[Liverpool] Linux Installation

[Lucy]

2009/8/19 Simon Johnson <simon.johnson at gmail.com>:
>>
>>
>> While I agree that it's 100% about the end user, I don't agree that
>> software freedom is incompatible with this. Software freedom empowers
>> users. One specific benefit for a school is that it allows pupils to
>> take home copies of the software they use at school (no more need to
>> shell out for a brand new pc and MS Office). It also allows them to
>> share the 'cool' programs they find with their friends, rather than
>> being told it's wrong. Obviously there are more benefits, but that one
>> is good to start with.
>
>
> Obviously freedom two is a great sales tool!
>
> When we talk about free software we usually define that term as having all
> four of the freedoms protected.
>
> I think that is wrong to try and promote freedom one and freedom three to
> users. Very few users really want to modify and redistribute the software.
>
> For example, the popular windows program Paint.NET is free in the sense of
> freedom zero and freedom two yet is unfree with respect to freedom one and
> freedom three. Other popular programs such as the chat client mIRC are free
> in this limited sense, but not free in the full-blooded sense.
>
> This was the sense in which I disagree with talking about the political
> manifesto of the free software movement when trying to sell users free
> software. Trying to explain to a user why they should run GIMP over Paint
> .NET is confusing and totally counterproductive. They just won't get it.
>

Okay, your initial email implied that it was wrong to mention software
freedom at all. I agree with not overwhelming them with the politics
of the FS movement. I just wanted to make it clear that mentioning
software freedom is a good idea and that it doesn't have to involve
talking about all four freedoms and all the politics straight away. In
fact, I try to avoid the politics myself where ever possible :/

I actually think that being able to modify and share code can be of
great benefit to a school. Empowering users to have an impact on the
software they use by creating bug reports, etc is great too. It just
might not be appropriate to mention that immediately.

Don't forget that this is a school that we're talking about and
teaching pupils to create and share free software would be great for
them too.

> At the end of the day, Linux is a competitor to Windows 7 and OSX. It has to
> win that battle on merit. Linux won the battle for the server room entirely
> on merit. Now it needs to conquer the desktop too.
>
> It should compete, pound for pound, feature for feature with these
> operating systems and by sheer technical excellence it should come out on
> top.
>
> We should not give it a free pass simply because it has a trendy political
> philosophy! The software has to deliver for the users, first and foremost.

Agreed. Hence suggesting a trial to help gather requirements from users.

Also, schoolsforge might be a good place to get case studies from
other primary schools.