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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_7.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_7.html deleted file mode 100644 index 48ad294..0000000 --- a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_7.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,161 +0,0 @@ -<!-- This is the second edition of Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman. - -Free Software Foundation - -51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor - -Boston, MA 02110-1335 -Copyright C 2002, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc. -Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire book are permitted -worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this notice is -preserved. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations -of this book from the original English into another language provided -the translation has been approved by the Free Software Foundation and -the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all -copies. - -ISBN 978-0-9831592-0-9 -Cover design by Rob Myers. - -Cover photograph by Peter Hinely. - --> - - - <a name="Why-Schools-Should-Exclusively-Use-Free-Software"> - </a> - <h1 class="chapter"> - 7. Why Schools Should Exclusively Use Free Software - </h1> - <a name="index-education_002c-free-software-in-1"> - </a> - <a name="index-schools_002c-free-software-in-1"> - </a> - <a name="index-call-to-action_002c-use-only-free-software-in-schools"> - </a> - <a name="index-users_002c-benefit-to-2"> - </a> - <p> - There are general reasons why all computer users should insist on -free software: it gives users the freedom to control their own -computers—with proprietary software, the computer does what the -software - <a name="index-ownership_002c-and-users_0027-freedom-1"> - </a> - owner wants it to do, not what the user wants it to -do. Free software also gives users the freedom to cooperate with each -other, to lead an upright life. These reasons apply to schools as -they do to everyone. - </p> - <p> - The purpose of this article is to state additional reasons that -apply specifically to education. - </p> - <p> - First, free software can save schools money. Free software gives -schools, like other users, the freedom to copy and redistribute the -software, so the school system can make copies for all the computers -they have. In poor countries, this can help close the digital -divide. - </p> - <a name="index-traps_002c-donated-proprietary-software"> - </a> - <p> - This obvious reason, while important in practical terms, is rather -shallow. And proprietary software developers can eliminate this reason -by donating copies to the schools. (Warning: a school that accepts -such an offer may have to pay for upgrades later.) So let’s look at -the deeper reasons. - </p> - <a name="index-citizen-values_002c-schools_0027-social-mission"> - </a> - <p> - Schools have a social mission: to teach students to be citizens of -a strong, capable, independent, cooperating and free society. They -should promote the use of free software just as they promote -recycling. If schools teach students free software, then the students -will tend to use free software after they graduate. This will help -society as a whole escape from being dominated (and gouged) by -megacorporations. - </p> - <p> - What schools should refuse to do is teach dependence. Those -corporations offer free samples to schools for the same reason tobacco -companies distribute free cigarettes to minors: to get children -addicted. - <a href="#FOOT27" name="DOCF27"> - (27) - </a> - They will not give discounts to these students once they’ve grown up -and graduated. - </p> - <p> - Free software permits students to learn how software works. Some -students, on reaching their teens, want to learn everything there is -to know about their computer and its software. They are intensely -curious to read the source code of the programs that they use every -day. To learn to write good code, students need to read lots of code -and write lots of code. They need to read and understand real -programs that people really use. Only free software permits this. - </p> - <p> - Proprietary software rejects their thirst for knowledge: it says, -“The knowledge you want is a secret—learning is -forbidden!” Free software encourages everyone to learn. The free -software community rejects the “priesthood of technology,” -which keeps the general public in ignorance of how technology works; -we encourage students of any age and situation to read the source code -and learn as much as they want to know. Schools that use free software -will enable gifted programming students to advance. - </p> - <p> - The deepest reason for using free software in schools is for moral -education. We expect schools to teach students basic facts and useful -skills, but that is not their whole job. The most fundamental job of -schools is to teach good citizenship, which includes the habit of -helping others. In the area of computing, this means teaching people -to share software. Schools, starting from nursery school, should tell -their pupils, “If you bring software to school, you must share -it with the other students. And you must show the source code to the -class, in case someone wants to learn.” - </p> - <p> - Of course, the school must practice what it preaches: all the -software installed by the school should be available for students to -copy, take home, and redistribute further. - </p> - <p> - Teaching the students to use free software, and to participate in -the free software community, is a hands-on civics lesson. It also -teaches students the role model of public service rather than that of -tycoons. All levels of school should use free software. - <a name="index-schools_002c-free-software-in-2"> - </a> - <a name="index-call-to-action_002c-use-only-free-software-in-schools-1"> - </a> - <a name="index-users_002c-benefit-to-3"> - </a> - </p> - <div class="footnote"> - <hr> - <h3> - Footnotes - </h3> - <h3> - <a href="#DOCF27" name="FOOT27"> - (27) - </a> - </h3> - <a name="index-RJ-Reynolds-Tobacco-Company"> - </a> - <p> - RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company was fined $15m in 2002 for handing out -free samples of cigarettes at events attended by children. See - <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/sci_tech/features/health/tobaccotrial/usa.htm"> - http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/sci_tech/features/health/tobaccotrial/usa.htm - </a> - . - </p> - </hr> - </div> - <hr size="2"/> - |