Romanian Police evangelising Linux to students
A newsletter from the Iaşi police reports that community officers have been visiting secondary schools in Iaşi to warn students of the perils of using unlicened software and illegally copied media. The police officers introduced the 7th-graders to the Linux operating system and the thousands of free applications that accompany it.
Hats off! This is really the first time I hear about officials actually mentioning the Open-Source alternative, in the context of unlicensed commercial software.
For my unaware readers… This happens in a country whose Government itself signs “strategic partnerships” with Microsoft and spends many millions of taxpayer €’s on MS licences in the educational system, in spite of the tight budgets, underpaid staff, lack of teachers in rural areas, and the otherwise deplorable state of Romanian schooling.
The text of the news item, in Romanian, is mirrored here.
The bad thing is that the only thing students hear about is Microsoft. The system forces them into using unlicenced software. For instance, if a 14 years old pupil gets an assigment that requires Excel or Word or whatever, this forces him – or his parents for that matter – to spend over 500 euros on software (Windows and Office). In a country where an avarage worker gets about 270 euros per month.
Open Source software should be promoted in schools…