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How Schools Can Get Free Software

Posted by Zonk on from the free-as-in-both dept.

RicJD writes "The BBC is reporting on a school in England which has found a way to save money through Open Source Software. It goes on to explain the idea behind OSS, and briefly how they've incorporated it into the school system. Could this be the way to show the UK government that savings can be had through OSS?" Likely an adoption spurred by the education report we reported on earlier this year.

5 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. How Schools Can Get Cheap Software: by AEton · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Make a credible threat to switch to free software.
    (Submit your school's "migration plan" to the BBC. Just in case Microsoft doesn't read that, Slashdot the story!)

    --
    We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
  2. I for one, agree by Grep*coke* · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This sounds like the best idea an education system, whether it be the UK or the US, has ever had. All schools could save hundreds of dollars by using Linux instead of Windows, and it would give kids a better background. Also, it might encourage the development of more OSS by the students.

    --

    $ cd/home/fridge
    $ ls | grep "coke"
    1. Re:I for one, agree by Approaching.sanity · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That is one of the more horrible things I think you could have said.

      IT is pervasive in modern society. It not only runs our work lives as a tool, it is also recreation and education. The more exposure you have to more kinds of software the better equiped you are to deal with more situations.

      If we use your arguement then we should not require all students to take science courses as they will not all be using the knowlege of what a mol is in their every day lives.

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      RTFA again for the best results.
    2. Re:I for one, agree by jbolden · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "HR drones" don't come from mars they come from the very school systems we are talking about. They believe that their job should involve pattern matching instead of understanding because non honors courses in school emphasize regurgitation instead of understanding (often the honors courses do as well).

      Correcting the use of Microsoft software and switching over to a Unix frame of mind could potential aid in fixing the larger problem.

    3. Re:I for one, agree by legirons · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "In the real world people use Microsoft Office."

      Actually in the real world (when I was at school), people use WordPerfect for MS-DOS, and smaller companies were starting to use Lotus Ami Pro.

      How would it have helped if I'd learned those applications?

      We even had a fairly-major CS test at school, where one of the questions was 'what keystroke is used to right-format a line in Ami Pro'. How is information like that going to help me now, typing into a Slashdot textbox using FireFox (neither of which could even have been imagined when I was learning IT/CS)

      How would teaching people Word help now? The next generation of business technology seems to be influenced by what CS graduates are using at home today, and recently that's been Linux, Free Software on Windows2000, and we're starting to see some Mac OS. If you wanted to teach in school "for business", then you would start by thinking what people will find useful in 5-10 years when they get their first jobs.

      And even if you're "living in the present", why would you standardise on something that requires the parents to pay hundreds of pounds extra to do computer-related homework, when you could select an almost-identical program that you can distribute for free?