The most used office system in the world Microsoft Office, does not have a version for Linux
Because of the dominance of Microsoft in office and operative systems, a growing number of state owned institutions work on creating alternatives - primarily a combination of starofice and Linux
If all 1,1 milion pupils, students and teachers use the offer, the total value is about 200 million kr (20 mil $) (says sun)
Windows is an implementation of the PARC-XEROX GUI, using the Common User Architecture that IBM introduced.
So is KDE, so is GNOME, so very nearly is something nameless on my video recorder, and definitely Palm-OS.
Teach people how to process words, not how to use Word, the likelihood of their life seeing no major events in computing interfaces is not high.
The licencing.
In Danish the word for a crown and for the currency is the same, though they don't mean the same. ie, its incorrect to call the currny crown, its Kroner (and not ment to be translated)
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
SUN
also offers StarOffice 6.0 (for free) in Germany.
How important is the US software market for an ordinary OS vendor.
Oh oh, now slashdot has done it - the linked to the newspaper Politikken - previously the danish newspapers have been after danish sites who liked to them. They said it was leeching on their work, and threathened court action - the small sites buckled down in fear then...
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
Holland and the Netherland represent the same name, just in two different ancient(?) sublanguages. Both mean "Low Land" -- Hol-land, Nether-land.
Us linux users LOVE SUN and we LOVE denmark, oh hell, if denmark gives me a free T1, can i set up a linux portal site there? LOL
... but as the US has consistently proved in the past decade and still not caught on to is that they're not the center of the universe... UNIX has been a staple of Computer Science since the 70s ...
:-)
The US still wins, Unix is a US invention (AT&T, UC Berkeley) embraced by the world, and as you point out the center of the computing universe now and for decades to come.
Good, with a large school system using Linux, we'll soon have a pool of virus writers that can beat the MS ones.
Seriously.
this is not a sig
They didn't switch shit you drooling deviant. Sun is just OFFERING them StarOffice, with no mention of the OS platform. Lunix has fucked up your head, please seek help!
I was wrong. It will not be the marketing department of Microsoft that will be 'first against the wall' when the revolution comes... but rather the editors of Slashdot.
It should say switch from MS Office to Star Office, not Linux .. there will be some more summers before, all Danish schools switch to Linux IMHO ;)
Ditto, the urge is getting stronger every week or so.
I live in a giant bucket.
It amazes me that in this day and age idoits like yourself still exist.
Seriously, are you unaware your acting under a thin veil of patriotism? What exactly has america been so good at in comparison to other contries?
Patriotism is for the weak.
In other words, something made by PROFESSIONALS, not some half ass project put together by hobbyists.
Yes, the instal program is stupid. They know it, they're working on it.
What we do is install it by trickery. I assume here that you are using Windows 2000 or XP. First, I do a localized network install. Then from that directory, I install it as a user who will serve as my 'template' for that machine.
Once I get that template set up, I then copy that profile (using the profile copier under 'system'), to 'Default User'. This way, every user on that machine should get the standard setup.
DISADVANTAGE: If this computer is to be used in a lab, or by multiple users, keep in mind that one user can change the settings for EVERY user. So far, this hasn't been much of a problem, but it certainly is a possibility.
Let me know if you need to know more...
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
The article says (I've read it, am Danish myself) that StarOffice will be made available to the Danish education system at a symbolic cost, and that many public institutions are researching alternatives to the M$ lock-in. It's nothing close to a massive Win->Linux switch - remember, StarOffice works under Windows as well.
MeThinks Hemos should apologise for such a goof. It's wildly misleading, and lots of followups takes the article at face value.
I'm in a Unix state of mind.
There are three schools of magic. One: State a tautology, then ring the
changes on its corollaries; that's philosophy. Two: Record many facts.
Try to find a pattern. Then make a wrong guess at the next fact; that's
science. Three: Be aware that you live in a malevolent Universe controlled
by Murphy's Law, sometimes offset by Brewster's Factor; that's engineering.
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