http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/

Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
choosing a particular emphasis.

One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
over the next 5 years ;-)

Regards,

-- 
Ian

"Ian"  wrote in message 
news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
>
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
>
> Regards,
>
> -- 
> Ian

Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At 
the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I 
am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open 
Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that there 
are far fewer of them.

Dave Berry

On Sat, 05 May 2007 18:30:02 +0100, David Berry wrote:

> "Ian"  wrote in message
> news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>>
>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>>
>> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the
>> strategy for change in the way government procurement is approached. I
>> doubt most people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source
>> but maybe it will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have
>> thought that it would be more a lib/demo thing with the community
>> emphasis etc but maybe its really politically neutral and can be grabbed
>> by any of the parties by choosing a particular emphasis.
>>
>> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
>> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
>> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
>> over the next 5 years ;-)
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> --
>> Ian
> 
> Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At
> the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I
> am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open
> Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that
> there are far fewer of them.

Good point. 

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org

Ian wrote:
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
> 
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
> 
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
> 
> Regards,
> 
I think in the server space Open Source is already doing big business 
and some products like Apache are world leaders. The most popular Open 
Source products are LAMP technology (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) - 
there are whole web businesses built on this.

The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply 
Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the 
price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free' 
Office Suite).

If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see 
Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn 
yourself a CD.

I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have 
set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can 
do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There 
is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming 
out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year 
gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Steve

On Tue, 08 May 2007 12:12:42 +0000, Steve wrote:

> The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply
> Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the
> price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free'
> Office Suite).

> If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see
> Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn
> yourself a CD.

Also Intel have done a deal with Ubuntu for mobile computing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6634195.stm

I just put Ubuntu on my Samsung Q1 tablet PC and it works well. No
handwriting recognition but it can't read my handwriting anyway! Mobile
computers with low power consumption but desktop power are going to become
more and more important and currently the chip technology for laptops
running Windows is a big limitation as is the cost of an OEM Vista or XP
license on a device that will eventually be in mas production consumer
electronics and £100.

> I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have
> set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can
> do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There
> is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Actually we have done a deal with the good people from Ubuntu too. The
Shuttleworth Foundation is putting 600,000 Rand into getting INGOTs going
in South Africa and now we have full QCA accreditation here, if you want
your kids to get a certificate from Entry Level 1 to Level 2 showing they
know something about open systems and social networking to develop open
digital resources its available. In fact modify KS3 in some minor ways and
instead of just L5, L6 or L7 they get a L1 VRQ at pass, merit or
distinction taking care of all your teacher assessment with on-line
recording. No increase in the teaching load, just slightly different (and
I would say more up to date) approach. QCA must have thought it was OK or
they wouldn't have approved it for pre-16 use. We have quite a few primary
school kids who will leave primary school with a recognised entry level
vocational qualification in IT. Personalised learning agenda anyone?

> Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming
> out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year
> gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Well I don't think its going to go away any time soon, that's for sure. As
IDC say, its the biggest change taking place globally in software since
the early 80s. Maybe time to think about educating children for the future
rather than the past ;-)

Regards,

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org

"Ian"  wrote in message 
news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
>
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
>
> Regards,
>
> -- 
> Ian

Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At 
the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I 
am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open 
Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that there 
are far fewer of them.

Dave Berry

On Sat, 05 May 2007 18:30:02 +0100, David Berry wrote:

> "Ian"  wrote in message
> news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>>
>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>>
>> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the
>> strategy for change in the way government procurement is approached. I
>> doubt most people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source
>> but maybe it will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have
>> thought that it would be more a lib/demo thing with the community
>> emphasis etc but maybe its really politically neutral and can be grabbed
>> by any of the parties by choosing a particular emphasis.
>>
>> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
>> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
>> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
>> over the next 5 years ;-)
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> --
>> Ian
> 
> Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At
> the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I
> am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open
> Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that
> there are far fewer of them.

Good point. 

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org

Ian wrote:
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
> 
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
> 
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
> 
> Regards,
> 
I think in the server space Open Source is already doing big business 
and some products like Apache are world leaders. The most popular Open 
Source products are LAMP technology (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) - 
there are whole web businesses built on this.

The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply 
Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the 
price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free' 
Office Suite).

If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see 
Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn 
yourself a CD.

I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have 
set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can 
do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There 
is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming 
out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year 
gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Steve

On Tue, 08 May 2007 12:12:42 +0000, Steve wrote:

> The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply
> Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the
> price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free'
> Office Suite).

> If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see
> Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn
> yourself a CD.

Also Intel have done a deal with Ubuntu for mobile computing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6634195.stm

I just put Ubuntu on my Samsung Q1 tablet PC and it works well. No
handwriting recognition but it can't read my handwriting anyway! Mobile
computers with low power consumption but desktop power are going to become
more and more important and currently the chip technology for laptops
running Windows is a big limitation as is the cost of an OEM Vista or XP
license on a device that will eventually be in mas production consumer
electronics and £100.

> I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have
> set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can
> do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There
> is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Actually we have done a deal with the good people from Ubuntu too. The
Shuttleworth Foundation is putting 600,000 Rand into getting INGOTs going
in South Africa and now we have full QCA accreditation here, if you want
your kids to get a certificate from Entry Level 1 to Level 2 showing they
know something about open systems and social networking to develop open
digital resources its available. In fact modify KS3 in some minor ways and
instead of just L5, L6 or L7 they get a L1 VRQ at pass, merit or
distinction taking care of all your teacher assessment with on-line
recording. No increase in the teaching load, just slightly different (and
I would say more up to date) approach. QCA must have thought it was OK or
they wouldn't have approved it for pre-16 use. We have quite a few primary
school kids who will leave primary school with a recognised entry level
vocational qualification in IT. Personalised learning agenda anyone?

> Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming
> out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year
> gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Well I don't think its going to go away any time soon, that's for sure. As
IDC say, its the biggest change taking place globally in software since
the early 80s. Maybe time to think about educating children for the future
rather than the past ;-)

Regards,

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org

"Ian"  wrote in message 
news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
>
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
>
> Regards,
>
> -- 
> Ian

Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At 
the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I 
am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open 
Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that there 
are far fewer of them.

Dave Berry

On Sat, 05 May 2007 18:30:02 +0100, David Berry wrote:

> "Ian"  wrote in message
> news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>>
>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>>
>> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the
>> strategy for change in the way government procurement is approached. I
>> doubt most people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source
>> but maybe it will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have
>> thought that it would be more a lib/demo thing with the community
>> emphasis etc but maybe its really politically neutral and can be grabbed
>> by any of the parties by choosing a particular emphasis.
>>
>> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
>> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
>> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
>> over the next 5 years ;-)
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> --
>> Ian
> 
> Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At
> the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I
> am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open
> Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that
> there are far fewer of them.

Good point. 

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org

Ian wrote:
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
> 
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
> 
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
> 
> Regards,
> 
I think in the server space Open Source is already doing big business 
and some products like Apache are world leaders. The most popular Open 
Source products are LAMP technology (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) - 
there are whole web businesses built on this.

The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply 
Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the 
price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free' 
Office Suite).

If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see 
Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn 
yourself a CD.

I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have 
set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can 
do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There 
is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming 
out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year 
gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Steve

On Tue, 08 May 2007 12:12:42 +0000, Steve wrote:

> The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply
> Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the
> price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free'
> Office Suite).

> If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see
> Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn
> yourself a CD.

Also Intel have done a deal with Ubuntu for mobile computing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6634195.stm

I just put Ubuntu on my Samsung Q1 tablet PC and it works well. No
handwriting recognition but it can't read my handwriting anyway! Mobile
computers with low power consumption but desktop power are going to become
more and more important and currently the chip technology for laptops
running Windows is a big limitation as is the cost of an OEM Vista or XP
license on a device that will eventually be in mas production consumer
electronics and £100.

> I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have
> set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can
> do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There
> is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Actually we have done a deal with the good people from Ubuntu too. The
Shuttleworth Foundation is putting 600,000 Rand into getting INGOTs going
in South Africa and now we have full QCA accreditation here, if you want
your kids to get a certificate from Entry Level 1 to Level 2 showing they
know something about open systems and social networking to develop open
digital resources its available. In fact modify KS3 in some minor ways and
instead of just L5, L6 or L7 they get a L1 VRQ at pass, merit or
distinction taking care of all your teacher assessment with on-line
recording. No increase in the teaching load, just slightly different (and
I would say more up to date) approach. QCA must have thought it was OK or
they wouldn't have approved it for pre-16 use. We have quite a few primary
school kids who will leave primary school with a recognised entry level
vocational qualification in IT. Personalised learning agenda anyone?

> Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming
> out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year
> gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Well I don't think its going to go away any time soon, that's for sure. As
IDC say, its the biggest change taking place globally in software since
the early 80s. Maybe time to think about educating children for the future
rather than the past ;-)

Regards,

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org

"Ian"  wrote in message 
news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
>
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
>
> Regards,
>
> -- 
> Ian

Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At 
the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I 
am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open 
Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that there 
are far fewer of them.

Dave Berry

On Sat, 05 May 2007 18:30:02 +0100, David Berry wrote:

> "Ian"  wrote in message
> news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>>
>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>>
>> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the
>> strategy for change in the way government procurement is approached. I
>> doubt most people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source
>> but maybe it will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have
>> thought that it would be more a lib/demo thing with the community
>> emphasis etc but maybe its really politically neutral and can be grabbed
>> by any of the parties by choosing a particular emphasis.
>>
>> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
>> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
>> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
>> over the next 5 years ;-)
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> --
>> Ian
> 
> Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At
> the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I
> am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open
> Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that
> there are far fewer of them.

Good point. 

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org

Ian wrote:
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
> 
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
> 
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
> 
> Regards,
> 
I think in the server space Open Source is already doing big business 
and some products like Apache are world leaders. The most popular Open 
Source products are LAMP technology (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) - 
there are whole web businesses built on this.

The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply 
Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the 
price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free' 
Office Suite).

If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see 
Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn 
yourself a CD.

I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have 
set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can 
do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There 
is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming 
out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year 
gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Steve

On Tue, 08 May 2007 12:12:42 +0000, Steve wrote:

> The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply
> Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the
> price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free'
> Office Suite).

> If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see
> Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn
> yourself a CD.

Also Intel have done a deal with Ubuntu for mobile computing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6634195.stm

I just put Ubuntu on my Samsung Q1 tablet PC and it works well. No
handwriting recognition but it can't read my handwriting anyway! Mobile
computers with low power consumption but desktop power are going to become
more and more important and currently the chip technology for laptops
running Windows is a big limitation as is the cost of an OEM Vista or XP
license on a device that will eventually be in mas production consumer
electronics and £100.

> I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have
> set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can
> do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There
> is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Actually we have done a deal with the good people from Ubuntu too. The
Shuttleworth Foundation is putting 600,000 Rand into getting INGOTs going
in South Africa and now we have full QCA accreditation here, if you want
your kids to get a certificate from Entry Level 1 to Level 2 showing they
know something about open systems and social networking to develop open
digital resources its available. In fact modify KS3 in some minor ways and
instead of just L5, L6 or L7 they get a L1 VRQ at pass, merit or
distinction taking care of all your teacher assessment with on-line
recording. No increase in the teaching load, just slightly different (and
I would say more up to date) approach. QCA must have thought it was OK or
they wouldn't have approved it for pre-16 use. We have quite a few primary
school kids who will leave primary school with a recognised entry level
vocational qualification in IT. Personalised learning agenda anyone?

> Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming
> out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year
> gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Well I don't think its going to go away any time soon, that's for sure. As
IDC say, its the biggest change taking place globally in software since
the early 80s. Maybe time to think about educating children for the future
rather than the past ;-)

Regards,

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org

"Ian"  wrote in message 
news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
>
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
>
> Regards,
>
> -- 
> Ian

Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At 
the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I 
am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open 
Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that there 
are far fewer of them.

Dave Berry

On Sat, 05 May 2007 18:30:02 +0100, David Berry wrote:

> "Ian"  wrote in message
> news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>>
>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>>
>> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the
>> strategy for change in the way government procurement is approached. I
>> doubt most people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source
>> but maybe it will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have
>> thought that it would be more a lib/demo thing with the community
>> emphasis etc but maybe its really politically neutral and can be grabbed
>> by any of the parties by choosing a particular emphasis.
>>
>> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
>> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
>> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
>> over the next 5 years ;-)
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> --
>> Ian
> 
> Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At
> the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I
> am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open
> Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that
> there are far fewer of them.

Good point. 

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org

Ian wrote:
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
> 
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
> 
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
> 
> Regards,
> 
I think in the server space Open Source is already doing big business 
and some products like Apache are world leaders. The most popular Open 
Source products are LAMP technology (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) - 
there are whole web businesses built on this.

The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply 
Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the 
price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free' 
Office Suite).

If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see 
Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn 
yourself a CD.

I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have 
set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can 
do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There 
is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming 
out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year 
gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Steve

On Tue, 08 May 2007 12:12:42 +0000, Steve wrote:

> The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply
> Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the
> price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free'
> Office Suite).

> If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see
> Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn
> yourself a CD.

Also Intel have done a deal with Ubuntu for mobile computing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6634195.stm

I just put Ubuntu on my Samsung Q1 tablet PC and it works well. No
handwriting recognition but it can't read my handwriting anyway! Mobile
computers with low power consumption but desktop power are going to become
more and more important and currently the chip technology for laptops
running Windows is a big limitation as is the cost of an OEM Vista or XP
license on a device that will eventually be in mas production consumer
electronics and £100.

> I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have
> set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can
> do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There
> is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Actually we have done a deal with the good people from Ubuntu too. The
Shuttleworth Foundation is putting 600,000 Rand into getting INGOTs going
in South Africa and now we have full QCA accreditation here, if you want
your kids to get a certificate from Entry Level 1 to Level 2 showing they
know something about open systems and social networking to develop open
digital resources its available. In fact modify KS3 in some minor ways and
instead of just L5, L6 or L7 they get a L1 VRQ at pass, merit or
distinction taking care of all your teacher assessment with on-line
recording. No increase in the teaching load, just slightly different (and
I would say more up to date) approach. QCA must have thought it was OK or
they wouldn't have approved it for pre-16 use. We have quite a few primary
school kids who will leave primary school with a recognised entry level
vocational qualification in IT. Personalised learning agenda anyone?

> Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming
> out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year
> gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Well I don't think its going to go away any time soon, that's for sure. As
IDC say, its the biggest change taking place globally in software since
the early 80s. Maybe time to think about educating children for the future
rather than the past ;-)

Regards,

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org

"Ian"  wrote in message 
news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
>
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
>
> Regards,
>
> -- 
> Ian

Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At 
the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I 
am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open 
Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that there 
are far fewer of them.

Dave Berry

On Sat, 05 May 2007 18:30:02 +0100, David Berry wrote:

> "Ian"  wrote in message
> news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>>
>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>>
>> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the
>> strategy for change in the way government procurement is approached. I
>> doubt most people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source
>> but maybe it will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have
>> thought that it would be more a lib/demo thing with the community
>> emphasis etc but maybe its really politically neutral and can be grabbed
>> by any of the parties by choosing a particular emphasis.
>>
>> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
>> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
>> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
>> over the next 5 years ;-)
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> --
>> Ian
> 
> Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At
> the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I
> am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open
> Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that
> there are far fewer of them.

Good point. 

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org

Ian wrote:
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
> 
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
> 
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
> 
> Regards,
> 
I think in the server space Open Source is already doing big business 
and some products like Apache are world leaders. The most popular Open 
Source products are LAMP technology (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) - 
there are whole web businesses built on this.

The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply 
Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the 
price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free' 
Office Suite).

If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see 
Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn 
yourself a CD.

I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have 
set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can 
do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There 
is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming 
out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year 
gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Steve

On Tue, 08 May 2007 12:12:42 +0000, Steve wrote:

> The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply
> Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the
> price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free'
> Office Suite).

> If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see
> Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn
> yourself a CD.

Also Intel have done a deal with Ubuntu for mobile computing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6634195.stm

I just put Ubuntu on my Samsung Q1 tablet PC and it works well. No
handwriting recognition but it can't read my handwriting anyway! Mobile
computers with low power consumption but desktop power are going to become
more and more important and currently the chip technology for laptops
running Windows is a big limitation as is the cost of an OEM Vista or XP
license on a device that will eventually be in mas production consumer
electronics and £100.

> I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have
> set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can
> do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There
> is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Actually we have done a deal with the good people from Ubuntu too. The
Shuttleworth Foundation is putting 600,000 Rand into getting INGOTs going
in South Africa and now we have full QCA accreditation here, if you want
your kids to get a certificate from Entry Level 1 to Level 2 showing they
know something about open systems and social networking to develop open
digital resources its available. In fact modify KS3 in some minor ways and
instead of just L5, L6 or L7 they get a L1 VRQ at pass, merit or
distinction taking care of all your teacher assessment with on-line
recording. No increase in the teaching load, just slightly different (and
I would say more up to date) approach. QCA must have thought it was OK or
they wouldn't have approved it for pre-16 use. We have quite a few primary
school kids who will leave primary school with a recognised entry level
vocational qualification in IT. Personalised learning agenda anyone?

> Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming
> out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year
> gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Well I don't think its going to go away any time soon, that's for sure. As
IDC say, its the biggest change taking place globally in software since
the early 80s. Maybe time to think about educating children for the future
rather than the past ;-)

Regards,

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org

"Ian"  wrote in message 
news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
>
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
>
> Regards,
>
> -- 
> Ian

Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At 
the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I 
am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open 
Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that there 
are far fewer of them.

Dave Berry

On Sat, 05 May 2007 18:30:02 +0100, David Berry wrote:

> "Ian"  wrote in message
> news:pan.2007.05.04.09.32.13.523014@Zaphod.com...
>>
>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
>>
>> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the
>> strategy for change in the way government procurement is approached. I
>> doubt most people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source
>> but maybe it will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have
>> thought that it would be more a lib/demo thing with the community
>> emphasis etc but maybe its really politically neutral and can be grabbed
>> by any of the parties by choosing a particular emphasis.
>>
>> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
>> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
>> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
>> over the next 5 years ;-)
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> --
>> Ian
> 
> Very interesting when you consider EDM 179 (Open Software in Schools).  At
> the moment 36 Tories have signed it, 48 Labour and 37 Liberal.  Not that I
> am a Liberal supporter but it looks like they are more interested in Open
> Source than the other two parties - especially when you consider that
> there are far fewer of them.

Good point. 

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org

Ian wrote:
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/04/tory_opensource/
> 
> Looks like the Tories are going to use Open Source as part of the strategy
> for change in the way government procurement is approached. I doubt most
> people saw the Tories as the natural champions of Open Source but maybe it
> will spur Labour into more action. Personally I'd have thought that it
> would be more a lib/demo thing with the community emphasis etc but maybe
> its really politically neutral and can be grabbed by any of the parties by
> choosing a particular emphasis.
> 
> One thing is for sure is that the profile continues to grow so those
> people who thought 4/5 years ago that it would never have an impact
> because there were few users might like to reflect on what will happen
> over the next 5 years ;-)
> 
> Regards,
> 
I think in the server space Open Source is already doing big business 
and some products like Apache are world leaders. The most popular Open 
Source products are LAMP technology (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) - 
there are whole web businesses built on this.

The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply 
Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the 
price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free' 
Office Suite).

If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see 
Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn 
yourself a CD.

I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have 
set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can 
do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There 
is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming 
out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year 
gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Steve

On Tue, 08 May 2007 12:12:42 +0000, Steve wrote:

> The desktop arena is still a little geeky but now Dell are set to supply
> Ubuntu Linux with their machines a lot more people will try it if the
> price is right (consider that you will get a 'free' OS and a 'free'
> Office Suite).

> If you want to try a friendly dektop Linux, as well as Ubuntu see
> Freespire, Fedora and OpenSUSE, download a free CD image and burn
> yourself a CD.

Also Intel have done a deal with Ubuntu for mobile computing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6634195.stm

I just put Ubuntu on my Samsung Q1 tablet PC and it works well. No
handwriting recognition but it can't read my handwriting anyway! Mobile
computers with low power consumption but desktop power are going to become
more and more important and currently the chip technology for laptops
running Windows is a big limitation as is the cost of an OEM Vista or XP
license on a device that will eventually be in mas production consumer
electronics and £100.

> I think it's important that youngsters are exposed to this and I have
> set Ubuntu as the default boot partition at home and my Y9 and Y11 can
> do everything they need to using firefox, webmail and openoffice. There
> is 'aMSN' for when they want to chat ...

Actually we have done a deal with the good people from Ubuntu too. The
Shuttleworth Foundation is putting 600,000 Rand into getting INGOTs going
in South Africa and now we have full QCA accreditation here, if you want
your kids to get a certificate from Entry Level 1 to Level 2 showing they
know something about open systems and social networking to develop open
digital resources its available. In fact modify KS3 in some minor ways and
instead of just L5, L6 or L7 they get a L1 VRQ at pass, merit or
distinction taking care of all your teacher assessment with on-line
recording. No increase in the teaching load, just slightly different (and
I would say more up to date) approach. QCA must have thought it was OK or
they wouldn't have approved it for pre-16 use. We have quite a few primary
school kids who will leave primary school with a recognised entry level
vocational qualification in IT. Personalised learning agenda anyone?

> Let's not forget that the major Linux desktop distributions are coming
> out with new versions every 6 months (as opposed to the approx. 6 year
> gap for one OS I can think of) so the rate of change is still very high.

Well I don't think its going to go away any time soon, that's for sure. As
IDC say, its the biggest change taking place globally in software since
the early 80s. Maybe time to think about educating children for the future
rather than the past ;-)

Regards,

-- 
Ian
New QCA accredited ICT qualifications
Suitable for primary and secondary schools
www.theINGOTs.org