Microsoft puts the squeeze on NW schools

The Oregonian ^ | April 21, 2002 | Steve Duin

[Dinsdale]

No just one. Please read the linked sight.

If making a 'copy' onto the hard drive is required to use the software then you have that right. You also have the right to make ONE backup.

[ContentiousObjector]

We told Microsoft to F--k Off and to refer any further communication to our legal counsel, we have not heard from them since,

They didn't want us to audit, they wanted us to buy Windows and Office XP and sign up for Open Liscense 6.0

We tried to cooperate with them, up until the point it was clear that this was not a liscense compliance issue, but a stealth salescall.

We have gotten rid of Windows 2000 Server and replaced it with Solaris, we have gotten rid of virtually all the Windows NT workstations used by the geologists and engineers and replaced them with Solaris workstations, we have replaced Microsoft Office with Corel Word Perfect, the only Windows Liscenses we are running today are the OEM Windows that came with the PC's.

I am just so sick of Microsoft's crap, my advice to anyone else who has been on the receiving end of Microsoft harrasment is to tell them to f--k off and tell them to deal with your lawyers.

And if that isn't enough, after all that s--t, Microsoft crawled out from under their rock a while back and actually had the unmitigated gaul to try to sell us .net

I want to see Microsoft broken up into pieces to small that ants haul them away as food.

[discostu]

BHA HAH HA. Are your school days that far behind you? School kids are eager to serve their time and go home. The ones that actually ARE eager to learn aren't learning at school, they're learning in the library and at home the way God intended learning to be done. And lets not lose sight of the goal. Teaching kids word processing has the goal of making them useful in the modern age where word processors are an every day part of life; there aren't that many people that program in C and it's step children every day, teaching them how to program so they can understand how the word processor made an underline is a rather lengthy and completely pointless side trip.

[Dinsdale]

How would you suggest stoping the unauthorized installs by the kids? It is possible to make it very difficult, but that creates new problems.

Remember some of these kids know much more then their teachers.

[discostu]

That was my initial arguement, but then the social engineers came out and started saying that if we taught the kids Linux then Linux would rule the world. Thus my second layer of why Linux won't rule the world until the normal schmo on the street knows what "recompile the kernel" means and is eager to do so... I predict this day will come no less than 200 years after I die. Heck I've been a computer geek since the TRS-80 days and even I don't like recompiling the kernel, it seems so... unnatural, and my momma taught me not to do no unnatural acts.

[ThinkDifferent]

Since Windows is so popular, students leave school with readily transferrable skills.

Except that the Windows they may use in the future will likely have little resemblance to the current version (see 3.1->95->XP). If anything, this is an argument for using Macs, since current Mac features often show up in future Windows versions.

[ThinkDifferent]

I don't like recompiling the kernel, it seems so... unnatural

I'll agree on this one. I was never a fan of recompiling the kernel; to me it seemed to indicate a poor architecture. From what I understand it's rarely required these days with loadable kernel modules and such, but since a lot of Linux users seem to *like* building kernels, they keep talking about it, and probably scare off lots of potential users.

[B Knotts]

The goal of education is not (or should not be) primarily specific job training; it is supposed to prepare a child for being able to think and adapt.

[TechJunkYard]

Ever hear of Price-Waterhouse? The auditing guys?

Aren't they usually invited? Particularly if they're doing Annual Reports and such?

[TechJunkYard]

The company I was with a few years ago spent a pretty penny on consultants to come in and teach us how to use Word and Excell. These kinds of skills are needed.

[TechJunkYard]

.. a lot of Linux users seem to *like* building kernels...

Because we CAN. But no, it's not required.

[js1138]

I worked at a large corporation and we audited our machines twice a year, reporting every excutable other than the ones we wrote ourselves.

[Bush2000]

Aren't they usually invited? Particularly if they're doing Annual Reports and such?

Do you actually think they volunteer their time out of the goodness of their hearts? Of course not. They're an accounting firm. They sign contracts. They get paid.

[Bush2000]

If making a 'copy' onto the hard drive is required to use the software then you have that right. You also have the right to make ONE backup.

If you can install the software on every PC in your house simultaneously, you have already violated the "ONE backup" provision of the license.

[Bush2000]

I want to see Microsoft broken up into pieces to small that ants haul them away as food.

And there you have it: You're a card-carrying, Anyone-But-Microsoft (ABMer) club member. Send our regards to your kiddie friends at Slashdot....

[HiTech RedNeck]

If you "can"? Even if you "don't"?

[Bush2000]

Except that the Windows they may use in the future will likely have little resemblance to the current version (see 3.1->95->XP). If anything, this is an argument for using Macs, since current Mac features often show up in future Windows versions.

You just killed your own argument. The huge selling point of OSX Aqua was supposed to be the fact that it had "changed so much"...

[FreePaul]

the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is pouring millions of dollars into small, high-tech high schools

Bill and Melinda redistribute the wealth. Ain't communism grand?

[TechJunkYard]

They're an accounting firm. They sign contracts. They get paid.

Are you confused? What's this got to do with MS agents checking licenses in schools?

[Bush2000]

If you "can"? Even if you "don't"?

Would you kindly reference the post you were responding to? I don't have time to troll through the thread searching for a context ...