Re: [K12OSN] Request for Comment: Document for OSS advocates

[anthony baldwin <anthonybaldwin snet net>]

Ethan,
This so ROCKS, in concept, at least, obviously there's not much to the 
site yet, since you're just getting off the ground..
But, I love what you're doing.

I took a peak at the one document you've so far posted.  It's cool.
I want to add some stuff to it.

Table Of Contents

0. Introduction: What is Open Source Software?
1. Advantages to using Open Source Software in your schools
	1.1. Lower cost per seat
	1.2. Lower cost of maintenance
	1.3. Lower cost to families
	1.4.Greater long term flexibility

	-MY ADDITIONS-

=>1.5.Can be shared with staff and students.

	I have sent children who lacked software home with OpenOffice.org so 
that they could have powerful office software at home (for that matter, 
I've sent a few interested students home with K12ltsp CD sets!).  This 
sharing can with any OSS.

=>1.6.Tech support is community-based and generally FREE.

	You'll find better support HERE (and with other OSS projects) than you 
will ever get from proprietary vendors (especially M$).  Heck, when I 
first came around the OSS community and tried out Blue Linux, the guy 
who wrapped up that distro, Matt Jezorek  (sp?--and where is old Matt, 
these days?), actually phoned me and walked me through the installation 
of the dev tools. He didn't charge me a dime! I'd like to see you get 
Bill Gates on the phone when you have a problem.  I'd like to see you 
get anybody in Redmond on the phone without paying a fee.

=>1.7.Increased stability and security.

	Last year I had the misfortune of having several Windows computers 
(98se and 2000) in my classroom.  Students frequently lost their work 
due to crashes.  By frequently, I mean at the very least once a week, 
usually several times a week. Furthermore, they were often hosing their 
own work when moving from one machine to another due to a lack of 
compatibilty with different MSOffice products  (ie. They'd start a 
project with Office97 on the Win98se machine, then tried to work on it 
using OfficeXP on the Win2000 machine, then later returned to the 
Win98se machine and hosed the entire project simply trying to open it). 
 It was heartbreaking.  (I no longer work at that school, but, guess 
what?  They've moved their e-mail and webservices to Linux servers, due 
to MY influence!  I'm so proud!)
	Of course, the history of virus attacks against proprietary OSs 
copmared to Linux are well-known.

=>1.8.No upgrade fees to remain current.

	The school where I currently work has mostly Macs and they are all 
running OS 9 or OS 8.  That last school I was in had Macs running OS 9 
and OS 8.1, PCs running Win98se and Win2000.  Schools can not afford to 
keep up with the upgrade costs that accompany proprietary software, and, 
hence, are teaching children with software that is 2 to 5 years behind 
the times.  In order to keep this machine current (the one on which I am 
writing) all I had to do was type: "yum update" into a command line, and 
it didn't cost me a thing!

	-end of my additions-


I'm a teacher, so I can always think of a myriad reasons why we should 
be using OSS.  Another, which I haven't listed above is that the OSS 
community works based upon principles of sharing, cooperation and mutual 
benefit, whereas proprietary vendors work on the sole principle of 
profit.  Shouldn't we teach our children principles of community, 
cooperation, sharing and teamwork?

My own site, School-Library.net, is an academic resources site for 
educators and students, but over the past two years has become an 
increasingly focused on advocating for OSS in schools, too.  I will 
definitely link to you as your site grows.  Keep us posted!

tony b

http://www.school-library.net
Freedom to Learn!


Ethan Sommer wrote:
> Hi, I'm attempting to create a repository of documents for people trying
> to convince others to use OSS.
>
> Here's the mission statement:
> This site strives to be a source for documents that will help people
> advocate the use of Open Source Software in their communities, schools,
> companies, governments, and families. It is intended for use by people who
> are already convinced that open source is a good thing and want to
> convince others of it.
>
> The first document we have prepared is indented to convince school
> adminstrators that using Open Source Software in their schools' computer
> labs is a good thing. It covers both use of OSS programs on Windows/Mac
> and use of Linux. It is written with United States public school systems
> in mind, but is not explicitly restricted to them.
>
> It happens to advocate the use of K12LTSP. I thought you guys would be a
> good test audience, as many of you have already gone through the task of
> convincing your school to use OSS.
>
> the site can be found at http://www.ossadvocacy.org
>
> any comments are welcome, esp. ones like "what really convinced my school
> was X" to "this idea will really turn off a lot of school administrators."
>
> Also if you know of any other success stories, let us know. I think the
> most convincing argument we can make is "look how well its working for
> them."
>
> Thanks,
>   Ethan Sommer
>
>
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> For more info see <http://www.k12os.org>

--
Anthony Baldwin

http://www.School-Library.net
Freedom to Learn!