[K12OSN] Linux cut off

[KJ]

Hey Terrell,
Not touching a Win32 app, that is fantastic!!! 

Do you have any pearls of wisdom for those of us who endeavor to get to 
that spot in life?

Thank you!
KJ

Terrell Prudé, Jr. wrote:

> Permission is certainly granted.  Go for it!
>
> BTW, I have, for the last year, been able to go completely to 
> GNU/Linux on my desktop, without ever touching a single Win32 app on 
> said desktop.  This is in a total and complete dyed-in-the-wool 
> Microsoft shop.  It is possible, and it's no longer hard.
>
> --TP
>
> Jim Kronebusch wrote:
>
>> Terrell,
>>   This is one of the best set of analogies and yet the simplest single
>> argument I have seen yet to exercise the point of OSS.  If you don't
>> mind I would like your permission to print this and keep to present to
>> the narrow-minded individuals I run into in the future. 
>>   I have been quietly attempting to gather data to help prove this
>> point in the schools I support.  Everyone always tells me they need
>> certain software to teach.  Instead this year I am asking all of the
>> teachers to put together an outline of the goals they hope to achieve
>> when teaching students technology.  I have instructed them to not give
>> me stuff like to learn Word, or Accelerated Reader.  But to give me
>> stuff like to learn to type, to learn to use a word processor, and to
>> also break down the range of skills they hope to teach in those
>> categories such as how to bold, underline, create tables, etc.  Once
>> they give me that list not knowing the real reason why, I will find
>> software that helps them teach all of their stated goals and use their
>> own documentation to prove my point.  At least that is my plan :-)
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>>  
>>
>>> You're right to duck like that.  The reason is that we are educators 
>>> of *concepts* in K12 schools.  Having come from corporate myself, I 
>>> don't see any justification for turning fourth-graders into "Good 
>>> Little Employees" ready to be trained monkeys on specific 
>>> applications.  Children don't learn how to write on just Avery-brand 
>>> paper.  They learn how to write.  Period.  Same with math--we don't 
>>> teach them how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide only on HP 
>>> calculators.  Rather, we teach them how to add, subtract, multiply, 
>>> and divide, period.  Same with cars.  The auto shop in every high 
>>> school I've ever seen that has one teaches the kids how to work on 
>>> cars, not just Fords, not just Chevys, not just Toyotas, etc.  They 
>>> teach *automobiles*.
>>>
>>> What we should be focusing on is the *concept* of word processing.  
>>> Same with using a spreadsheet--any spreadsheet, or any presentation 
>>> software.  I don't want kids only being able to use Microsoft 
>>> products; they're no good to me in my shop, and I won't--and 
>>> can't--hire them.  Several educators have found that, when children 
>>> are exposed to multiple implementations of the same concept, they 
>>> get that concept a whole lot better.  I have found that to be true 
>>> of myself even to this day.
>>>
>>> Schools do not have the same goals as corporations.  Corporations 
>>> care strictly and only about the bottom line for shareholders.  The 
>>> mission of schools, by contrast, is to get a young mind to develop 
>>> and open up to new ideas.  K12 schools are not Voc-Tech institutes 
>>> like ITT.  They're centers of general mental development, teaching 
>>> children of all ages how to learn.  Am I opposed to children 
>>> learning about Microsoft Windows and Office?  Not really.  Am I 
>>> opposed to children learning about *ONLY* Microsoft Windows and 
>>> Office?  Yes!
>>>
>>> If you think I'm wrong here, then, one corporate person to another, 
>>> I'd like to know your thoughts.
>>>
>>> --TP
>>>   
>>
>
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