Many schools that switch to Linux do so for the increased reliability it offers and
the savings that can be achieved. And, many schools are educating their students
using a combination of Linux and Microsoft compatible software. There are a lot of
people in education developing educational software and administration tools to
make Linux viable in K-12. Hopefully all the software applications that this
particular school uses will run under Linux, there are substitutes available that
run under Linux, they will run Linux and Microsoft side-by-side, or the "tech
person" has a non-disruptive migration strategy in place.
From a librarian's perspective, however, I would suggest that the long term
"educational interests" of our students (and our fiscal responsibility to our
communities) are best served when we promote the adoption of Open Source software
where the underlying source code is freely available to be understood and modified
by our teachers and our students. Being able to get "under the hood" and modify
software can be a great learning experience for students. In contrast, students
cannot modify closed source software, such as Microsoft's offerings.
The sharing of work-product and ideas that underpins Open Source software, such as
Linux, is in harmony with the sharing-of-information philosophy of librarians. The
philosophy underlying closed source software is anathema to the fundamentals of our
profession.
____
Jesse McDonnell,
Teacher-Librarian...................................jmcdonnell@franklinregional.k12.pa.us
Franklin Regional Senior High School...............................724-327-5456 x
5023; fax:724-327-9256
3200 School Road, Murrysville, PA
15668...http://www.franklinregional.k12.pa.us/highschool/library/
-----Original Message-----
From: School Library Media & Network Communications
[mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU]On Behalf Of Gail Smith
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 10:39 AM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: [LM_NET] Linux?
I'm just curious as to why the "tech person" wants to switch to Linux. I
know there are many tech reasons, such as those mentioned in Brig's post,
but if you are teaching young children, are you not limiting the
availability of appropriate software applications? This sounds as if
technology interests are trumping educational interests in this one.
Will you have a voice in the decision making?
--
Gail Smith, NBCT
Librarian & Tech Facilitator
Edison Regional Gifted Center, Chicago
gsmith@edison.cps.k12.il.us
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