A Slashdot article on Microsoft’s Windows licensing policies for schools. Astonishingly, Microsoft wants schools to count every single computer they own when calculating the terms of the license, including all Macs, UNIX computers, and machines that will never, ever run Windows. My favorite quote, from Nick This: Anyway, the argument is flawed. You all realize this already. The argument should be that schools should be teaching how to solve problems using computers, and the tools that they use to solve them are inconsequential. It doesn’t matter whether you use a Bic pen or a Pilot pen… they are both just tools. So with software. But schools don’t get it. We should be teaching students to solve problems with computers, not how to make a three column brochure in Microsoft Publisher. Sadly, it will be a long, long time before many schools realize this.
And speaking of Slashdot and education, here’s another interesting article: P2P Programs on K-12 Networks? Oy! All about blocking peer-to-peer ports in a K12 environment. Apparently the guy asking the question is having a tough time because it’s the teachers doing all the downloading. General concensus from the posters: shut ’em down. Great quote from leonbrooks: You’re in the right. Act like it.