[Fsfe-uk] Re: More computers = Less teachers

[Ian]

On Sun, 22 Jun 2003 08:24:48 +0100, Ian wrote:

Thread started in uk.education.schools-it.

> is my comment. Useful if some from the list could join in and stir up a
bit of higher level debate ;-)

> On Sun, 22 Jun 2003 02:35:46 +0000, James smyth wrote:
> 
>> Education Secretary Charles Clarke was last night under renewed pressure
>> to close a loophole allowing computer giant Microsoft to charge schools
>> thousands of pounds for using its software.
>> 
>> As heads in Norfolk battle to cope with a £700,000 budget shortfall,
>> and with almost 100 posts forecast to be axed, Bill Gates' company is
>> still making a mint by charging schools up to £15,000 to use products
>> such as Microsoft Office.
>> 
>> And almost a year after the EDP first raised the licence issue, we can
>> reveal that nothing has been done by the firm or the Government to
>> consign the fees to the delete bin.
>> 
>> Schools are forced to shell out cash to licence each machine, while
>> universities and colleges only pay a flat campus fee.
> 
> The Office of fair trading are currently investigating Microsofts school
> agreement as it is likely that it is unlawful under the competition act
> (Chapters 1 and 2). The outcome is not likely to be known for at least a
> year, maybe 2. However if it is unlawful M$ could be fined 10% of their
> entire UK turnover and all MSSA declared void. They could transfer people
> then to Campus type agreements or some other scheme. This might raise or
> lower the cost of M$ licenses to schools, that depends on how it is done.
> Most likely it will raise the cost for some and lower it for others.
>  
>> It comes as anger about the fees is spreading further afield, with
>> reports that officials in Birmingham are planning to switch to a rival
>> operating system, while school chiefs in the German city of Munich are
>> also looking set to ditch Microsoft in protest at the fees.
> 
> Why do it as a protest about fees. Just do it for the freedom to determine
> your own IT strategy.
> 
>> Last night after the EDP pressed Mr Clarke's advisors about what action
>> was being taken, it emerged that officials in Whitehall are due to sit
>> down tomorrow to work out the first stages of getting Microsoft to
>> change its position.
> 
> They would be better to put a small amount into free software development
> eg say 10% of the running costs of BECTa and then provide incentive for
> software suppiers to switch. Most apps are either web based in which case
> there is very little problem or written in C++ whichis easily ported
> between operating systems. Ok, we get a couple of years of instability
> like when things went from Acorn to PC but its a better long term solution
> because no-one can ever again be held to ransom by M$.
> 
>> Headteachers across the region also accused Microsoft of dragging its
>> feet on plans to cut the costs of its computer licenses for schools -
>> which are up to £70 per machine.
> 
> er that's just the operating system cost! An OEM copy of XP Pro is more
> than £70 and a hidden fact is that this is on every machine before you
> start costing things like MSSA licenses or Select. Snag with MSSA too is
> that it sounds in expensive but if you have older machines that don't
> benefit from the upgrades, the cost to you for the machines that do is in
> reality much higher. Few people understand M$'s licensing it seems
> deliberately obscure. I even had to explain it to someone in one of M$'s
> main distribution points recently! He clearly didn't understand what he
> was selling.
> 
>> And there were hints that some schools were refusing to upgrade because
>> of the charges or considering switching to other software brands such
>> Open Source Office - available for a fraction of the cost online - and
>> Linux.
> 
> Well, on my travels, it seems that the support for Linux is increasing all
> the time. Take a look at Ednet (www.spyderworks.co.uk) for example. Does
> on Linux servers what Ranger, RM, and Viglen do but with more features and
> less expensive.
>  
>> Waveney MP Bob Blizzard first raised the issue in Parliament last year
>> but said he was disappointed that so little progress had been made.
>> 
>> "Schools are still paying more than they should," he said. "There have
>> been negotiations with the Department of Education, but they have been
>> going on for months and months and I have to say, I am really
>> disappointed at their slowness.
>> 
>> "Originally I was led to believe by Microsoft that we were going to have
>> a positive outcome earlier in the year.
>> 
>> "I remain convinced that schools are paying too much.
> 
> Everyone is paying too much. Its a monopoly that makes 85% profit when all
> other parts of their business are loss making. If they were efficient they
> could afford to lower prices to 10% of their current levels and remain in
> profit. Linux and OpenOffice.org prove that the cost of software
> development and support are not that high in global terms, but give one
> company, any company, a monopoly and you end up paying disproportionately.
> That's why it would be best if the Operating system and generic tools such
> as office, web browser, E-mail, graphics were all open standards and
> seeing as there are well developed alternatives in these areas, the
> government, especially a Labour governement, should be planning to make
> that switch not just trying to negotiate a short term price reduction.
> 
>> It's something I shall
>> continue to push because so much money is being swallowed paying for
>> these licenses.
>> 
>> "I just think Microsoft are such a large organisation and they could be
>> coming forward with a more generous offer more readily - and I always
>> feel where there is a will there is a way."
>> 
>> Nigel English head of Sir John Leman High in Beccles, one of the first
>> schools to complain about the anomaly, said there had been no
>> improvement. The school has 270 computers and must pay £70 for each
>> licence.
> 
> He is probably talking about MS Office. Just switch to OpenOffice.org, its
> free. He is paying a lot more than £70 a machine in fact.
>  
>> "In fact this year we are not upgrading quite a lot of our machines as
>> we can't afford the licences," he said.
>> 
>> And he urged action to have the charges scrapped. "It would make a vast
>> difference indeed," he said. "I don't see why we shouldn't have the same
>> benefits as the other educational establishments."
>> 
>> Pip Cartwright, head of ICT at Notre Dame High, in Norwich, said schools
>> were forced to toe the market leaders' line.
>> 
>> "I think there could be some enlightened self-interest on their part as
>> we are effectively training students to use their products," he said.
> 
> Which is another reason to shift to free software. Education should not be
> about reinforcing private monopolies, funded by the tax payer.
>  
>> "We are effectively being forced to upgrade our systems to Windows XP.
>> It's going to cost us more than £30,000 and that's something we have
>> got no choice about, with more than £15,000 going straight into
>> Microsoft's pockets.
> 
> Yes they have a choice, but they need training to understand that choice.
>  
>> "Our school is fortunate in its budgets compared to others but there are
>> an awful lot of things we could spend it on than operating systems."
>> 
>> Jamie Philpott, head of IT at Charles Burrell School, Thetford, said
>> last year the school spent £7300 on licenses for its 170 computers.
>> 
>> Pupils are taught using Windows 2000 but the school still has to pay a
>> further fee since the introduction of Windows XP.
>> 
>> "As we increase the number of computers next year it is going to be more
>> than that," he said. "The money that we have spent would have paid for
>> another IT suite.
>> 
>> "We have to balance the books. Other schools are having to let staff go.
>> If we were in that situation, spending £7000 on software and I was a
>> teacher that's going, I would feel very upset."
>> 
>> Last night an advisor to Mr Clarke, said that officials were due to meet
>> tomorrow to draw up a plan aimed at thrashing out a deal with the
>> software giant.
> 
> Dangerous. A perceived short term reduction in prices could simply prolong
> the agony.
>  
>> "At the meeting we will arrange an action plan to take it forward," she
>> said. "We accept there has been slow progress to date. It's a key
>> priority to get this moving in the next six to eight weeks."
>> 
>> David Burrows, Microsoft's head of education said in a statement that
>> Microsoft UK was working on the next generation of software licensing
>> for schools, colleges and universities, and continuing to consult widely
>> with Government and others as part of the process.
> 
> They have to because its likely that the OFT will declare their current
> flagship scheme unlawful. Does the government really wany to keep dealing
> with a company with such an extended track record of monopoy abuse?
>  
>> "We are not currently in a position to make any announcements about any
>> potential changes to our licensing," he said.
>> 
>> "There are many stakeholders in the variety of licensing offered to
>> education institutions, therefore the process of fully consulting with
>> them and other key stakeholders takes time and we are considering all
>> the inputs"
> 
> If their licensing was simpler and not designed to milk the absolute
> maximum from every sector that their market will stand, it would not take
> long to sort out. Its perfectly possible to make a shift to Linux and
> still maintain backward compatibility. If 40,000 employees at Sun can work
> in a M$ free environment dealing with clients world wide and the City of
> Munich reckons it can do it I can't see why schools can't but it takes a
> littel effort and planning.
>  
>> www.edp24.co.uk

-- 
IanL
ZMS Ltd - Education Management Consultants
WWW.thelearningmachine.co.uk
WWW.theINGOTs.org