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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.

11 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.
    1. Re:How Schools Can Get Cheap Software: by Alex+P+Keaton+in+da · · Score: 5, Funny

      There is a very, very real danger in students using free software- they may develop a crazy idea that information should be accesible to everyone, and reasonably priced and GASP even free!!!
      Next thing you know these crazy kids will be downloading free copies of Boy George hits, drinking excessive amounts of YooHoo, and having parties where more than 10 people watch a movie on DVD without paying royalties!!!!
      This needs to be stopped now! Ship windows! Ship windows!!!!!!! Why isn't Geldoff taking up this cause!

      --
      And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
  2. Schoolforge-UK by alanw · · Score: 4, Informative
    Schoolforge-UK is an organisation that is working together to implement open content resources using Free, Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) in UK education

    The are organizing a conference in Bolton next week: on Thursday 14th & Friday 15th July 2005.

  3. 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.

      --
      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?

  4. How Schools Can Get Free Software by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bit-Torrent?

    Oooooh you mean the other kind of free.

  5. Some other interesting "F/OSS in schools" articles by codergeek42 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    http://edge-op.org/grouch/schools.html
    http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/schools.html

  6. My school uses Linux too! by rivenage · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've just left (about a week ago) my school after 7 years. Last year a new business studies block was built with two Linux suites in it. They both have about 30 thin clients in each, which run off of one server. They are using Suse (9.1 IIRC) after Fedora Core 2 kept struggling. All of the teachers were complaining that they didn't know how to use Linux, but of course now they've found it's just fine, because with KDE they can use it just the same way as windows. By using thin clients the school has saved a lot of money on hardware as well as software. The Linux machines are also a lot more stable than the Windows network, and everything is much more up to date (the windows network is still 98 with IE 5.0!). If anyone is interested its the Deepings School near Peterborough in the UK.

  7. Re:Dear Children by ettlz · · Score: 4, Funny
    Dear sch00l sys4dm1n d00dz...
    thnx 4 installing teh linux on the computaz! we iz LUVVIN it!!!

    just the otha day i woz finkin how totally 1337 it wud b 4 the skool 2 move 2 3 software. like cutin costs n shit! i sed to our Mynds, propriatary solushuns was not da way fowward, and that impartiality and freedum from corprut influnce in da edukashun system cood only be inshured throo open sours. yeh, that's wot gary the geek said anyway.

    yeh. and mynds wuz just sayin how good it woz to write up her gcse pole dansin coursework wiv LaTeX and not dat mingin Word shit!!! i fink she fancys gary coz he knows ALL DA TRIX! she said to me that she wood backslash his curly braces any time of da munf.

    i finks its GREAT that my kids gonna grow up in a world were software is free and it don't affect your benefits, and maybe they cood do the same 4 nappys coz my weekend job at teh off-licens^Hc^H^W booz r us pays shit and vodafone keep aksin me 2 pay 200 quid for those 4000 txts i sent. 2 ton? get out of heer!

    ur teh shit!!!!!
    sara xxxxx

    ps. sorry bout my speling and grammer and punctual^H^Hati^H^H^H^H^Hhuashun, teh inglish teeching is crap