[Fsf Education] Spread the message, not the OS

[Amitabh Trehan]

--- "Khuzaima A. Lakdawala"
<klak@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in> wrote:
> > If Linux is going to reach the school classroom,
> the success or failure of

Hi,
 thats a very well made point. The philosophy needs to
spread first and why concentrate on propagating just
the O.S., try spreading all free SW like LaTeX etc, in
a way that does not intimidate the people.
 A senior teacher at IGNOU related to me the stiff
resistance to change he has experienced with all level
of staff except the highly motivated. There is a whole
field of `Change engineering' that needs to be looked
into.

Amitabh

> 
> The most important reason, neither listed above nor
> by the people
> behind RedEscolar, was that they tried to spread
> GNU/Linux the
> operating system without first spreading the
> underlying message of
> software freedom. Trying to spread GNU/Linux without
> first ensuring
> that the message of software freedom has been put
> across and well
> understood is like putting the proverbial cart
> before the horse. Like
> trying to build a grand structure without laying the
> appropriate
> foundation -- such a structure might sustain itself
> for some time, but
> eventually it is bound to collapse.
> 
> Failures like RedEscolar can be avoided only by
> ensuring that we first
> educate people about the virtues of software freedom
> and by creating
> conditions in which people *ask* for free software
> only because it is
> free and not for any other reason. The spread of
> GNU/Linux, or any
> other free OS for that matter, can only be a
> consequence of the spread
> of the message of software freedom, not the other
> way around.
> 
> -- 
> Khuzaima A. Lakdawala
> _______________________________________________
> http://mm.gnu.org.in/mailman/listinfo/fsf-edu


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