Re: Sacrifices made for Free Software

[Jean Louis]

Hello LM,

* LM <lmemsm@gmail.com> [2020-07-29 17:49]:
> I really don't understand, why is the FSF petitioning schools (
> https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/sign-this-petition-for-freedom-in-the-classroom
> ) to use Free Software if there is no available Free Software
> alternative for what they're specifically looking for and the schools
> cannot afford and do not have the expertise or resources to create a
> Free alternative of their own?  If the FSF expects the average school
> to change, they need to give more aid than just educating schools
> about the advantages of Free Software.  Many schools simply don't have
> the resources to write their own Free Software.  It's fine to tell a
> programmer, if you want something done, do it yourself.  That doesn't
> work well for a school.

Let me say that in terms of liberty, there is no alternative to
liberty. That is the only way to go.

A school shall not be slave to its proprietary masters.

Schools need not write their software, they may ask FSF, they may ask
somebody who knows how to help them. They can ask Richard Stallman,
they can ask any free software user. It is not hard to find such.

From:
https://my.fsf.org/give-students-userfreedom

- It is an injustice to require students to sacrifice their freedom to
  proprietary software in pursuit of an education.

- Using free software in the classroom communicates the importance of
  values key to a free society: sharing, social responsibility, and
  independence.
  
- With its focus on study and collaboration, free software is far more
  suited to the spirit of pedagogy than the dependence and abuse
  caused by proprietary software.

Those are good reasons.

So remote education can already be done with available free
software. For examply Jitsy meeting is good one.

More references:

https://www.eff.org/wp/school-issued-devices-and-student-privacy

https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/1/21244058/google-meet-microsoft-teams-webex-personal-data-collection-privacy-policy-concerns

List of some good software is here:
https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/better-than-zoom-try-these-free-software-tools-for-staying-in-touch

Jean