[OTT-GOSLING] Ontario Schools have MS only policy?

[John Jeffers]

>>
>>>Can any of our Ontario members confirm this story?
>>>http://p2pnet.net/story/9207
>
>   I'm currently doing an email interview with the teacher in 
> question.  What I can say is that it doesn't seem to be board-wide 
> policy, but a decision of a principal based on "advise" from 
> staff.   I've send a series of questions to the principal and the 
> trustee for that school, and hope to have more to publicly report soon.
>
>   I note from the archives of the Ubuntu Canada list that there are 
> comments about Microsoft-only policies or existing deals.  What we 
> need is documentation of these things, not just roomers.  Anyone 
> have references?  We can use Access to Information laws to get 
> details once we know a policy exists, if we aren't able to find 
> things other ways.

OTTAWA CRESCENT PUBLIC SCHOOL
75 Ottawa Crescent, Guelph, Ontario   N1E 2A8   (519) 822-6880 "Donna 
Hambleton" <Donna.Hambleton at ugdsb.on.ca> (Secretary) uses Corel 
office.  On windows for all the school documentation.

She uses First Class Mailer.

Received: from mail.ugdsb.on.ca ([111.1.2.229]) by elmo.ugdsb.on.ca 
with ESMTP id <336076>; Wed, 31 May 2006 13:12:57 -0400
Message-id: <fc.00870c1d0115686000870c1d01156860.11568af at ugdsb.on.ca>
Date:  Wed, 31 May 2006 13:13:47 -0400
Subject: june 2006 newsletter
X-Mailer: FirstClass 8.2 (build 8.091)
X-FC-SERVER-TZ: 15729388

Apparently the Backbone server is running a nix and her personal 
machine is running windows and has Wordperfect on it (it's a Dell) 
and likely came with what amounts to Wordperfect family pack and is a 
Board Level IT buy machine.  She still does not know how to dump 
pdf's or HTML out of Wordperfect but that's a training issue.

Upper Grand School District has apparently cobbled together a working 
solution of lower cost bits and pieces.  So I would say IT likely has 
a budget minds it's pennies and Does Dell with Windows due to the 
well known windows tax.  (You got to have this anyway ..... may as 
well take advantage.....)  On the backbone they did nixes and likely 
white box but amazingly enough their school net runs fibre to the net 
from each school and they have taken full advantage with VOIP phones 
to again lower cost.  I think Ontario gave them the fibre.  Their 
photocopier is a scanner copier with PDF, printer and email built in 
and does run a nix since it asks in setup how many inodes to give to 
the scanner job.

There is no resident IT person but they present as a workable office 
in a small Ontario PS. both on Email and in person since I visited to 
go to a school assembly Wednesday and shook hands with everyone 
imaginable picking up my children and could not help but notice what 
equipment was where.

I think they have a policy of not spending money unless it must be 
and getting the bang for the buck they can.

Regards John

+---- \\\// --[John Jeffers john at j-microsystems.com 73's VE3GYV]-+
|     (0 -)                                                      |
+-oOO--(_)--OOo-------- -> Embedd uClinux <- --------------------+
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-ca/attachments/20060701/dd139093/attachment.html>