[K12OSN] Why Linux?

[Scott Sherrill]

>>
>Oh, David.  How sheltered you are.  You are lucky that the school 
>board allows you to make such decisions.  I have not been allowed 
>that luxury.  Many school boards around here, especially in the 
>smaller schools, want their hand in everything.  A few years ago, a 
>school board member created his own technology committee because he 
>was not happy with what I was doing here.  School boards that set 
>policy and then get out of the way are not the norm.  (That is how 
>it should be, but that is not the way it is in most cases.)

My comments are of no redeeming qualities whatsoever and will 
hopefully be considered an interesting anecdote or at least list 
fluff -

A neighboring school district to mine was putting in a distance 
learning room with H.323 cameras, monitors etc.

The board made all the decisions on the drapes that were going to be 
hung in the room, the color of the carpet and the paint on the walls. 
Not final approval, but pulling out swatches, and arguments over 
exactly what shade of taupe should be on the walls and how long the 
carpet fibers should be.

In this case the technology was a group purchase amongst several area 
districts so they didn't spec out their own equipment but they were 
involved at every other level of the project from furniture to wall 
mounts and the colors in between.

The neighbor district is a very small school district, <200 students I think.


Scott