[plug] Microsoft's insidious domination in Australian schools

Thu May 4 23:10:42 WST 2006

At my school library the librarians think that firefox is some contraban  
"hacking" program. Despite the fact that i keep telling them its a web  
browser.

On Thu, 04 May 2006 21:56:23 +0800, Meryon Montgomery  
<monts at westnet.com.au> wrote:

> At my school my two servers on the curriculum side of the network are
> ubuntu, my workstation (gentoo) and another workstation (kubuntu) are
> linux as well. Basically with any software (OS or otherwise) that isn't
> on their SOE won't be supported. I guess they are too pleased because I
> insist that the browser of choice is firefox. Apparently they haven't
> heard of it at the helpdesk (let alone openoffice or anything
> complicated).
>
> Monts
>
> On Thu, 2006-05-04 at 20:50 +0800, Peter F Bradshaw wrote:
>> Hi Gavin;
>>
>> You may want to make contact with OpenSource WA  
>> (http://www.opensource.wa.gov.au/)
>> about this. They do not have the status of a department but they are
>> a government agency and may be able to help you cut throught the
>> beaurucracy.
>>
>> In any case, if there is not a plan to introduce OSS into education,
>> your enquiry may prompt them to create one.
>>
>> On Thu, 4 May 2006, Gavin Chester wrote:
>>
>> > (This email is written with many concepts explained that may already  
>> be
>> > familiar to you because I am sending this as an open letter to  
>> readers from
>> > a wide range of backgrounds and interest groups).
>> >
>> > I write with heavy heart and a good dose of old-fashioned rage at the
>> > injustice meted out to the next generation.  Okay, that's maybe a bit  
>> over
>> > the top, but I encountered a ludicrous situation that came to a head  
>> today
>> > at my local government primary school of around 75 students (K-7),  
>> located
>> > in a rural area of Western Australia.  It's under-funded and
>> > under-resourced, as you would imagine.
>> >
>> > Through contacts I have in the local Linux user group (PLUG), I had  
>> tapped
>> > into a supply of up to 15 PII PCs about to be cast-off by a large  
>> company.
>> > They were more than happy to donate the lot, plus spares, and deliver  
>> them
>> > more than 100km to our school.  These PCs are useless for running any  
>> recent
>> > version of Microsoft, but they are great for running Linux.  I  
>> presented a
>> > proposal to our school Principal of the concept of making use of these
>> > computers in a teaching lab, utilising one or two of their high-end  
>> desktops
>> > as a server.  The latter part of the concept was a short-term  
>> solution and I
>> > aimed to beg, borrow or steal a purpose-built server once I got the  
>> lab up
>> > and running, and proven.  I also was going to donate my time to setup  
>> the
>> > system and administer it and asked nothing of the school staff in this
>> > regard.
>> >
>> > Underpinning the concept was that it was to be a K12LTSP lab, since I  
>> have
>> > been following the project for about three years and run a small  
>> setup at
>> > home for my kids.  For those who don't know, K12LTSP is an offshoot  
>> of the
>> > LTS Project that allows low-end PCs to be used as thin (i.e., no hard  
>> drive)
>> > clients running off a central Linux server.  Another, similar Linux  
>> project
>> > is 'Edubuntu', which is based on Ubuntu Linux, itself based on Debian  
>> Linux.
>> > Those of you in the know will realise that there are other projects  
>> out
>> > there that do similar things and also are tailored for an educational
>> > setting, but K12LTSP is the one with which I am most familiar.  The  
>> beauty
>> > of any of these projects is that all the software is very worthy and  
>> it is
>> > FREE and you get to recycle old PCs, which not only saves them from
>> > polluting at landfill but also means that the hardware is usually  
>> FREE.
>> > Moreover, you can run a large PC lab (30 or more PCs, or clients)  
>> with only
>> > one server to administer instead of lots of separate PCs with their  
>> own
>> > operating system.  See these links for more information if you're not
>> > already familiar with these software projects:
>> > http://k12ltsp.org/contents.html
>> > http://www.ltsp.org/
>> > http://www.edubuntu.org/
>> >
>> > Despite being cash-strapped, the school did have some cash to spare  
>> for
>> > incidentals so I was going to be able to buy some missing bits, like  
>> basic
>> > networking gear.  I was even prepared that the lab be isolated from  
>> the rest
>> > of their system with no access to their existing server and internet  
>> link
>> > (the reason for this will be soon be apparent).  Well, today I was  
>> told that
>> > thanks, but no thanks.  Apparently, higher powers in head office  
>> dictate
>> > that every computer located in any government school across the whole  
>> State
>> > MUST run Microsoft - even if the hardware on which it runs is donated.
>> > Also, every computer in the school must be powerful enough to run  
>> XP.  It
>> > simplifies administration and help-desk support, you see.  That's  
>> despite
>> > the fact that no one from head office ever comes near the school's  
>> PCs, and
>> > despite the fact that the school can't afford to have more than about  
>> one
>> > working PC for every six students in the school because of the  
>> hardware
>> > requirements of XP.  I should point out that the ratio is an  
>> estimate, since
>> > I've only anecdotal evidence of how many PCs are used regularly in the
>> > school.  If I've erred, I believe I've been generous regarding the  
>> ratio of
>> > students per PC.
>> >
>> > As you would imagine, I was aghast at being told this today.  I
>> > incredulously stated to the Principal and the school administrator  
>> that "it
>> > is our responsibility to teach our children computing, not  
>> Microsoft".  But
>> > my pleas fell on deaf ears because they are bound by head office  
>> policy,
>> > apparently.  I don't write this open letter to serve as a means to  
>> 'vent my
>> > spleen' and rant like some Linux zealot at a ridiculous situation.   
>> Instead,
>> > I ask that recipients consider the implications of it and then act.   
>> If you
>> > are able to contact someone who may have some influence, or know  
>> someone who
>> > knows someone else who may have influence, I want to see if we might  
>> effect
>> > a change in education policy to stop this happening in West Australian
>> > government schools.  Just where are our tax dollars being spent in
>> > education?  Into the pockets of Microsoft and Intel, I think.
>> >
>> > I see the use of free software and recycled hardware as another  
>> opportunity
>> > to better our next generation, yet it is being shot down by FUD (fear,
>> > uncertainty and doubt) emanating from the halls of (educational)  
>> power.  The
>> > teachers here at the 'coal face' don't seem to mind too much because  
>> "we
>> > don't have to pay any licensing fees out of our budget - head office  
>> pays".
>> > I was dumbfounded that such an attitude can exist.  Contact me if you  
>> have
>> > any ideas or similar sad stories to relate.
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> >
>> > 	Gavin Chester
>> >
>> > 	962 Williams Rd (PO Box 62), Dwellingup, Western Australia.  6213.
>> > 	Tel: (08) 9538 1102
>> > 	E-mail#1: mailto:sales at ecosolutions.com.au
>> > 	E-mail#2: mailto:gc at gwchester.com
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>
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