File Under – None So Blind… & Shouldn’t They Know Better

Found on VNUnet (perhaps because the British still find many things we do ‘quaint’) was a story of a teacher (can she call herself that?) who chastises a student for using, and passing out copies of, a Linux distribution. Teacher then finds the address to write to the purveyor of the distribution, stating that she doesn’t think that what the purveyor is doing is right, as children should know that no software is free, and a bad example is being set for the students. She also implies that the purveyor just may be in violation of some laws, and, if found to be by her, the right steps to prosecution will be forthcoming.

I have a few questions for the teacher and the school district she works in. One, is she in some sort of time warp? Does she really lead that sheltered a life, or is she simply stupid? Two, what right has she to scold a student without checking the facts? And three, what will the school district be doing to her – as in relieving her of her duties, as soon as possible.

People this stupid have no business coming in contact with young, easily influenced minds. This reminds me of being told, when I was younger, to stay away from stupid, because it is contagious. (taking the high road here with no implication about state of origin)

But really, how sad is it?

Barring the nescience of the teacher, is it not wrong for a teacher to impose her ideas of right and wrong upon a student?

The purveyor makes a salient point as well, when he asks the teacher why she should not welcome the influence of Linux, and its possible adoption in her district, making that money free for other needs within the district.

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.
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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.”

Carnival show operating system? Linux was in working form a couple of years before the boys from Redmond learned how to code Windows to preemptively multitask.

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When you don’t have any money, the problem is food. When you have money, it’s sex. When you have both it’s health.J. P. Donleavy