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Schools In Portugal Moving To OSS
New submitter thyristor pt writes "In light of massive national budget cuts, the Portuguese government will force public schools to move to free/open source software (Google translation of original in Portuguese). Schools with some 50,000 outdated computers won't see their software licenses renewed, the main reason being the cost of hardware upgrade inherent to mostly Microsoft software updates. Will the Euro debt crisis be a driving force to the spread of open source software?"
We've seen this over and over again. Microsoft will just offer to give the software for free. They know that it's not in their best interest for it to become general knowledge how functional open-source alternative have become.
I think a properly done open source installation can be better than the Microsoft alternative. At our university (Helsinki University of Technology) there are large Linux-only computer classes, and those computers just work. In Linux you will not have viruses, which is a big plus in the school environment use case. Also, managing those computers should be easy, although so is a properly done Windows installation.
A Linux installation can also be made more lightweight than the Windows installation. Especially when taking in account the mandatory anti-virus software for Windows.
The traditional problems Linux has in business environment are less severe in school environment: The Office compatibility issue is not there, and hopefully there aren't that many legacy applications to support. The students will learn Linux just as easily as they do learn Windows. If they have to use both Linux and Windows, it is just a good thing. Too many users know how to use Windows, not how to use a computer.
Portugal has one big advantage in this move: they might get the educational software for free from Brazil. Same language, and Brazil is a heavy user of OSS. Brazil did a move of 350000 school computers to Linux in 2009. I don't know what the current status of the program is, but I suspect there is a lot to reuse from that move.
Now, take in account that this installation is likely a lot cheaper than the equivalent Windows installation, and you have something that should be better for their school system. Of course, I can't say if it is objectively better from their position...
Open Source can only spread by being objectively better (in ways customers care about).
Have you tried Libre Office lately?
Most people I've set it up for like it a lot better than the current ribbon-infested Microsoft version.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Heck, even running an older office version that you're licensed for on Linux under wine may be a genuine improvement! The underlying system is secure and on current maintenance. It's very easy to isolate the office suite with selinux so that unpatched security bugs in the office suite won't affect anything besides a small briefcase used to move files between the compartment and rest of the filesystem.
The positive of running, say, office 2000 under wine is that its hardware requirements are AFAIK lower than for a current version of libreoffice.
A successful API design takes a mixture of software design and pedagogy.
Unfortunately the only reason seems to be not wanting to pay for it
whats unfortunate about it. half of the reason we invented free software, was because we wanted people to use software for free and in abundance.
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As listed, this only applies to outdated computers made between 2004-2007. Namely, Pentium 4's, Pentium D's, and perhaps some Core 2's from 4-7 years ago.
But as the article states: "A lot of these devices, given their age, will not be in good working order and does not support the latest versions of Microsoft products."
Most IT Departments in school systems have been switching to Windows 7 as a cost-cutting measure, not just because XP security updates expire in 2 years. The deployment tools on Server 2008 R2 for Win7 are insanely excellent. One can pull a central server to a distant school just once from a PXE boot, and it will peer-to-peer on the local network, rather than download a ~10GB file 30 times. Any additional drivers, software, and updates can be installed on the spot -- think Ninite, except before the installation. Doing things like installing XP from Ghost and babysitting the systems for an hour are obsolete, as is the staffing required for it.
But Windows 7 requires 1-2GB of RAM to run properly depending on software installed. With the crisis in the EU (PIIGS especially), it's very unlikely that they'll spend the money to buy DDR1/DDR2 to upgrade systems that don't. A 7-year old system is going to have hardware problems that low staffing can't troubleshoot, to the point where they won't even bother. And they certainly won't have the staffing required to take the time to set up an OSS system, much less train their staff on it, as it was only "recommended."
At best, someone might set up the ability to install Edubuntu through PXE boot, but they'll just be Edubuntu systems, nothing more. Some kids might play around on them at times, but otherwise, these old systems are just going to collect dust.
If they can impose linux in all schools, then a lot of people will want to have linux at home just to be compatible. Open source use will grow, Microsoft piracy will shrink.
You could, of course, rephrase the story title to "Portugal might find out that GNU/Linux and FOSS kick ass once they start their budget-bound migration". It's a bit lengthy, obviously hypothetical and not particularly inflamatory, and therefore not up to /.'s standard of short, inflammatory and generally plainly wrong titles.
seriously though : if institutions are not forced to migrate they won't, no matter how much their current system suck. Complete infrastructure changes based on quality assessments are rare, as there are a) just too many costs associated with such moves, and b) people don't like big changes. Therefore, as a Gnu/linux and FOSS proponent, I'm more than happy to see stories like this one, as they are probably the best one can realistically expect, at least until enough success stories are publicized. If enough of those appear, then people in charges might jump on the bandwagon (probably for all the wrong reasons, like being seen as "progressive" and whatnot) and force other institutions to follow.
"DRM is like the Ford Pinto: it's a smooth ride, right up the point at which it explodes and ruins your day."-C.Doctorow
Have you tried Libre Office lately?
Most people I've set it up for like it a lot better than the current ribbon-infested Microsoft version.
Recently LibreOffice corrupted line art horribly in my documents which made me quickly switch to Office. I still cannot trust LO to be compatible with the rest of the world. Maybe for basic text-only stuff you're good.
It is galling that despite free software having become the industry standard on the web, being demonstrably more reliable and secure than Microsoft products and more flexible and configurable than Apple products, people consider it chiefly as the low-cost option. They shouldn't use Linux because it's free, they should be using it because it's better.
This is a problem because any information infrastructure, even a Linux-based one, will suck if you don't have the funding to afford enough hardware and support. As long as only schools with gutted IT budgets use Linux, Linux will retain an awful reputation among schools. The circular effect is that schools will avoid using it as long as they can afford outrageous license prices, and even schools with Linux will abandon it immediately if they ever gain enough funding to move back (combined with Microsoft giving them a sweeter deal on license packages). This will in turn reinforce the image of free software as a cheap alternative that should only be used if you can't afford commercial software.
uh, yeah, think bootp circa 1989.
Its an interesting phrase "to run properly"; I'm sure that one day there will be a Windows that "runs properly". The real question is, can Windows 7 run properly?
> even running an older office version that you're licensed for on Linux under wine
Are you sure that some of the fine print in that license doesn't say that the software has to be run under Windows? I suppose that in Europe that might not fly, they have stricter laws concerning interoperability.
I strongly suspect(as a linux user who has done some school dept. IT work, largely Windows with a sprinkle of Mac) that "they", the students, will neither lose nor gain all that much.
Some of the admin layers will have it tough(so they probably just won't switch those people), because that is where the spreadsheet-jockies, the users of obscure proprietary student information systems, etc, etc. congregate. The techies will be split: the microsoft crew will resent losing relevant skill, the FOSS-enthusiasts-just-working-a-job will be gung-ho.
As for the students, though, I doubt they'll see much change. Unless the computers are the explicit focus or means of pedagogy(as in something like the OLPC experiment), which is rare and nontrivial to do. Think what you will of their results, they built a previously unavailable sort of hardware along with a new security model and a variety of other tweaks to get that going. In the majority of cases, 'educational' computers are just tools. The teachers want them to be working, reliable, and running the browser/word processor/whatever required to get the classwork done. Admin wants them to be not disruptive, to be a not excessively good porn source, and IT delivers as it can. Because most of 'educational' IT is so peripheral to learning(yes, there are plenty of arguments for why office is better than LibreOffice. None of them have any bearing on whether you'll be able to learn to write a decent essay by writing a bunch of crap essays and revising. VI might be pushing it a little; but notepad should be enough), it is good that they are going with the cheaper option, to free up money that can be better used; but I'd expect virtually no change in how pupils are expected to interact with technology.
Hey, you are using OSS! You can make changes however you want! No, actually, your user account on our system is locked down to keep you out of trouble, just like it was on Windows. The school wants you to be able to log in, get your files, and use programs X, Y, and, Z. We've delivered.
Outside of strictly vocational schools(later in the student's progress, so they will still be fresh when they hit the workforce), where learning specific tools might be what the doctor ordered, or outside of ground-up computers-in-education-rethinks, which make student exploration of the computer a focus, not a problem, educational use of computers is really incredibly generic. Web, email, word processing, copy-pasting.
A minority of specialist users will simply be un-switchable, certain specialized software isn't multi-platform, has no real competitors, and is too costly to try to duplicate. It just isn't worth it. The vast bulk, though, really get a very constrained view of computers at school. It barely matters what they run.
I still cannot trust LO to be compatible with the rest of the world.
You seem to have a basic misunderstanding of who is creating the problem...
Having said that, try making sure you're saving the file on the native format for the version of Word you're using - eg, .doc for Word 2000-XP, .docx for Word 2007 and above. Word messes up formatting enough between versions, let alone with documents exported from a competitor's product.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Portugal has had for years a company marketing a linux distro - caixa mágica. The national "one laptop per child" project already shipped with a linux installation. The IT world is already entrenched in linux. There is absolutely no need to look at brazil for linux support.
I went to a (public) High School here in Portugal around eight years ago; at the time, all the machines we used in IT classes already dual-booted between Windows and a Portuguese GNU/Linux distro ("Caixa MÃgica") and we had to learn how to get around on the Gnome desktop.
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Microsoft is simply not as fast an nimble as they once were. New ideas are risky to them now and they would rather just buy a company with a good idea. They have seen for YEARS that there is a busy market for low-end hardware devices and they have yet to respond to it. (And seriously, they have the source code for Windows XP... dress the shit up to look like Windows 7 and call it something else like "Windows 7 nano" or something like that.) They no longer, if ever, the market trends and their customer's interests/needs.
they might the educational software for free from Brazil. Same language
Sorry, but not really. While they're both Portuguese, until recently they didn't even use the same orthography, and while that has been fixed, we still don't use the same vocabulary nor phrase constructions.
Don't get me wrong, we can understand it just fine (as it's evidenced by the millions of Portuguese people who watch Brazilian soap operas ever night), but it's not close enough for an educational setting.
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Plenty of our school computers already dual-boot. Migrating just means "Not installing Windows".
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There are lots of world class open source projects out there that gets picked because they are simply better than their closed source equivalents - linux, apache, postgresql, spamassassin, varnish, ruby, python, gcc/llvm, webkit, postfix, dovecot etc.
I have used Word for years, but after having been forced to write a 50 page user manual in it, I stopped using it. I have never looked back.
What the fuck are you talking about? I am the onlypersonin my office that uses libreoffice the otherpeople use a combination of office 2007 and google docs. I have had not a single interoperability issue sharing documents with anybody at all. Please get your head outof your ass.
The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
Raspberry Pi anyone?