Members of FSUG-Kochi have submitted a memorandum to the Government of Kerala regarding the choice of software and syllabus prescribed for the IT@School project. Link up and read the full memo at
http://www.symonds.net/~fsug-kochi/mass-memo.html
"Raghu" == Raghavendra Bhat ragu@vsnl.com writes:
Raghu> Members of FSUG-Kochi have submitted a memorandum to the Raghu> Government of Kerala regarding the choice of software and Raghu> syllabus prescribed for the IT@School project. Link up and Raghu> read the full memo at
Raghu> http://www.symonds.net/~fsug-kochi/mass-memo.html
Nice document. I specially liked section 2 which talks about proprietary communication standards. Agree that those are going to cost much more in the long term than open or closed source. Leo, are you listening?
Section 4 is a bit weak. MS is now making source code available to limited audiences, and could theoretically make source available to Kerala schools if pressurised. Instead you could add stuff about learning from play: get the source, modify it, distribute modified source, gather experience. Software development today is (or should be) assimilation and integration rather than pure development. And that is what our school students should learn: not how to write code but how to judge what existing code comes closest to their requirements, how to modify it, how to integrate it into their application.
Finally, your argument may be strengthened if you point out the fact that free software like Linux will work just fine on older 386 and 486 PCs, unlike Winduhs which would require a hardware upgrade with each software version upgrade. And since we have already started making open source arguments (cost), why not bring in the other open source arguments too? Let's talk about the stability of free software, its security, its lack of creeping-featuritis.
Regards,
-- Raju
On Wed, 2002-11-20 at 10:24, Raju Mathur wrote:
"Raghu" == Raghavendra Bhat ragu@vsnl.com writes:
Raghu> Members of FSUG-Kochi have submitted a memorandum to the Raghu> Government of Kerala regarding the choice of software and Raghu> syllabus prescribed for the IT@School project. Link up and Raghu> read the full memo at Raghu> http://www.symonds.net/~fsug-kochi/mass-memo.htmlNice document. I specially liked section 2 which talks about proprietary communication standards. Agree that those are going to cost much more in the long term than open or closed source. Leo, are you listening?
Yes it is a good document. The arguments can be strengthened. In section 1, it is not just about software and commercial fairness. It is more than just a marketing trick. It is world domination over the essential technologies of a knowledge society - domination by one single proprietary software company.As I keep saying, the software environment is akin to language - the language for working with information and knowledge. This cannot be left in the hands and complete control of any single corporation. Why would any country want to train it's citizens in the use and/or development of a particular software product? Just as literacy is NOT EQUAL to knowing how to read,write,speak a particular language (e.g English), computer literacy is NOT EQUAL to knowing how to use ONE particular software environment.When people talk about computer literacy today, it seems to be equivalent to MS Software Literacy. And this is what the educational system seems to be promoting. Do we see parallels here with colonial times? Except now we have corporations determining the "language" of world trade.
Kudos to the Kochi folks for coming up with this document.We should develop the arguments in it and take it forward.
Leo
Nice document, a link or complete version should also appear on FSF-India's website.
Nagarjuna
On Tue, Nov 19, 2002 at 09:55:49PM +0530, Raghavendra Bhat wrote:
Members of FSUG-Kochi have submitted a memorandum to the Government of Kerala regarding the choice of software and syllabus prescribed for the IT@School project. Link up and read the full memo at
http://www.symonds.net/~fsug-kochi/mass-memo.html
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Leo -
Nagarjuna G. -
Raghavendra Bhat -
Raju Mathur