Discussion of all things related to Public Domain

[Alex <alex AT synchcorp.com>]

I guess those schools don't HAVE to take those software lease deals... If
they're stupid enough to, they deserve to get shafted...

tom poe wrote:

> Hi:  Premier example of what will soon be commonplace, under DMCA, Maybe?
> Thanks,
> Tom
> http://www.studioforrecording.org/
> http://www.ibiblio.org/studioforrecording/
> http://renotahoe.pm.org/
>
> ----------  Forwarded Message  ----------
> Subject: [seul-edu] MS targeting schools for software audits...
> Date: 22 Apr 2002 11:11:00 -0700
> From: Paul Nelson <pnelson AT riverdale.k12.or.us>
> To: k12osn AT redhat.com
>
> 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 at:
> http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/
> html_standard.xsl?/base/all_wire_stories/101386428029222529.xml
>
> 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
> --
> ======================================================================
> Paul Nelson................................pnelson AT riverdale.k12.or.us
> Riverdale School..............11733 SW Breyman Ave. Portland, OR 97219
> (503)636-4511......fax(503)635-6342.....http://www.riverdale.k12.or.us
>
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