[clug] (no subject)

[Gough, Chris]

Burn Alting wrote:
> Perhaps, as well as legislation that demands adherence to open
> standards, the various education departments are lobbied to get our
> Primary and Secondary students aware/taught about OSS as part of their
> IT curriculum.

Questions I have been asked recently by students include:
* What versions of Windows does Linux run on?
* If Linux is so good, why does it do everything "the old fashioned" way?
* <exacerbated>why don't the student labs have the latest version of XYZ
(proprietary software). My assignment won't run / looks funny / won't open /
produces errors but it worked perfectly at home (at 5am this
morning)</exacerbated>.

People accept the problems associated with proprietary-locks as normal.

I don't pretend to know how School or University education works, but the
VET sector (Registered Training Organisations such as Spherion, ANUTECH, and
CIT) are controlled by the Australian National Training Authority. ANTA
dictates what goes in curricula (specifically, what competencies are to be
delivered). ANTA's decision making process is to follow the advice of
Industry Training Advisory Boards (ITABs). The ITAB advising on IT are
peopled by representatives of proprietary software _vendors_. This is the
precise point where the rot has set in. When Microsoft says "we need more
.NET developers in Australia", our system hears "we" to mean Australia.
That's how the system works, and it makes my head hurt just thinking about
it.

I have not forgiven RedHat for contributing to the downfall of GreatBridge
Software (who employed many PostgreSQL developers), but I will give them
credit for the fact that TAFE's don't ignore Linux completely.

Chris Gough