I think this underscores the need to market ourselves effectively to local-level governments. But perhaps think a little smaller than the school systems. Education is not the low-hanging fruit on that branch. I'll explain.
A part of the problem I see here is that public school curricula need several layers of approval and that even a small school department is a very complex hive. The ecosystem around large proprietary user bases and huge educational publishers is one chokepoint. It's not just MSOffice that crowds this space. Google, for instance, has large resources devoted to getting US schools to purchase ChromeBooks for their students and faculty, to use the Google Classroom suite of educational management apps, and to teach using Workplace system that is our competitor. Cf. https://edu.google.com/ You'll see that there are sales teams, trainers, developers, etc. devoted just to the schools market. If we can get much smaller entities of municipal government to forego expensive proprietary software licenses--the public works office, the library system, the town clerk--as a discretionary choice so that their funding can go to other programs, then there are inroads to the bigger budgets within government. Best, Sully ---- On Tue, 26 Mar 2024 11:42:32 -0400 <[email protected]> wrote --- Good evening all To clarify that the uk and most of the eu educational institutions follow the ECDL curriculum which is MS based sadly, LO is featured with linux under the ICDL and woth todays generations computer users like us are seen as power users as many are more adjusted to using thier phones and tablets for everything these days through an app, some dont know what a folder/directory means Do keep it in mind that most educational curriculum is centered around moulding the young for the workforce and not for life and the many options it tosses at them I may be out of line to say that this is a Paradox for OSS vs proprietary in the educational feild as it is mosty following what the market’s & government strengths are.. Regards Warren - ossmalta.eu / mt.libreoffice.org Sent from my iPhone > On 26 Mar 2024, at 14:14, mailto:[email protected] wrote: > > Hi Mike > > This is indicative of a widescale problem. At my daughter's school the > "Information Technology" classes were not generic e.g how to use a > spreadsheet, database or word processing/presentation application. It was > specifically how to use Microsoft Office - nothing else. > > At one parents' meeting I took the IT head of department to task over this, > asking why no reference was ever made to free/open source software. He seemed > to know roughly what "open source" means but had not the slightest clue about > the concept of free software and no interest in open standards or open > formats. > > All the while this is indicative of the level to which our children are being > taught the only scope for the adoption of FLOSS applications by the general > public is going to be limited to nerds and other "self starters". This > suggests to me that the emphasis - in the UK at least - needs to be on > business, where staff use whatever applications are mandated by their > organisation. In my early days of using computers I tended to use at home > whatever applications I'd grown used to using 40 hours a week at work. > Perhaps that same principle might eventually apply and the wider use of > applications like LO could > ripple out from the workplace. > > All the best > > Nige > > LibreOffice - Free and open source office suite: LibreOffice > Website<https://www.libreoffice.org/> > Respects your privacy, and gives you back control over your data > ________________________________ > From: Mike Saunders <mailto:[email protected]> > Sent: 26 March 2024 10:07 > To: Marketing list <mailto:[email protected]> > Subject: [libreoffice-marketing] Marketing campaign/infographic idea: Freeing > schools from proprietary software > > Hi everyone, > > On Twitter (I mean, "X") someone posted about their school requiring > students to use Microsoft Office. Even worse, the school has a quiz for > new students where they are asked what software they can use, and > LibreOffice is an option, but the "correct" answer is Microsoft Office. > Here's the thread: > > https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FWarlockN1ck%2Fstatus%2F1771748533038911601&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cc93f52042af64f05947908dc4d7cd659%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638470445774235987%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Hk513vhDtuym8vzJecPi1uhXZbPdkPV%2FNSKnWJ10O3k%3D&reserved=0<https://twitter.com/WarlockN1ck/status/1771748533038911601> > > And for those who don't want to use "X", a screenshot: > > https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FnvxTvAm.png&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cc93f52042af64f05947908dc4d7cd659%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638470445774244181%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2BCvwMKgE6IoHOQn6KLxZuMl2Jce1v1XJt7pEOdeZDX4%3D&reserved=0<https://i.imgur.com/nvxTvAm.png> > > So what can we do about this? My idea is a short infographic that we can > post in response to such things, pointing out the benefits of FOSS > (especially with regards to data privacy) and how it's important for > students to have choice in the tools they use, and the value of learning > other tools. > > Ideas and mockups very welcome :-) > > -- > Mike Saunders, Marketing and Community Coordinator > Deputy Member of the Board of Directors > The Document Foundation > > -- > To unsubscribe e-mail to: mailto:[email protected] > Problems? > https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.libreoffice.org%2Fget-help%2Fmailing-lists%2Fhow-to-unsubscribe%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cc93f52042af64f05947908dc4d7cd659%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638470445774249554%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2Buu433dYJDk8%2BqHd1xvxwTQBYiNL8WGnHTtYuOr%2FpEU%3D&reserved=0<https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/> > Posting guidelines + more: > https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwiki.documentfoundation.org%2FNetiquette&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cc93f52042af64f05947908dc4d7cd659%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638470445774253984%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=vO6edGqYHn8uTzKGGBIqO6uE%2F%2Bm%2B6SFs0H4E%2FJvXh9g%3D&reserved=0<https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette> > List archive: > https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flistarchives.libreoffice.org%2Fglobal%2Fmarketing%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cc93f52042af64f05947908dc4d7cd659%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638470445774258010%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=i7v0fWEh1AYKFYnDK1lceJep1jy2BYB%2BG1gzhBtFT2c%3D&reserved=0<https://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/marketing/> > Privacy Policy: > https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.documentfoundation.org%2Fprivacy&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cc93f52042af64f05947908dc4d7cd659%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638470445774262116%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=BrtznXbCsSmr9vCqXBWJGgklwXQ56Lxe%2BWz9lcNWmQA%3D&reserved=0<https://www.documentfoundation.org/privacy> > > -- > To unsubscribe e-mail to: mailto:[email protected] > Problems? > https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ > Posting guidelines + more: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette > List archive: https://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/marketing/ > Privacy Policy: https://www.documentfoundation.org/privacy -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: mailto:[email protected] Problems? https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: https://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/marketing/ Privacy Policy: https://www.documentfoundation.org/privacy -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: [email protected] Problems? https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: https://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/marketing/ Privacy Policy: https://www.documentfoundation.org/privacy
