[PLUG] Re: Dhule district adopted OPEN SOURCE

[Nishit Dave]

On 3/9/07, Devendra Laulkar <devendralaulkar at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I think Microsoft provides no cost
> MS Office to schools. Also it provides training to
> teachers for free
>
> permission before using images in school newsletter
> and How to request and maintain logs for such
> permissions.
>
>
Don't you think this forum can help in creating awareness about such obvious
traps?  Why should the children be locked into proprietary technology when
we have free alternatives available?

I am really upset that a Free tool as important as gcompris in penetrating
dominant-player barriers is being used to further the use of proprietary
operating systems and productivity applications.  Take a look at this
amusing Gcompris strategy to get back at demoware-style extortion supported
by Microsoft: http://gcompris.net/Buying-the-Windows-version .

Its Linux version, however, has all the features, and is Free.

News have recently been published that Microsoft now provides Office 2007 to
students in some US universities at a 95% discount.  It is distributing
Office to Maharashtra's schools for free, and some might think that it is a
great magnanimous handout.  Nobody mentions that by adopting OpenOffice, the
State would have been able to avoid getting obligated to Microsoft, and
would have been able to keep real, viable, Free options open for its future
generations, which now will only understand Word and Excel and look for the
latest and greatest patches to Windows.

Anyway, you all know how the rest of this rant goes, and I will say no
more.  All the best, Maharashtra.