[PLUG] Free Softwares for School

[Roshan]

--- Devendra Laulkar wrote:

> Lets just step back & see what happened. A person is
> asking for freely distributable software for schools
> on the Pune *GNU/Linux* Users Mailing List.
> People are recommending free software & alternatives
> to proprietary software.

I would request the OP to clear things out. 

> Instead of recommending free software, you are doing
> exactly opposite - finding proprietary replacements
> for free software.

Piracy is a term that many are familiar with,
especially  people in Indian cities. I need not tell
you the causes and the problems caused from it. There
are two ways to it. Either use free software or Free
Software. Note the distinction I use. 

It is not difficult for people to migrate to a Free OS
completely. But there are a lot of factors that one
has to consider. Apart from that, not all hardware
that a user buys has open specification or drivers
whose source code is available. Somewhere or the
other, there are blocks of non-free code. Perhaps, the
BIOS that one uses (if in a EEPROM) in a laptop, is
non-free and an alternative called Linux BIOS is on
its way to be tested under few motherboards. 

> And then you claim to believe in Free Software &
> associated with FSF. This is sacrilege !!

The reason I believe in Free Software is precisely
because of the four freedoms offered. As far as I can
recall, I have been able to follow only Freedom 0 and
Freedom 2. 

The point that I'm trying to make is, there's still a
long way to go. There are several steps that has to be
taken in order to ensure a smooth transition. 

[OT]
If I sound rude, please forgive me. I don't intend to.
[/OT]


--
FSF of India Associate Fellow - http://www.gnu.org.in
http://www.somaiya.edu/sksasc
ubunturos @ freenode


		
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