On Sunday 03 Oct 2010 21:06:22 Marc Paré wrote: > Le 2010-10-03 02:34, Wolfgang Bornath a écrit : > > 2010/10/3 andré<and...@laposte.net>: > >> Targeting the school boards makes a lot of sense. > > > > Again this is something you can not generalize, different countries > > have different structures. > > In Germany it is not a school board who decides what software will be > > bought for a certain region or school. This is decided on state level > > for the various states of the federal republic. You have to go to some > > state office and compete with the reps of Microsoft. You do not talk > > to parents or teachers, it's some bureaucrats who decide this over > > here (with very few exceptions). > > > > Same with many other countries. This school board system as in the US > > is not a world wide system. > > I can't speak for André (he sounds like he is Canadian), but I am not a > US citizen, I am Canadian. Our school system and software purchase > models are the same as you describe. However, we do consult with school > boards and interested partners before acquiring software licences. I am > sure, the German states would consult with their partners before doing > such as well. We have provinces in Canada and, as you say, in Germany > you have states -- same hierarchy but with different names. As far as I > know, the American model is more of a federalist model and > consultation/coordination is done mostly from a national point of view. > I am sure someone on the list will straighten us out on this account. > > We shouldn't assume that, if people describe a different system on this > ML, that they are therefore American citizen who are trying to impose it > on everyone. I just assume that we are all Canadians on the list > (chuckles).
I noticed that there seemed to be an overwhelming sense of reasonableness, Maybe you're right. ;) > > Marc GL -- Graham Lauder, OpenOffice.org MarCon (Marketing Contact) NZ http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts.html OpenOffice.org Migration and training Consultant. INGOTs Assessor Trainer (International Grades in Open Technologies) www.theingots.org