Enough is Enough. Higher Education...? Wake Up

It has been gratifying to see the number of businesses and personal computers moving to Open Source software and the Linux Operating System. In our organization alone, the numbers, while small on a grand scale, are quite significant from where we stand. We've installed hundreds of Linux systems in the past two years and the retention rate of those systems are what we get excited about.

However...

I have received a spate of emails in the past 60 days, complaining about various universities and corporations that are disallowing most anything but Windows to access their systems. A good focal point for this can be found on a recent article here. Further evidence of public ignorance about Open Source Software was uncovered in the "Karen" donnybrook. In the most recent article reflecting the same subject, Carla Schroeder nailed it dead between the eyes.

I'm not writing this to bemoan the facts...I am going to write this in hope that we can get the attention of some people that can change this trend. We can only hope.

Many of you are not deserving of a tirade...you are simply conducting business the way business has been conducted since computer networking became a part of your operations. Hopefully we can work together. Some of you however are digging in your heels and refusing to smell 21st century air.

You are the people that I want to talk to.

First off, let's dispel a couple of things. I have sat in meetings with principals and school administrators and listened slack-jawed as system administrators (mostly MSCE's) told their employers that it was illegal to remove Windows from their current computers. They didn't say it violated their contracts or licenses...they said it was illegal.

That's either so uninformed that it raises the question "Why are you doing this job?" or it undeniably stands as a bold-faced lie.

Look. You are not only barring thousands of students and customers from your systems, you are forcing them to use an operating system that is inherently weak. In addition, you cry about your operating costs then when the tears dry, you write the check to Microsoft for the latest licenses.

We're dealing with "Higher Eduction" here, right?

Not so far as I can tell.

I have recently seen the depths of ignorance when it comes to Open Source Software and on a personal level I can understand it, but you get no such pass. Do you realize that by demanding that your students or customers use Windows, you are subjecting them to this? I want you to justify that to me. As the people making decisions as to how and by whom your systems can be accessed, I want you to justify it. I must subject myself to attacks like this for the privilege of accessing your site?

It's just one of a never-ending line of viruses and spyware tools that your system administrators have to battle. I know you are "invested" in Microsoft products...I realize that. I also know that your system administrators are deathly afraid of losing their jobs because they don't know the first thing about Linux. Many of them anyway...there are a number of them that are running Linux Servers behind your back because it makes their jobs easier...and that's a good thing. But for the ones that hold Microsoft to their breast and swear their undying loyalty?

Learn or leave....you are holding the world back from what is inevitable. Open Source will have a place in our technology...on a large scale.

Open Office documents send and receive .doc and exel spread sheets just fine. As in the story noted above, the uh...young lady lamented that she couldn't use anything but Microsoft Office because the formats on her Ubuntu computer were incompatible...?

Absolute nonsense. I am suspecting one of her professors told her just that. I have specific reasons to believe it.

I would expect a first year college student to be this ignorant, but as administrators of entire universities and server systems, I would expect a bit more breadth of knowledge.

Silly me.

I don't usually do edits once an article is posted but in this case it is important enough to make an exception. One astute and knowledgeable reader left us a link to an extremely successful migration of an entire school. No one is asking you to go to this extreme but it is posted just so you know that no one is asking you donate a kidney here...just some common courtesy in letting a popular alternative system gain access to what they need. You can see the success story here.

I had a conversation with an English Professor at the University of Texas today. He stated that his insistence his students purchase the "student discounted" copy of Microsoft Office to be more out of his laziness than for his real need for that particular program. Turns out that he just doesn't want to change his syllabus to inform his students they have a choice.

News flash Prof. Some folks just don't have a spare 150.00 laying around to sustain the Redmond Giant. You won't be able to tell a Linux-based .doc from a Windows-based one.

Now, we won't get specific here....for obvious reasons. Your "secure" system can be owned by about 17 people I know right off the top of my head...you just haven't merited their attention. Let's hope you stay below their radar. Your argument that Linux is only secure because it is obscure is also urban legend rubbish.

Take a look at this...

Now, we're going to be following up on this. Seems a certain University in Indiana is forcing some of it's students to purchase Microsoft Office or they are not being allowed to enroll. That's the report we are getting.

We'll be having a discussion with them this week. Hopefully we will report back that this was just a silly misunderstanding.

One of the questions we will be asking is this? Why do you capitulate to using or buying additional software so that the software you've already purchased will work as designed? Oh you don't do that?

Got anti-virus?

We'll also be asking a major medical center in New York why they insist that a growing number of Linux users cannot access their logins. We know why...it's a piece of proprietary software that they demand be used prior to login. Windows-based proprietary software.

We'll be talking to them as well and we'll publish the names of the organizations and the people we talk with. we'll also publish the conversation verbatim if possible.

Enough is enough.

This isn't an argument or discussion on which operating system is best. It's a statement that thousands and thousands of people are making the conscious decision to take control of their computers. I notice with a bit of humor that some of you boast of supporting Mac machines? That's nice. Some numbers indicate that Linux has surpassed Mac in user numbers a while back. Different entities will dispute this statistic and with good reason.

Linux is free so there are no real sales numbers to go by and internet polling is all over the place. Some show it as number two, others as a distant third. While that may be the case, there is sufficient evidence to show that Linux is growing in popularity by the day, and I mean substantial growth. One focused advertising effort by Linux and those numbers will change without any dispute.

Even Microsoft, in it's annual report to the SEC, cited Linux and Open Source software as the number one threat to their profit margin. I didn't see any mention of Mac in there at all. So you will support the number 3 system but number two gets the cold shoulder? We are talking millions of users in the US alone.

That leaves us with a couple of questions.

Who appointed your entity as the gatekeepers of our technology? You may not perceive yourself as such, but actions are leading some to think you are just that... the gatekeepers barring us from your sites. Linux users are growing in huge numbers and those numbers get bigger daily. I am hearing from Linux users about you at a disturbing rate.

Look, no one is asking you to embrace this thing fully, just tweak a couple of things to allow Linux users equal access to your portals and sites. Heck, pay my travel and one night's lodging, buy me a meal and I will come do it myself. I'm serious, I will be happy to do it and I am fully qualified to do so.

Why are you denying computer users simply because they choose to use a more secure operating system? In a short period of time, I will not be the only one asking you this question.

We'll be speaking shortly.

All-righty then...