Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Won't Vouch For Linux
theodp writes "Gov. Christine Gregoire applauded Microsoft's job training partnership with WA state and county government agencies, which calls for the distribution of 30,625 training vouchers statewide during the next 90 days. 'This program [Elevate America] is all about equipping people with the new skills they'll need to get a job in the changing economy,' said Microsoft Counsel Brad Smith, who also made it very clear that getting 'workforce ready' won't involve acquiring any Linux skills. At least this offer appears to be no-cost, unlike the $35 Microsoft requested in an e-mail come-on for 'The Stimulus Package for Your Career' (so much for Smith's and Gregoire's war on spam)."
Next year could very well be the Year of Linux on the Desktop.
All these people with their outdated Microsoft training. Whatever will they do?
The theory of common sense states that if a company is paying to offer you training, then the training will probably focus almost entirely on, if not exclusively on, their own products. Does anybody really expect any company, Microsoft included, to pay for you to undergo training to make them obsolete one day/
"It's a reverse vampire...they....they crave the sun!"
So a company is giving training on their platform, and this is wrong how? Specially, if I understood correctly, it will be "free" (as in, neither the state nor you will pay with money for it, and not the "but they will be brainwashing the masses" type of cost)
What about Canonical try to partner with a state to offer training vouchers statewide and train people on the ways of Linux? That would be sweet, and awesome. Only think would be try to get Linux users with teaching skills for the non-technical. After all, your public wouldn't be grad students.
--- "When you gotta do something wrong. You gotta do it right. (Fighter)"
Get a FREE retake of a failed exam plus an E-Learning Collection for just $35 USD
Now how can it be a free retake if you have to pay 35 dollars to get it? Is this the same scam like "Free" Credit Report.com that actually requires you to buy a subscription to their site to get the "free" credit report?
Microsoft refuses to bankroll the "We Are Linux" marketing video campaign. Those monopolist bastages.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Why you consider this bad, I don't understand.
Linux is taking over in the data centers of America. You don't WANT competition from voucher trained indviduals. The free market will value your Linux skills, and the scarcity will drive your value up.
Look what MCSE boot camps did to Windows SysAdmin salaries. Just historically chart them with Janco data or Salary.com historical data.
Personally, I want EVERY government training program to be training people is skills the real free market considers useless. Don't you?
I am shocked, positively shocked. Who could imagine such a thing?
Yeah, the lady who doesn't know how to use POWERPOINT is going enjoy learning scripting. [huge eye-roll]
"The only things that are really uniform between different Linux distributions are the same elements that are already present in Windows anyway"
For server skills, learning scripting is de rigueur if you want to be a serious techie. As Cisco would attest to with its Cisco IOS. The Windows click->select->click_down->select_again->fill_in_a_text_box, is confusing at best, at worst it's difficult to trouble shoot.
The basic concept of a bash shell.
The structure of a typical distribution.
Why exactly a distribution doesn't have to be typical, what makes things appear to be uniform.
The server/client model.
Elements of security.
Logic.
Doing shit yourself.
"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
Read the classified adds.
Visit your state employment office. Talk to a temp service. Look at the number of jobs which demand competence in MS Office and Windows.
Look especially closely at entry level jobs. Re-entry jobs for retirees and others long out of the job market.
The Linux market is in the back office. Where you will be expected to deliver the sun, moon and stars at the deep-discount price.
This isn't entry level employment. It isn't even your basic up-grade.
It's for the guy with five to ten years experience managing really, really, big, mission-critical networks and systems.
But as far as I can tell, this Microsoft program is focused on the basic use of standard GUI office applicaitons, not server administration, installation, command line use, tweaking, etc.
The Elevate America program isn't about churning out techies who can troubleshoot network problems, it's about teaching people to use Word.
Well, that brings up the question, what exactly are "Linux skills"? I mean, if it's using a desktop, moving windows around, learning about files and directories, word processing, and spreadsheets, those aren't Linux skills, they are generic computer/office skills, in which case people are better off learning those skills in Windows, since at that level, that is what they will be using in their new job.
When I hear "Linux skills", I think "skills you need to use Linux but don't need to use Windows/Mac." So, yeah, command-line. Man pages. If you can't use a terminal or man pages, you're not going to get far with Linux. Maybe it's possible if you're using Ubuntu on very popular hardware and you never do anything exciting with your computer, in which case the skills you need are just as easily learned from Microsoft.
"Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
First off, extra caution should be kept in mind in dealing with actions from a convicted monopolist.
That said, two aspects worry me:
-Government endorsement of the program. This is just so very peculiar and even outside of the monopolist context, kind of disturbing.
-I suspect they'll be able to write off expenses incurred in this as a donation. However, MS extracts a non-trivial amount of marketing leverage and as such, expenses should not be considered charitable in nature. As anyone who has undergone MCSE training, MS training programs are comprised of a significant amount of salesmanship.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
How do you pronounce 'grep'? I've always just said 'grep'. But I've heard some from out east say it like 'grep'.
One guy from Europe even goes so far as to emphasize it as 'grep'.
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain
Just not the same thing. Apple convinced insecure and wannabe nerds (and some real nerds too) that a big shiny new gadget will make them look cool. The Linux Community is trying to convince people that enjoy finger painting and story-time that reading and writing are valuable skills that that can benefit you throughout your entire life.
I am sure this sounds like typical fanboyism, but have you ever listened to someones excuses for not wanting to learn to read, write, or learn basic algebra? It is the same excuses: It won't be relevant to the career I want, I get along just fine speaking, that's just for smart people. Well, how is it that Linux can be both demonized for being inferior AND only for the really smart computer genius type. Might it be worth a moment to try and see what they see? Honestly, that is what convinced me that despite the fact that it was HARD, and there were things I had to LEARN or even REMEMBER, it was about communicating, building, developing, and working together in a radically different way. I think it took me about a year to get comfortable with Linux, several more before I really began to see why it is used in all the places that it is, and why people feel so passionately about it.
Some people see a computer as a fancy typewriter for papers, a canvas for painting a picture, and an easier way to send letters and pictures than via snail mail. digital music is just another way to listen to music. For all those old things done in new ways, there is something uniquely special that can be expressed through a computer that isn't just a digital form of the same old thing in a different way. There is something uniquely powerful that enables people to fundamentally work different, and only Linux is where people can share instantly and unlimitedly the tools to express yourself and communicate with the world DIFFERENTLY.
Sure, Microsoft and Apple let you push the button, but just like reading and writing, no matter how good the story is told, don't think that is any kind of substitute. You just aren't talking about the same thing. It isn't digital literacy.
But don't worry, sure I am making a big deal out of nothing. You can already read and write, and computers are really just like books where it is easier to fix mistakes without wasting paper. There are nerds out there that take care of this stuff so that normal people can use them like books. Doubt learning how they work would ever be something worth anything to the 'normal' user.
I stopped paying attention when it went from "The year of Linux" to "The year of the Linux Desktop". Didn't anyone notice what happened in between? Further, The Year of the Linux Desktop was 2004 with the release of openSuse. The Year of Linux was 1997 with the Internet. If you care about being literate in a digital age, you know about Linux.
Wish I had made the effort to learn earlier, but guess just happy to be there. Having been there, there is just no way to explain to an adult illiterate person the value of learning how to read and write. I know it sounds elitist, but it really just struck me today how similar the arguments are. Think about it.
Alright, now flame away.
Want Big Business out of government? Take away the incentive and start by getting government out of big business!