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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_7.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_7.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..48ad294 --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_7.html @@ -0,0 +1,161 @@ +<!-- 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"/> + |