Teacher, leave the Linux kids alone! (Linux confiscated)

[Raffaele the Amigan]

It seems that in an American School a teacher confiscated Linux Distro installing CDs because she assumes that it could not exist really any open source/free software...  ;013  ;018

She also adviced the kid to contact Microsoft to obtain ORIGINAL SOFTWARE... ;015  ;027  ;036  ;hi  ;046  ;061  ;062  ;209  ;221

Baka!  ;014

http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2008/12/linux-stop-holding-our-kids-back.html

WARNING:  ;022

C-Chan, as you are a true paladin advocate and evangelist of Open Source Software, please do no read this HORROR STORY...  ;025

I hope it is a fake story, or else people are really ignorant of laws and computer science and true darn stupid nowadays...  ;026

[NejinOniwa]

[VonDaab]

American School

I found your problem.

[Nichi]

I must say, this is probably the stupidest thing I have ever read. It's like when I discovered that Firefox is banned in some schools, and the teachers tell the kids to use Internet Explorer instead for similar reasons.

[NejinOniwa]

*sadness*
Oh, America. Oh, the irony.

[Alex S]

In my school district, I would probably get suspended or expelled If I tried to boot one of the schools computers with a Linux LiveCD, probably because I could screw with necessary system files and such, and possibly remove some of the severe curtailments imposed on us.

Some of our computers have Firefox 2 on them, mostly the Mac laptops that the school has, but on the Windows machines, usually Firefox can't make a connection to even the school's webpage, which is on the internal network of the district, so we're forced to use IE7, which is at least better than IE6.

I have handed out a LiveCD of Puppy Linux to one of my friends, so he could subvert some of the password stuff his parents imposed on his family's machine.

[CaptBrenden]

Personaly, I think schools have every right to dictate whats on their machines.  Hell, every school I went to didnt allow you to even change the screen saver settings, let alone boot a differnt OS.   If you want to use freeware, use it at home.

[NejinOniwa]

That said, though, booting a LiveCD doesn't change or put anything on the machine...

[CaptBrenden]

Schools computers, schools rules. Plus, if a kid has a linux disc on LiveCD, chances are they arn't going to learn anything in a highschool computer class anyways.

[NejinOniwa]

You mean, there's nothing left for them to learn, more likely...

[CaptBrenden]

yes. thats exactly what I mean [/sarcasum]

its the same concept as when I took a cartooning class in highschool, they taught the basics which I already knew. If a kid knows where to get freeware, how to make liveCDs, boot differnt OSes, etc, then the basics that a HS class are going to teach are well below their skill and they are there wasting time.

[SleepyD]

regarding the original article, I'm not at all surprised.  The generation that hasn't lived with computers until the latter half of their lives still is around; it's impossible to expect all of them to know what we all know about the tech world.  

And even with the younger people, this ignorance is unsurprising.  I live in a world of undergraduate engineers, so most of us have the basics down at least, but if I go to, say the liberal arts guys, I may get like, a 50/50 chance of getting some person that knows the basics of computer stuff.  Maybe even less than 50/50.

To the credit of the teacher, she was open minded enough to learn from the blogger, it seems.

http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2008/12/character-assasinations-aint-us.html

And to the credit of the blogger, he apologized for the crazy angry mob that resulted, and he didn't reveal any personal info.

[Tsubashi]

Thank heavens! I knew there had to be another side to that story. It would have been truely horrific if the teacher had been smothering FOSS intentionally.

Personaly, I think schools have every right to dictate whats on their machines. Hell, every school I went to didnt allow you to even change the screen saver settings, let alone boot a differnt OS. If you want to use freeware, use it at home.

I agree wholeheartedly, but that was not the issue of the story. The kid was showing off Compiz-fusion on his own laptop and handing out LiveCD's inbetween classes. I believe that inhibiting software distribution is inherantly wrong, and so I am ever so glad it was not what it initially appeared to be.

If a kid knows where to get freeware, how to make liveCDs, boot differnt OSes, etc, then the basics that a HS class are going to teach are well below their skill.

Thus do the "restrictions" come to actual use, ne? You would be amazed how much the IT people will tell you when you only barely mess up a MiTM attack. ^.^

[CaptBrenden]

after reading the responce article posted by sleepy-D I still support her position. A bunch of giggling kids around a laptop with one kid handing out discs to everyone... Yeah god knows what that actually was. I would rather a teacher take the safe rout and make sure the kid wasnt distributing porn or mal ware then assume he is giving away free ware. Im sure there would have been just as bad, if not worse reprecusions on her if there had been such things on there and she had done nothing.

And the reaction from the freeware community makes me sick as well.  For people who preach about the "evils" of microsoft there seems to be an awfull lot of them that are willing to destroy someones life over one choice.

[Bella]

It seems that in an American School a teacher confiscated Linux Distro installing CDs because she assumes that it could not exist really any open source/free software...

She also adviced the kid to contact Microsoft to obtain ORIGINAL SOFTWARE...

Baka!

http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2008/12/linux-stop-holding-our-kids-back.html

Gyah, what a dimwit. I dunno if I should be shocked or amused. XD