[plug] netNOW NZ - Getting to the source

[Leon Brooks]

http://www.pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/pcw.nsf/ArchiveAuthor/21DEF571EDB88285CC256B9C000812D7?OpenDocument

    Last month I said the government needn't have spent $10 million
    on software for the country's schools when they could have done
    it for $75. Actually, I exaggerated. It could be less.

    This month's column comes to you from a free word processor
    running on a free operating system. In fact, the entire office
    suite on my PC was free including the graphics package, the
    games, the internet mail, the browsing software and the
    firewall. And if I want to write my own programs or turn my
    machine into a web server, they're here for nix. Updates are
    free and so are the latest programs. If I want to see how it
    all works and look at the lines of programming code that make
    this magic happen, that's free too.
 
    [...] The three-CD package and 350-page manual cost $75, and
    I've since installed it on my desktop and laptop as well as
    loaned the CDs to friends. So far there's been half-a-dozen
    systems set up from those disks. But don't call the software
    police. I could install this stuff on every PC in the country,
    all from the one package - legally.

    [...]

    Linux's biggest problem is that people don't understand it.
    It doesn't have a corporate image, a PR company, a sales
    manager or a marketing division. Lacking the supposed
    essentials of the modern business world, it tends to get
    overlooked, in spite of it forming much of the internet's
    backbone. Still, many of the computer industry's biggest
    companies support it, including IBM, Oracle, HP and SAP.

    [...]

    Technology is merely a tool for finding answers. Teacher
    knowledge was the second-biggest inhibitor to technology
    uptake, according to the aforementioned report. Wouldn't it
    be better to spend money training teachers how to use
    computer gear effectively? [I hear ya, brother, I hear where
    ya' comin' from! Amen, rother, Amen! <grin> ...] The usual
    argument against Linux is that it's different. It's not. It
    works the same as BeOS, Macintosh, Windows and countless
    other graphical systems that have emerged over the years.
    Is the aim to teach children how to use software, or how to
    use one brand of software? Let me use this analogy. How many
    types of car can you drive? Whether they're diesel, petrol,
    manual, automatic, left or right-hand drive, a couple of
    seconds familiarity and you're away. Software's the same.

    [...]

Cheers; Leon