:Linux Journal: Linux in Higher Education: Open Source, Open Minds, Social Justice
Linux Journal: Linux in Higher Education: Open Source, Open Minds, Social Justice Mar 22, 2000, 07 :31 UTC (6 Talkback[s]) (4774 reads) (Other stories by Bryan Pfaffenberger)
"Colleges and universities should move to adopt Linux as an international standard for computing in higher education."
"It's generally agreed that college and university students should learn the fundamentals of information technology, including the use of operating
systems, office application software and the Internet. It's quite another matter, though, to pay for the necessary infrastructure--wired dormitories,
industrial-strength servers, lots of PCs around campus, and pricey commercial software for student use. Now that Linux and open-source office
applications such as AbiWord and Gnumeric are available for free, institutions of higher education can save big money in software costs, and more than a
few campuses and university consortia are starting to take Linux seriously (see, for example, Robiette 1999). They're discovering what Linux users
already know--namely, that Linux, compared to Microsoft Windows, offers an unbeatable combination of advantages, including a zero price tag,
do-it-yourself flexibility, freedom from licensing headaches, stability, performance, compliance with public standards, interoperability with existing
systems, and a design that reduces the threat of computer viruses (see Prasad 1999)."
"As I'll argue in this essay, there's much more at stake here than money. In what follows, I'll argue that open source software in general--and Linux in
particiular--holds the key to the ability of colleges and universities to retain their traditions of scientific and scholarly excellence as they adapt to an
increasingly computerized world. By establishing Linux as the international standard for academic computing, institutions of higher education can directly
address challenges to the integrity of scientific research, do a better job of preparing students for a world of rapidly changing technology, and combat
the growing and disturbing disparities in access to information technology. The following sections detail the case for Linux in higher education--a case
that, in my view, amounts to a moral imperative."
