4 ms·

As schools move more and more online they are locking into proprietary office programs that suck funds from schools, and students can't afford. Sure, as long as

As schools move more and more online they are locking into proprietary office programs that suck funds from schools, and students can't afford. Sure, as long as they are students they can use the school's software for free, but once they graduate they can't. So in effect the government is already funding google docs and office 360. I would prefer the government fund opensource software that anyone who pays taxes can use for free.

macspoofing 6y ago
>So in effect the government is already funding google docs and office 360. Government buying services, or software, or anything, isn't really like 'funding', it's paying for services rendered. >As schools move more and more online they are locking into proprietary office programs that suck funds from schools And who is to say that LibreOffice is a good alternative. I'll tell you right now, it's not - which why it isn't really being used. It's a pain in the butt to deploy, and support at scale (from identity management, to sharing and collaborating, to security fixes and patches). >I would prefer the government fund opensource software that anyone who pays taxes can use for free. Sure. I have a preference for a lot of things too but we live in a democracy, so nobody gets to dictate their preferences. But feel free to engage with your local school board and make your case. Feel free convince your peers to make the case with you.
stu2b50 6y ago
While not open source, you can definitely use Google docs for free student or not.
- MarcellusDrum 6y ago
  But it is a proprietary, private owned software. That can change anytime. Maybe not in the next 10 years, but it can and I suspect that it will.
  - stu2b50 6y ago
    Maybe, but >So in effect the government is already funding google docs Is just purely incorrect currently.

4 ms·

As schools move more and more online they are locking into proprietary office programs that suck funds from schools, and students can't afford. Sure, as long as

by jacobsenscott 6y ago

macspoofing 6y ago
>So in effect the government is already funding google docs and office 360. Government buying services, or software, or anything, isn't really like 'funding', it's paying for services rendered. >As schools move more and more online they are locking into proprietary office programs that suck funds from schools And who is to say that LibreOffice is a good alternative. I'll tell you right now, it's not - which why it isn't really being used. It's a pain in the butt to deploy, and support at scale (from identity management, to sharing and collaborating, to security fixes and patches). >I would prefer the government fund opensource software that anyone who pays taxes can use for free. Sure. I have a preference for a lot of things too but we live in a democracy, so nobody gets to dictate their preferences. But feel free to engage with your local school board and make your case. Feel free convince your peers to make the case with you.
stu2b50 6y ago
While not open source, you can definitely use Google docs for free student or not.
- MarcellusDrum 6y ago
  But it is a proprietary, private owned software. That can change anytime. Maybe not in the next 10 years, but it can and I suspect that it will.
  - stu2b50 6y ago
    Maybe, but >So in effect the government is already funding google docs Is just purely incorrect currently.