Posted on 08/06/2005 3:14:43 PM PDT by Tribune7
"According to an article at PC Magazine, Indiana School systems may soon be purchasing around 300,000 Linpire desktop computers. Linspire, via it's Education Program has a straight $500-per-school (not per-seat) cost, providing an incredibly-alluring price incentive for this to happen." From the article: "Many schools across the state have already had the chance to try out desktop Linux, and everyone seems excited to get this program going...This groundbreaking initiative makes it possible for schools to afford computers for every student, something that makes a huge impact on their overall educations."
But assuming the point is education and not efficiency in production, and recognizing the flexibility -- making it work on old machines (sans license) as a class project -- it would seem a no brainer.
Could you imagine what would happen if lots of young people became Linux gurus?
Ah, too late, they already have....
In highschools all over the country, only the slackers interested in games really go for windows boxes. There are LUGs (Linux Users Groups) in virtually every highschool in my state.
ping for the group
When they get into the business world they will have to learn Microsoft products but no biggie
LUGs? I thoughts LUGs were "Lesbian until graduation".
Sorry. Could not resist.
These days, surfing the net can be the least a computer is used for. Palm pilots are also excellent for recording homework assignments future test dates, emails, etc.
Sounds like the "Education Program" needs to focus on spelling and grammar. I stopped counting after reading 10 errors...
I remember when Windows 3.1 came out and many of us refused to give up MS-DOS. Microsoft had a 24/7 toll free line with help on any of their products and they didn't care HOW you got your Windows OS.
I originally went to Windows 3.1 because there were applications available at a low cost for Windows that had more features than VERY expensive MS-DOS applications. One of my first purchases was Micrografix' Picture Publisher and Windows Draw.
It is difficult to understand how it would improve things if they gave everyone $2000.00 laptops and bundled with for free with all the software Microsoft ever made on it.
How in the world does this improve anything at all. Seem like more feel good, "Let's do something hooey" out of our "educational establishment."
One would like to see what the vendor deals are, BTW. Sounds like someone is dumping some used PCs on the schools.
I do not think that access to technology is really the problem. It is competition, accountability, transparency, and the mediocrity that the lack of these elements bring that is the problem.
At best, this is a band-aid; at worst it is a irresponsible denial of the real problems.
As an aside, do the LINUX geeks on FR understand that for young people seeking to enter the business world today in nontechnical positions, one really would be better off teaching them how to use Excel, Word, Power point and MS Project than it would be to teach them about manipulating the Linux shell.
Very few of these people will have technology careers, and those that will no doubt already have copies of LINUX.
So even from the stand point of vocational training, this project really is less meaningful than it seems.
I think I would need a little more RAM than that.
>When they get into the business world they will have to learn
>Microsoft products but no biggie
Indeed. It took me 2-3 days to learn Microsoft Developer Studio 4.0 after a college education on Unix workstations.
Maybe it's for a history lesson on the early '80s. LOL
>As an aside, do the LINUX geeks on FR understand that for
>young people seeking to enter the business world today in
>nontechnical positions, one really would be better off
>teaching them how to use Excel, Word, Power point and MS
>Project than it would be to teach them about manipulating the
>Linux shell.
1) If you don't know tech, you can't effectively manage a group of programmers.
2) They will use Linspire's super easy point and click interface, not the "Linux shell".
3) OpenOffice is conceptually similar to Microsoft Office. Teaching concepts will allow the students to port their skills.
I am excited mostly for Linux, and partially for these kids. If a school is actively engaged in academically dumbed down secular/communist/Anti-America propaganda then I agree that Linux will do nothing.
Linspire cures the schools of ...
1) getting raided by license enforcement police
2) dealing with viruses
3) dealing with many popups
4) dealing with instability
Which means more time for "education," which as you probably agree, varies from school to school.
If they were smart, they would have set up a terminal server http://ltsp.org/ to avoid having to replace all the hard drives over the next 3-10 years one at a time, but alas, I can't have everything.
And test scores prove it. NOT!!!!!
I wonder how long b4 we see them on E-Bay?
What does any of that have to do with learning reading, writing, and arithmetic? Those subjects were taught well 60 years ago without computers.
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