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Open Source in Politics?
tetraminoe asks: "Spread Firefox has a story about a student at the University of Florida running for student government promising to promote open source on campus. His platform includes expanding F/OSS on campus, using open file formats, etc. Is this the first time 'free culture' has become an electoral issue? Has anyone else made open source an issue at their university?"
YAY FORST!!!!!!
The real issues are tuition, professor quality, library resources, and campus safety (wide net encompassing dorm safety to the campus rentacops). Open Source is just a buzzword that gets play with a very narrow circle of jerks that think they know what's best.
Besides, Open Source ought to be about freedom, which would mean that it should be as far away from politics as possible to ensure that everyone has the Freedom to choose whatever software they liked. Now, if the "IT director" in the computer labs wants to screw everyone over by installing a minority OS on all the campus computer lab PCs, that's an IT decision. It ought not be handled at the student government level.
At my school, it is generally accepted that OSS is good, and Microsoft is bad. I really don't understand -- you can ask anybody at school, they will all say that Microsoft is bad. That's great -- they should think that -- but they don't know why.
Although, all of computing is Apple based...
I was a student at UF (just graduated in December), and as far as I can recall a lot of the computers had Firefox on them already. The main CISE lab has it; the "dungeon," a computer lab in the basement of the CS building, even has some Linux computers (among Windows and Sun boxes)! So I suppose this is typical of a politician, promising things that have basically already been accomplished.
You think a kid running for STUDENT government at a college really means something larger because of his Open Source platform?
I mean, really, please get a grip here. Most student governments are jokes anyways, people will run on any wacky platform to get a few meager votes from the student population.
If this was an REAL election, you might have a story. But this is like reporting on a Model UN or Boy Scout meeting. In other words, it's completely meaningless.
Has caused me more headaches than anything else. Relatives/friends insist on using it and expect me to clean up their machines. Security is nonexistant, websites are allowed to execute programs on your harddrive (WTF kind of website needs to do that?), and, to add insult to injury, it got bundled with Windows to gain its marketshare.
Oh, and dont get me started on the proprietary extensions to HTML/CSS.
argh!
Obligatory Soundbite Catchphrase
Considering that a student has zero power to dictate the technologies on campus, I'd say that this is nothing but an attempt to get the votes of the Comp. Sci. students.
...
Here's how the converstaion might go:
Student: We should only use open tech.
Administration: But M$ promised us
Student: But, there tech. is broken; it doesn't work as advertised.
Administration: Well, who are we going to believe. You a scruffy Arts student or the knowledgeble M$ salesman that we relate to?
Student: But...
Administration: Sit down!
Doesn't sounds so much like he's trying to get open source into use in politics, but more dealing with political issues involving open source.
Given how ignorant the overwhelming majority of the populace is (and continually opts to be), and how many people support the current U.S. administration's utter anti-openness, I don't see someone running on a platform of open information going very far. If you ask the average American if they support jailing a reporter for printing a story that says that the government has been monitoring all international phone calls since 9/11/01, "to keep the U.S. safe from terrorism," they'll more than likely say yes. Nevermind that this is an issue that goes to the very core freedoms on which the country was founded, and only petty thieves are stupid enough to pick up the phone and call their cohorts overseas to discuss their next nefarious scheme. Secrecy is the name of the game now. Just look at the documents that the CIA's been secretly reclassifying after Clinton declassified them. Maybe on a college campus it could work but we live in a nation where openness is bad and ignorance is bliss.
rooooar
They can lobby the state government over tuition, which might do some good, although the higher-ups are already doing that. They have less influence then the faculty senate, so it's unlikely they can do anything about professor quality. Libraries and campus safety are probably reasonable things to focus on, but in most cases, there's only so much student government can do, for good or ill. At my school (we're talking 2000-2004) the Black Caucus alone was more politically powerful than the undergraduate senate. Plus, this guy isn't running for president, just a regular senate slot.
So I think increasing Linux and open source adoption is a totally reasonable goal. There's probably a contingent of the IT department who are in favor of it already, and having the support of student government makes it that much easier to justify their plans. Sure, if I was the IT director, I wouldn't want students telling me what OS to run on the web server, say. But for the computer labs, why not? Reserve some machines for Linux, install Open Office and Firefox on the Windows ones, avoid IE-specific web content on University sites, etc. Sounds like a practical plan to me.
And yes, I know there's more to Baker's platform than this, I'm just addressing the part of it that the parent brought into question.
If all the computers used Linux, there wouldn't be so many idiots using them for AIM and other teenage nonsense. Then the students who have projects to do will get to do them in a timely fashion during normal hours!
Being a former college student, I am all for this. Less exploitation, less jerking off, more getting work done... and if the kids learn to jerk off in Linux, more power to them.
Buckle your ROFL belt, we're in for some LOLs.
there is no reason that many of the workstations couldn't be switched over to linux.
Other than lack of budget to replace hardware that has no working Linux driver?
At UMBC all the lab computers dual boot to their own Linux which is pretty much Fedora. Granted we are probably one of the most geeky universities in the country. Go Chess!
There should be a range of operating systems/browsers as this will aid education. Open source to open student's eyes to alternative software but M$ too so that when they get a job they can use the software that their employer probably uses!
In the UK, schools/colleges previously used bespoke hardware/software solutions to teach IT which were of questionable value when faced with a computer in a real work environment.
What makes you think they wouldn't install the same amount of crap on the Linux machines? Out of curiousity...
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Why not finger fuck your arse. It's the only sex you're likely to get.