Hello Folks, I think good things are happening in schools with the help of LTSP.
I just sent this out to the school folks and Jim said it should go to the LTSP list too. One idea in the message below is for a software freedom day on July 4th. Take a look and let me know if you're interested in working with your local LUGs and schools. ;-) Paul -----Forwarded Message----- > From: Paul Nelson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [seul-edu] Beyond awareness... moving towards migration! > Date: 03 May 2002 10:27:13 -0700 > > Hello Folks, > > It's been a week since Eric and I went up to the ACPE conference. We > spoke with tech coordinators from 25 large Oregon and Washington school > districts being audited by Microsoft for software licensing compliance. > It's time for an update and some reflection. > > All of the districts received a letter from Microsoft demanding a > software audit. Steve Duin, a Portland columnist wrote about it in his > column. > >http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/all_wire_stories/101386428029222529.xml > (long url, you may need to paste it together...) > > Before Steve's column schools were calling MS and asking for extensions. > They reported that MS was less than friendly and responsive. AFTER the > column several things happened. > > The Portland Public School switchboard was jammed for two days with > calls from Linux users volunteering to come to PDX from all over the > west coast to help with software migration. > > MS was hit with many angry calls from all over the place. I can only > imagine the content of those conversations. Having Duin's column posted > on Slashdot.org certainly helped get the word out about what MS was > doing. > > The Slashdot post came out on Monday. Later that week most of the > technology folks from OR and WA were heading to a conference on Thursday > and Friday. MS agreed to come and present a special session on the audit > and MS licensing on Thursday afternoon. Many of the impacted schools met > the night before. There was much solidarity and a realization that if > they all stuck together they would have more clout when dealing with MS. > There was also a common understanding that this audit would cost > districts money and time. Two things in short supply these days. > Portland Public schools will devote two FTE to the audit. That's over > $100k of money that could go to classrooms and teachers. Needless to say > the relationship between these schools and Microsoft had been changed in > a fundamental way. No one was talking about using software without > paying for it. It's just that when they came face to face with the power > an EULA gives MS, they saw things in a different light. MS software in > schools was seen as a logistical and financial liability when compared > with GPL licensed alternatives. > > Now we get to alternatives. There was actually discussion of mass > migrations to Linux. The interesting thing is that with current desktops > and K12LTSP, it really is an option now. If MS was not willing to flex > on demands, several of districts were ready to dump MS software. > > On Thursday MS came in with a team to do some damage control. I've never > seen anyone more worried or concerned. Quoting, "We never had any idea > that there would be a reaction like this. Our two words for today are > friendly and flexible." And they were... They said a lot about > understanding the hardships schools face and how we were hurting for > funding. They let us know that the audits were meant to be helpful and > that this was not a BSA audit (yet...). They said that they would meet > with schools one on one to extend deadlines and be flexible. I have to > admit that they were just as they promised to be, friendly and flexible. > They did a great job of disarming the most worried school folks and then > hosted an open bar for the rest of the afternoon. > > I underestimated the ability of MS to react so well and do such a good > job. The most effective motivation for change is pain. MS did EVERYTHING > they could that day to make sure we would not feel any pain. ;-^) > > Friday morning Eric and I did a session on using GPL software in > schools. Eric did a good job on covering what's going on with the server > end of things and I did a demonstration with our Linux Toaster. We like > to stress that in many ways, software is now generic. You don't need to > license or even worry about what kind of toaster oven you have at home. > The same thing should be true of your word processor and email client. > > I was still disturbed about the MS show we saw on Thursday until we > started hearing more and more questions about migration. It seems like > schools were taking the extra time given them by MS and using it to good > advantage. We spent ALL of the Q&A time on migration paths to free > software. Eric comes from the business world. I'm an educator. He > pointed out to me that the WORST thing that could have come from all of > this was a forced, overnight migration to Linux. Having time to do it > right is much better. We've been talking with folks now for a couple of > weeks and there is a lot happening. > > I can't share everything that is in the works right now but there are > two areas where we need to focus our efforts for schools in terms of > migration: > > 1. Support and training... They need someone to call for help and they > ALL need training. This is the #1 issue keeping schools from using free > software. They just don't know how to do it and keep it running in a > production environment. Anything we do to promote training will result > in an increased use of Linux in schools. The good news in this area is > that we've moved beyond the awareness level in many schools. > > The bottom line is that schools see others using Linux and saving money > while providing superior service to classrooms. They want to go in that > direction but they just don't know how. > > 2. End user, ease of use issues... The #2 fear facing schools is the > thought that teachers will not be able to use the software. No one is > worried about the kids. Eric is now working on a classroom kiosk version > of K12Linux. We're hoping to produce a simplistic desktop with few > options and just a few icons for basic applications. There are a bunch > of desktop improvements that are part of RH 7.3. The Linux desktop is > really coming along. Teachers however equate choices with complexity and > that is something to fear. We think a classroom kiosk using KDE is > something that might be useful in these instances. > > More good news... I'm starting to hear from more major vendors who have > been getting requests for Linux in school solutions. We're getting > quotes from Micron, Dell and IBM for the 65 K12LTSP workstations we're > about to purchase for a new high school. Before we had to build > everything ourselves. > > More to do... Our greatest resource is our local user group. We need to > help schools and LUGs around the country make connections. Towards this > end we're going to start promoting a July 4th. software freedom day. > Sponsored by LUGs all over America, this event will bring together > Unix/Linux experts and schools to establish local support connections > for training and migration to GPL software. > > I'll send out more on the software freedom day later. I hope you'll help > get your LUGs and schools together. > > ;-) Paul > -- > ====================================================================== > Paul Nelson............................... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Riverdale School..............11733 SW Breyman Ave. Portland, OR 97219 > (503)636-4511......fax(503)635-6342.... http://www.riverdale.k12.or.us > > ===================================================================== > _______________________________________________________________ Have big pipes? SourceForge.net is looking for download mirrors. We supply the hardware. You get the recognition. Email Us: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________________________________ Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.openprojects.net
