[ubuntu-uk] Opensource on BBC Technology

[Neil Greenwood]

On 17/01/07, Andy <stude.list at googlemail.com> wrote:
> 4. Ability to provide software to students, schools can allow students
> to do work at home, such as writing essays, as long as they have a PC
> if the school uses Free software then they can give out copies. This
> allows poorer people to receive a better education, as much software
> is now more expensive than the minimum hardware needed for a working
> system.
> (MS Office 2003, student version: £119.99 WinXP home SP2 £176.99
> source Amazon.co.uk)
> ArsTechnica budget box is $500, (roughly £250),
> thus hardware cheaper than the MS OS and Office suite.
> And that's not counting all the other software.
> Or is it OK to require people to have money to get an education?
>

While I agree heartily with all of your points, I think there might be
a flaw with this one...
I seem to remember (and I could be incorrect on this) that at least
some schools have licensing deals with Microsoft where the school
purchases Office and the licence applies to the home machines of the
students too. So the school can legally give out copies of MS Office
to its students.

There are probably extreme restrictions on its use on the home
machines, and I don't know what happens about other family members...

I certainly hope that FOSS is adopted in more UK schools soon, with
the support of the government rather than individual schools having to
blaze their own path. And I hope it happens before my daughters start
school.

A colleague of mine also uses Linux in work and at home. When his
daughter started school, she didn't like using the school computers.
The teacher spoke to my colleague and said something along the lines
of "She keeps asking where the penguin is. What's she on about?"  Get
'em while they're young. :-)


Hwyl,
Neil.