Linux Education
May 19, 2003--Ian Lynch
told us about a serious European complaint against Microsoft. Because of the
nature of the complaint, we're printing it here in total:
In December I filed a complaint to the UK Office of Fair Trading with regard
to Microsoft Schools Agreement being anti-competitive because it requires the
payment of licences to MS for machines that do not run any of their software.
I think most people would agree that an effect of this, intentional or not,
is to block competition by ensuring revenue for MS from rival installations.
There was an article in the Register and the Times on this and I am talking
to Computer Weekly about it tomorrow. The OFT have now decided there are reasonable
grounds for a full investigation so collecting evidence is important.
This is an important issue for free software in general and in fact any free
software distribution that wants to get onto the desktop in schools. If MS succeed
in a strategy of getting most schools onto the MSSA it will virtually kill any
chance of getting free software at the desktop in schools because why use even
free software if all your machines are block licensed to MS anyway? The OFT,
has specific bureaucratic requirements in investigating these issues and it
could take up to 2 years to come to a judgement and even then it might not be
the one we would like. So this is only a beginning but an important one if free
software is to thrive in schools.
I realise this is an international list so there are two distinct issues with
which you might be able to help.
Obviously the UK Office of Fair Trading has carried out initial enquiries before
initiating a formal investigation. This could provide you with sufficient evidence
to go to your own country's, state's etc fair trading legislature to investigate
in your own neck of the woods. The more global this action the more likely that
MS will back down and make Schools agreement only apply to machines running
MS products.
If you are in the UK, and you have any evidence that MSSA is blocking OO.org,
Linux or any other adoption of non-MS products in your school or any other that
you know,particularly if you work for a commercial software selling company
the principal case officer dealing with this is Edward.Anderson@oft.gsi.gov.uk.
If you need more information drop me a line.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-5-664844,00.html
BTW, this could also have implications for other corporate agreements outside
the schools arena if the basis for calculating annual licensing costs is the
same. Given MS track record on anti-trust cases, this could be significantly
bad for them if it goes to court because it will reinforce in everyone's mind
that they are not a trustworthy organisation.
Frederick Noronha brought an article in Hawaii Business Magazine to our attention.
It's about the efforts of HOSEF, the Hawaii Open Source Education Foundation,
to promote and install Free/Open Source software in Hawaiian schools.
Frederick also directed us to four detailed reports from ITFirms in South Africa
about the use of Free and Open Source coftware in developing countries. Three
of the four are in PDF format: Free as in Education, Free Software in Latin
America, Liberation Technology for the Lands of Diversity?, and Free- and Open
Source Software in Africa. Here's a representative excerpt from "Free Software
in Latin America:"
Education plays an important role on individual independence and ability to
build a better life and this research have shown a couple of examples where
free software have lowered the barriers for “technology-enhanced”
learning. Both Colombia and Brazil have experiences that can be shared with
other geographies, and both have shown a success experience depends on proper
planning, the creation and adoption of standards, ways of sharing information
and (as in the case of the south of Brazil) government support (although desirable,
this doesn't seem to be mandatory).
One of the tools Colombia uses in its s chools is the excellent FreeEduc, released
by Ofset (Organization for Free Software for Education and Teaching). FreeEduc
has some localization for the Spanish language, and less localization for Portuguese.
A good amount of schools, however, are too far from being benefited by free
software (or any kind of software) as some of them don't even have electricity.
Data from UN's CEPAL (The Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribe)
have shown an advance on education access, even in the rural areas, and now
more than 93% of children between six and thirteen years old are studying in
schools, and trends show this is getting better. CEPAL studies still show a
high number of students leaving the schools to start working, and also shows
that if these students have stayed in the school longer, their average income
would be better. What the study doesn't show is if some “computer technology
education” would also allow the student to get a better salary or job
after finishing school, but it does show the Latin American market has not been
able to provide jobs for professional “graduated” people (with academic
or professional training): only 82% have some kind of job, and among them, only
81% are payed accordingly.
Although there are several education problems that need to be addressed, Brazil,
Colombia and Venezuela have already found if money can be saved on software,
it can be applied in other areas that are directly related to the quality of
education.
Some new applications came to our notice since the last report. Here are seven
new educational applications we've recently found:
KBVT
KBVT is a tool for small libraries. It consists of a couple of Java programs
and uses a MySQL database. It allows you to manage books, users, events, etc.
The GUI and documentation are written in German. (License: GNU Public License)
http://kbvt.koeb-oberbrechen.de/
MainBrain School
MainBrain School is a suite of internet based tools which lets parents access
grades, attendance records, message boards, homework assignments, and a variety
of other information about their students and school. An online demo can be
found here. (License: Commercial)
http://www.mainbrainschool.com
KLogo-Turtle
The KLogo-Turtle is a useful tool for teaching geometry and principles basics
of the programming of computer. Childrens can to study mathematic of mode grasping
and constructive. (License: GNU Public License)
http://klogoturtle.sourceforge.net/
The Tab Completion Grade Book
The Tab Completion Grade Book is a free software Java Grade Book program. It
features multiple courses, multiple students, arbitrarily-nested assignments,
weighted assignments and categories, XML data storage, and a configurable grading
scale for each course. It can also print a per-student summary. (License: GNU
Public License)
http://tabgradebook.sourceforge.net/
Thinstation
Thinstation is a Linux distribution that enables you to convert standard PCs
into full-featured diskless thinclients supporting all major connectivity protocols.
It can be booted from the network using Etherboot/PXE or from standard media
like floppy/CD/hd/flash-disk etc. The configuration is centralized to simplify
terminal management. (License: GNU Public License)
http://thinstation.sourceforge.net/
GenChemLab
GenChemLab is an OpenGL-based application intended to simulate several common
general chemistry exercises. It is meant to be used to help students prepare
for actual lab experience. It could also be used in cases where laboratory facilites
are not accessible, for instance in K-12 schools or home schooling. At present,
supported experiments include titration, calorimetry, and freezing point depression.
(License: GNU Public License)
http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gte067k/genchemlab/
HelpmeICT
Fully featured helpdesk, developed within and for a school enviroment. Supports
multiple domains (or groups) with multiple sites within each domain. Users can
be members of one, any or all domains/sites, with different permission levels
on each, based on assigned role. Shared knowledge base drawing on all solved
tickets. Simple stats through to full reporting, by user, by site or by domain.
Email notification of all or any changes to ticket status. All web-based from
admin through to client. We're lazy here, so trust us: we looked at all the
others we could find and discarded them before any code was cut... (License:
GNU Public License)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/helpmeict/
Associate Member