FSFE projects [was: T-shirts]

[Gerhard Poul]

[Maybe I will not be able to attend a linux expo in the future because
someone will try to kill me if I would but I will write this mail.
Maybe you understand what I'm trying to say :) ]

> > * What about your average idiot, who thinks Windows is complicated?
> 
> And what about the generation in rising, that is beeing taught how to
> use non-free OS's, calling that "taught on how to use a computer"?

I don't like that but this depends on the teachers. - If you can educate
teachers this would be no problem at all I think.

What about making some BOF sessions about use of linux in education at the
next expos? - Invite some teachers and _discuss_ the use of free software
with them. You can only win from something like that. - Either you know 
what is wrong with free software like it is today or you will convince
them to use it.

> This already lead to the ridiculous situation where some IT
> departments hire MSCP's for positions as ... *nix admins, because
> there are MSCP's on the market, but no *nix skilled admins. E.g., my
> school's IT department does. While GNU's Not Unix and my university's
> IT doesn't quite use a free OS, I'm convinced they would do the same
> if they were running a GNU variant.

This has _nothing_ to do with _free software_ at all.

Sun, HP, and IBM have the same problem. - Nobody knows _anyhting_ about
their Unix systems before someday sitting in front of one ;-)

If Unix User Groups don't address this issue maybe the FSFE should promote
the use of Unix. (either free or non-free)

The user interface is almost the same and the students know that there is
something other than windows out there.

> Always taking my school's IT department as an example, these guys are
> basically infiltrating the whole system, gradually moving more and
> more of the server infrastructure to what they know how to run
> properly... MS Windows. I don't thing this situation is local to my
> school. Another university in the same city has some computers for
> students to use for their work. Every single computer is running MS
> Windows. Yes, even computer science students only have access to
> Windows boxes. These students are the future admins and decision
> makers in IT departments. The "next generation" of admins will
> udnerstand only Windows. Thus making the use of free software the
> difficult path.

That's what I'm trying to prohibit. - If they learn Unix, regardless
of freeness, they will have _no_ problem of working with a GNU system.

Okay. Maybe they will _have_ to work with other non-gnu systems but at
least they know that it exist and might think about licensing some
parts of software they wrote under the GPL. - Every free software
that is released helps.

>  - Developing free software to be used as a tool in any level of
>    education: primaire, high school, supérieur.

I don't think free software works that way.

>  - Promoting the teaching of free software use. It can't be widely
>    used if there's no widely spread knowledge on how to use it.

This can be done with free _or_ non-free unix systems.
[yes, free unix systems are _not_ unix but we will ignore this issue...]

>  - Increase the general exposure of the next generations to free
>    software. Let them all, not just geeks, know it exists, and they
>    have enormous benefits to reap from it.

agreed. - I think if you talk to teachers at expos and convince them that
free software is something interesting and useful that they will join
this movement and support its use.