Ubuntu vs Freespire

[Eamonn Sullivan]

On 8/23/06, Alan Mckinnon <alan at linuxholdings.co.za> wrote:
> On Wed, 2006-08-23 at 13:02 +0200, Sylvain Girard wrote:
> > I think the issue is that the kids learn to use office in school. How
> > close the openoffice functionality is to the ms office functionality,
> > the interface isn't quite the same.
>
> If your kids can find their way around Office, then can't find their way
> around OpenOffice, then they shouldn't be using the computer at all.
> Seriously.
>
> You are making an issue out of something that simply isn't an issue at
> all. You would never claim that they will not be able to use
> Firefox/Konqueror/Epiphany/Galeon/SeaMonkey/Mozilla/Opera/Netscape
> because they have already learned IE, right?

Don't jump on the OP for the idiocy of the educational system. In the
U.K., it's the same. The teachers know nothing whatsoever about
computers and just drill the students on step-by-step menu pecking in
Microsoft Office and Windows, which the students then need to
regurgitate to pass the national tests.

We're Windows-free at our house too and it's a problem. We have a Mac
(and two Linux PCs), so at least they have some place to memorize the
useless information about Word and Excel. But I'm making sure the kids
can also do the same things in OpenOffice and try to expose them to a
bit more about computers. One of them has taken an interest in Python,
for example.

But it's a constant uphill battle. The schools are, more and more,
locked into long-term, overpriced contracts to offer rented Windows
computers. None of the universities that my eldest daughter
investigated even offered Macs, and she's looking at *art* schools.
Geezum. It's enough to drive you to despair. I can see why people
resort to home schooling...

Sorry for the off-topic rant. It's something that has really bothered
me for years. I'd join any effort to change that, but it's an
incredibly high barrier right now in the U.K. and getting higher.

-Eamonn