[Fsf-friends] Re: Fwd: Re: [gscp] Goa Syllabus for Linux

[Nagarjuna G.]

On Thu, Nov 14, 2002 at 11:34:48PM +0530, Andrew Suares wrote:
> Hi Daryl,
> 
> On Thu, 2002-11-14 at 20:00, Daryl Martyris wrote:
>  
> > 1. We are talking about computer skills not computer aided learning. That is 
> > a seperate topic in itself. I have looked at the syllabi for a couple of 
> > other states, and they don't differ much..a spreadsheet is a spreadsheet is 
> > a spreadsheet, and a desktop is a desktop and there are just so many things 
> > to be learnt about them. How they are taught is another matter, and not part 
> > of the syllabus IMHO.
> > 
> > 2. It you think its possible to generisize, thats great. In looking through 
> > the syllabus, I felt that it was necessary to replace windows specific terms 
> > with Linux specific terms.
> > 
> 
> > >we need a volunteer to go through the syllabus and replace the MS terms 
> > >with Linux ones e.g. Windows with Linux,  Ms Office with abiword, Excel 
> > >with Gnumeric, so that it can be presented to the Goa Board.
> 
> 
> When it comes to GNU/Linux, I don't think that it's advisable to
> specifically mention the name of the program. I mean, what if the
> company decides to discontinue the GPL for the particular package?
> Obviously, it would be illegal to still distribute the software which in
> turn would make the references in the books obsolete. An example would
> be Star Office. How long is abiword,gnumeric etc going to be free?

How many applications do you know which were GPLd and have since
become propreitary?  On the other hand I know several non-GPLd
applications which have become GPLd later.  This logical possibility
cannot be a valid argument for not talking about applications like
gnumeric.

Nagarjuna