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Living Room / Re: How to Sell Linux to Schools
« Last post by Josh on June 03, 2010, 06:06 AM »
It's neither the program nor the OS so much as its adherence to open document formats and open standards. If I have to buy your software (Excel) just to read your file, I will never do that. Why [do school boards] force taxpayers to fund a private corporation's products? Simply put, we're all broke out here. It's time to tell Microsoft to get its money from someone else, even if it's only $3.*-zridling (June 03, 2010, 12:24 AM)
Microsoft offers free readers for document formats. Their formats are well documented and opened by any number of programs and applications. School boards force taxpayers to pay for things that train their children in things used in the real world. Like it or not, openoffice and ODF are used by a very small minority. Training people on these products would result in a student that is not prepared for what is being used. I have yet to see a job offer that states "Experience with openoffice" or "Adherence to open document standards" as a job requirement. I do, however, see jobs that REQUIRE you know the software used by the company and a majority of it's subsidiaries, partners and clients. That is not only Microsoft Office, but other products that are "proprietary".
I realize you have a big thing for Open Standards and ODF, almost to the point of blindness on any other stance or viewpoint, however this does not change the reality that these standards and products are in the minority. This does not change the fact that many companies do not rely on these open products. As mentioned above, these products often give a sub-standard or incomplete feel. They are not the quality of software needed to train and educate the young workforce. Why spend thousands upon thousands of dollars training staff and teachers to learn a new product and the way it works? Most school courses do not require just basic document editing but actually delve into various features found in these other products. If these products were in the majority, or even the small minority (actually found in use in the business world), then I could see spending time and money in training on them. Point is, these products are not. I do not want my child being taught something she will never use or could cost her a job because she didn't know the competitors product.
