[ale] [Fwd: Microsoft targets schools for audits...]

[Geoffrey]

Some interesting info on k-12 school Linux solutions.  I wasn't aware of 
these sites before.  The primary site is:  http://k12ltsp.org/

http://k12os.org/

Microsoft targets schools for audits...
Posted byadmin on Monday, April 22, 2002 - 11:47 AM PDT (19 Reads)

admin writes "The 24 largest school districts in Oregon and
Washington are being audited my the Microsoft marketing department
for license compliance. Along with the letter from MS came an
invitation to lease software from MS as part of a school agreement
that requires MS licenses for every Pentium and PPC computer, even
those running Linux or Mac OS.

Steve Duin, a writer for the Oregonian has a column that tells the
story.

If that url is too long try this one:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/

Portland Public Schools, after a successful test of K12LTSP in one
middle school, is installing K12LTSP in 10 more labs this week. They
have plans for 100 more next year.

To give you an idea of the scale of the problem facing a large
district like PPS, they have 25,000 PCs. A MS school agreement lease
of software could cost the district over $1,000,000 a year. Just
buying a virus package would cost $250,000 a year.

Use of K12LTSP and other open source, free software is a viable
alternative. Schools are starting to figure this out.

Quoting Steve Duin and Scott Robinson, CIO of PPS in the article
above, "... Thus, it's not surprising that several schools are
asking, along with Robinson in Portland, "whether we want to continue
with the Microsoft platform."..."

If there ever was a time when using Linux on desktops in schools and
public agencies makes sense, it's NOW when MS is shooting itself in
the foot with predatory pricing practices.

What can you do?

DOWNLOAD a free copy of K12LTSP, get together with your local Linux
User Group and plan a demonstration for your local schools.
http://k12ltsp.org/download.html

TALK with your local government and school leaders and let them know
that you expect fiscal responsibility when it comes to buying
software.

Review their purchasing guidelines to see if open source solutions
are given priority over proprietary solutions.

DEMONSTRATE - Offer open houses for schools and government agencies
to showcase open source success. If we all did this on the same day
all over the country we could make a bigger splash. We released
K12LTSP 1.0 on July 4th last year and had a standing room only open
house.

We have better software because it comes from a more effective and
more responsive development model. Users are encouraged to
collaborate and improve the code. This represents a paradigm shift
that may be hard to understand for many. We have to demonstrate
success stories and let folks know that the open source revolution is
not a fluke. It's just a better way of producing the software we all
use every day.

   [;-)] Paul
K12LTSP.org"

-- 
Fred A. Miller
Systems Administrator
Cornell Univ. Press Services
fm at cupserv.org, www.cupserv.org
--- SuSE Linux v7.3 Pro---




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-- 
Until later: Geoffrey		esoteric at 3times25.net

I didn't have to buy my radio from a specific company to listen
to FM, why doesn't that apply to the Internet (anymore...)?


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