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University At Buffalo Endorses Open Source

Posted by timothy on from the well-put dept.

Math421 writes "The Faculty Senate at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, approved a resolution endorsing Open Source for the campus. They explicitly suggest Linux and OpenOffice." While this is just one school, the document collects in one compact list many of the things that make a lot of conventional software (including Microsoft's) expensive in terms of freedom and privacy as well as money. Other schools' students and faculty members would do well to read it.

15 comments

  1. It's about time by Y+Ddraig+Goch · · Score: 1

    That the rest of the world see's the same things that we at /. have been concerned about.

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  2. 20 minutes away.. by seann · · Score: 1

    I'm so going to university there

    Now to obtain an american citizenship.

    Color or colour?

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  3. Buffalo is a shithole! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When Canadians enter the US through Buffalo, they call it "giving the US a rectal exam".

  4. Shrug by minusthink · · Score: 0

    As a current Computer Science/Math student at University at Buffalo (insiders call it UB) you would think I would have something relevant to say, but you'd be wrong.

    --
    "when life gets complicated, I like to take a nap in a tree and wait for dinner" - Hobbes.
  5. So..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think the monkeys at the zoo should have to wear sunglasses so they can't hypnotize you.

  6. Interesting... by ewhenn · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As I was a student there in 2000, they had signed a contract with Microsoft, basically giving all staff and students free copies of Office 2000, Win2000, etc. Quite a drastic change in a short time frame, transitioning from exclusively MS office products to endorsing open source.

    1. Re:Interesting... by poofmeisterp · · Score: 2, Insightful

      MS probably jerked them around on this "free software" deal and tried to bill them for it when economic times got tough. I'd bet you that's what this is about :)

    2. Re:Interesting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those contracts with Microsoft are never free. The one they signed at UT was about $1 million a year (within a factor of 2). I think of it as a scam. You sign or they have the BSA audit. Then $1 million sounds cheap.

    3. Re:Interesting... by bigmase521 · · Score: 1

      As a former student and IT lackey of Niagara University (20 Min. down the road from UB) I was always upset at the fear of the IT dept. to open their minds, and give Open Source a chance (even after all of my pleading). I have since transfered out, and out of the area but still maintain contacts in the area UB included. Geeks alike are very happy about this, others who are clueless are sure to be impressed (after the microsoft cleansing) so everyone wins. And this currently has me thinking about transfering to UB!

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  7. may be .... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...a april fool's joke. ...i hope not though

  8. one school by BigBir3d · · Score: 1

    with approx 25,000+ students enrolled.

  9. That's just the faculty, not the administration by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Don't get your hopes up too much, UB people. The referenced link was a resolution of the faculty senate, not a declaration of the administration. I'm not aware of the faculty power at UB, but at most of the universities I've had contact with (Penn State, Ohio State, Indiana State, Washington U. St. Louis), the faculty senate is just a way for the faculty to be collectively ignored by the administration. So, when the administration ends the MS contract, I'll be impressed, but not until.

  10. IAMASAUB by stagmeister · · Score: 1

    (I am not a student at UB) ... but I did take some classes there, and have had a lot of experience with their IT guys. And while they *do* offer lots of "free" MS software to students, almost all of their computer systems on the IT end of things are run on UNIX.

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  11. Way to go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Finally, that kicks ass. Even though it is only from the faculty it at least shows an incentive to use open document formats, and a call for employers to support open source software. I only with the faculty/staff at FSU would do the same thing. Pipe dreams...