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>So it's copies to libraries and every school in D+C ? I dont want to put a dampener on the Festive Season of Goodwill, but its going to be a hard sell to persuade schools in this country to take on open source. Many have what are (IMO) "lock in" contracts. This should not be surprising as from a schools point of view they want to teach, not manage computing assests all day, so many are quite happy to sign a lock in deal, on the grounds that they think they will have a hassle free life. Many schools also follow recomendations from agencies like BECTA on the grounds that if anyone complains, they can say they where following recommendations / guidelines. The exceptions to this norm are schools which can afford, or have dedicated technical staff / teachers who can see value and merit in trying something different and put effort into it. I am lucky enough to be working alongside a school technician who sees merit in the use of open source. Throwing a CD at a school and saying "here... try this" is not going to work (Trust me I have tried it). Read Mr Kerr's howto document on his experience with Libraries. Realistically I see the need for two seed change requirements before open source is taken seriously in Schools. Firstly more of the teachers comming out of Teacher Training with an exposure (and hopefully a taste) for open source, this I think is starting to happen, they will have more of an idea about what works, what doesnt work and how to integrate ICT into the curriculum requirements using open source, they will also be a good source of information for open source developers ( a relationship that needs to be fostered for sustainable growth in this market). The second change required is a change in strategy by agencies like BECTA, they also need to understand the issues and make recomendations based on rounded and informed view, and not the "my OS is better than your OS" type of rhetoric. Ironically its easier to persuade schools in less advantaged countries to try something different, because in many cases they dont have anything different to start with. There are no agencies to say "we think you should do this or we dont like that", and very few "service" providers . It always amazes me how willing teachers in the Philippines are to roll up their sleaves and create curriculum and study materials and resources from scratch after being given the hardware to get on with the job. And our role in this for UK based schools ... is to encourage the teachers and inform the agencies, and to always remember that you can lead a horse to water but you cant force it to drink. We get our motivation from discovering what OSS can do for us, teachers get their motivation from passing on knowledge to their students, both are worthwhile endevours but both require time and effort, for most it would be impossible to persue both diciplines well. And when you manage to persuade a school to try OSS ... then you must be prepared to put in a lot of effort and spare time in order to support them. As I have found out, the job is never completed, it just moves to the next phase. So a new year is comming... lets make it one of co-ordinated OSS agenda of action, effort and education, and if we fail ... we can at least be satisfied that we tried our best. Tom. Information in this message is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is the intended solely for the person ( or persons) to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender, and please delete the message from your system immediately. The views in this message are personal, they are not necessarily those of Torbay Council. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe.