Teachers Need an Open Source Education 440
palegray.net writes "Teachers are sorely in need of an education in what open source software is, what it isn't, and how it can benefit their students. A recent news story at the Reg discussed the case of a Texas teacher who accused those distributing Linux to students of committing criminal acts. A HeliOS blog entry exposes a 'higher education' culture of apathy, lies, and fear of open source software. Things have got to improve, and that improvement needs to start with misguided teachers getting their facts straight."
And another slow news day... (Score:0, Informative)
... where nothing of value was said.
Seriously, are the editors addicted to putting up new articles that they would just let anything get through? There is no new insight from this article, just a rehash of an age old topic...
Helios Blog Entry Is Crap! (Score:1, Informative)
I read the blog entry and could not believe the garbage.
Linux on the server side is fantastic, and it works very very well. However, on the desktop things are not so clean cut.
When I read:
>Open Office documents send and receive .doc and exel spread sheets just fine.
What a load of garbage! Open Office can send and receive those documents so long as they are not that complicated. And therein lies the issue. You are nervous to use OpenOffice because an translation error could hit you at the wrong moment.
>Why are you denying computer users simply because they choose to use a more secure operating system?
Be very very careful of what you write! If Linux on the desktop were to get the kind of attraction that Windows or more recently OSX does we would be seeing very different pictures.
Remember OSX, based UNIX, said that they had no virii. Ooops, not that OSX is becoming popular it seems that there are a few security loopholes. The same thing would happen to Linux since hackers are a determined lot.
Linux needs to stop the smug attitude because users don't care about smugness. They just want things to work!
this is an american phenomenon (Score:5, Informative)
Here in Germany, I never experienced any hostility towards open source software in the educational system.
The universities are quite supportive of open source and lend their infrastructure to host mirrors for various distributions.
Re:Helios Blog Entry Is Crap! (Score:5, Informative)
Apache is a different situation. Apache has been around since the Internet and as such has fought the battles.
The problem with Linux and Open Office is that they have not been in broad use in the context of a desktop. And as such the traps related to the desktop have not been exposed.
Many of the worst problems are because people click on things that they should not be clicking on. Linux does not have that type of idiocy proof technology built in. Windows and Vista have that built in. It is also a reason why I hate Vista.
Here is a very simple example. If I want to open a port below 1024 I need admin rights. Well what about above? Nope don't need it. This was done in the days when anything below 1024 was considered important. Though now it has become irrelevant and as such could be a security threat.
http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/node/2179 [linuxquestions.org]
From the article...
> I wonder why. Isn't it time to declare the port 1024 limit as obsolete too and remove it?
Re:citations please .. (Score:5, Informative)
Not only that, when the story first 'broke', I tried emailing the AISD, they never heard of a 'Karen' involved in the alleged incident. The only source is on that blog
Re:citations please .. (Score:3, Informative)
according to TFB, only her last-name was withheld. Maybe he decided to further obfuscate things, but if that's the case then he also lied about it.
AVG not free (Score:4, Informative)
Any commercial use of the software, and any resale or further distribution of the software, other than as expressly authorized by this agreement, constitutes a material breach of this agreement and may violate applicable copyright laws.
Looks like you were advocating copyright infringement. Clamwin [clamwin.com] is the only Free Software virus scanner I know of.
Re:Helios Blog Entry Is Crap! (Score:3, Informative)
So far, that's correct.
The plural of 'virus' is 'viruses', its Greek not Latin.
No no no. "virus" is clearly a word with origins in Latin (-us is an ending for Latin words, not Greek ones), and the correct plural, in Latin, would be "viri". However, since the word is used in an English text, the correct plural is "viruses".
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/virus [merriam-webster.com]
Re:citations please .. (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Lack of knowledge not an excuse (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What?! (Score:2, Informative)
- Raising salaries: It won't work to appeal only to the rejects.
Actually, starting salaries for teachers are relatively good. Which is why (IMHO) a lot of liberal arts majors and other such degrees that don't lead directly to high paying jobs tend to be drawn to teaching. The salary problem is actually in the years following, as there's no incentive for a good teacher to stay put. Here is the salary schedule for my local school district. [roundrockisd.org] It takes over 10 years to earn 10% more than your starting salary.
- Firing for gross incompetence. As works with just about everyone else.
You can thank the union for that. There are no merit increases (only longevity) and, short of molesting some kids, it's almost impossible to get fired. Again, it's all about incentive. The only (financial) incentive for teachers is to be around for another year, not to teach well or make efforts to become a better teacher.
- Requiring a higher level of knowledge and teaching abilities.
I think if the first 2 points are enacted, this one would simply follow... But I do have to say that this is one of the few things that the "No Child Left Behind Act" got right. It requires teachers to be "highly qualified", which means that a teacher actually has to demonstrate competence and that they had formal education in the subject they are to teach.
Re:What?! (Score:3, Informative)
What a strange place you live in. In MA & NY you are required to have a Masters degree within 2 years of starting teaching. With that 5-6 years of school, you may make as much as 45K after 6 years - in a state with one of the highest costs of living in the nation. All of this sets up a situation where the only people who stay teachers are those with a passion for teaching children. Everyone else moves into corporate training where they make twice as much.
Teachers do need an increase in pay, but they also need an increase in support from parents. How many lawsuits do we have regarding parents suing schools because their kids are failing? I know that my sons school district has had a couple - so many so that my son literally can't fail even when we tell them he should. He hasn't done enough homework in any class to "pass", but he still keeps passing the classes. That rather severely undercuts my attempts as a parent to push the concepts of personal responsibility and consequences.
Re:What?! (Score:3, Informative)