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11 Dec 2008
A teacher in Austin, Texas has lashed out against the open-source Linux operating system, punishing one of her students for demonstrating and handing out copies of the HeliOS Linux distribution and writing an email to the distributor claiming the software may be illegal.
After confiscating the discs and detaining the student, the teacher, known only as Karen, wrote an email to Linux evangelist Ken Starks from HeliOS, most of which he posted on his blog together with his response.
In her email the teacher wrote: "Mr Starks, I am sure you strongly believe in what you are doing but I cannot either support your efforts or allow them to happen in my classroom. At this point, I am not sure what you are doing is legal. No software is free, and spreading that misconception is harmful. These children look up to adults for guidance and discipline. I will research this as time allows and I want to assure you, if you are doing anything illegal, I will pursue charges as the law allows."
After lamenting the ignorance displayed by the teacher, Starks vigorously defended the legality of Linux and in particular HeliOS.
"First off, if there was even the slightest chance that I was doing something illegal, it would not have been done," Starks said. "To think that I would involve my kids in my 'illegal' activities is an insult far beyond outrage. You should be ashamed of yourself for putting into print such nonsense."
The teacher also said that she and many others "tried Linux during college" and that Starks's claims about the operating system were "grossly over-stated and hinge on falsehoods", adding that this "is a world where Windows runs on virtually every computer and putting on a carnival show for an operating system is not helping these children at all".
Starks retorted by saying that Linux had seen some major developments in recent years and that the money Microsoft invested in the National Education Association meant that the teacher was "just spouting the union line".
He went on to say: "The most disturbing part of this resides in the fact that the Austin Independent School District purchases millions of dollars of Microsoft Software - money that could be better spent on educating our children. A dedicated school teacher would recognise that fact and lobby for a switch to free open source software."
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Do you agree?
What a Teacher ?
I dare not say what her answer would have been had it been she was questioned >> What is Linux ?
Posted by: Lawrence Cumber 18 Dec 2008
There are other sorts of teachers too...
I am a teacher at a High School in Elda (Spain). My students have been enjoying Lliurex (a regionalized distro of GNU/Linux) since the beginning of this study year, and I encourage them to spread it and install it at home. And some of them are actually doing it! So there is still hope ;-)
Posted by: Julio Garay 17 Dec 2008
Indictable offences
When this teacher talks in terms of "her students" and "my classroom" she is assuming authority which she does not possess. She probably means a student in the class where she is employed to teach. Let's take a hypothetical situation and say that the student, on completing his education fails to achieve his desired academic ambition; can he then sue his teachers for incompetence at not being able to teach him properly? It is not such a fatuous question as it may appear and shows that she has no accountabilty and should be remunerated accordingly. Then it is said that she "confiscated" the disks and "detained" the student but on what authority? Does legislation exist that would allow teachers to police the conduct of students? What about false imprisonment? It does seem that she has committed this indictable offence so the student could lay charges and possibly even sue her. Ignorance sure is bliss!
Posted by: Robert Park 17 Dec 2008
Although Sad she still won't "get it"
In two ways this story strikes me...although she may ultimately repent her ways it may be because so many others shun her; outside of that point though she will likely remain clueless and only perceive her viewpoint to the end. Some simply cannot get the need for choices and options. She is the type that, I'm sure, thought that Apple should just throw in the towel since they had low market share... I wonder if she knew that just a few short years ago Linux had more than Apple.
Posted by: easye 14 Dec 2008
Brainwashing at work
The first thing that came to my mind when I read this story was "1984" - it is reminiscent of both that novel and the time when the then Soviet leader Yuri Andropov tried to "tighten the screws" and save the system. With her brainwashed head, she would make a perfect Communist party functionary, that Karen would...
Posted by: Alexander 14 Dec 2008
Capitalist Freaks
of course, the Capitalists teach us that anything of value can be bought, including our senate seats. Monopoly$oft will never tough my hard drive again and now i know what true freedom on the desktop is. www.ubuntu.com
Posted by: Neo 13 Dec 2008
She really is married with capitalism
I don't wanna blame this teacher. She has learnt her gospel of capitalism well. Teacher couldn't believe there is something like "free", "independent" or "open".
Posted by: Antton 13 Dec 2008
Hard to believe
Not sure if this is real. It's hard to believe a teacher can be that ignorant. If true I hope she is severely punished and heavily sued..
Posted by: AK 13 Dec 2008
The Story Develops
There is an update on the blog, discussions were had, people apologized, ignorance is being reduced greatly. As the aftermath stories do not normally get the same coverage as the outragous acts stories, I wanted to make sure the word is spread. The story develops...
Posted by: Davrps 13 Dec 2008
teacher
The thing i can never understand is why someone like this teacher does not face prosecution
Posted by: John Methven 12 Dec 2008
US teacher detains student for using Linux
If this indicates the standards of IT instruction in schools by the teaching staff then is it any wonder that many students run rings around their so-called peers? There also arises the question of slander and libel, not forgetting any additional legal action which may be taken out on behalf of the student.
Posted by: Lonely 12 Dec 2008
She is crazy
She needs to go get a life. There are millions of resources on the internet explaining the concept of Free and Open Source Software. In fact she is not fit to be a teacher, coz she is not aware and up to date with latest happenings in the IT world. She should be detained at once.
Posted by: Morpheus 12 Dec 2008
Thank you
The teacher has shown her ignorance to the whole world. If anything about Linux was illegal, I am sure Microsoft would exaggerate it to the best of it's ability, which it seems to be good at doing. I fully support Linux, and am a Linux user myself. Thank you for your efforts to support Linux.
Posted by: James Edwards 12 Dec 2008
But I didn't inhale...
"I tried Linux in college". Well , everything's bigger in Texas, including the imbeciles..
Posted by: Blodgar Codeslayer 11 Dec 2008
Land of the free
I don't know how much a typical school (whether in the US or the UK) spends on MSFT licences, nor do I know the salary expectations of a network manager who speaks fluent Linux. I know this is not an original point of view, but there's more to cost than purchase price and free is a word often used to mislead people.
Posted by: Sean Fleming 11 Dec 2008
Consumerism rules!
Well done teacher. It's one thing to be dumb but quite another to inform the whole world about it. I hope that by now, the pupil has received the confiscated disk back along with an apology. It would be interesting to hear her views on the $100 laptops for the third world. Are we corrupting them?
Posted by: Gwyn 11 Dec 2008
Nuts
This teacher is peanutty. Her husband is most likely a microsoft certified IT.
Posted by: Lep 11 Dec 2008