[K12OSN] Linux cut off

[KJ]

Hi Henry,
Interesting point.  I had not read that post as the teachers were saying
"we should only teach this because etc" I read it as they were simply
stating the fact that M$ is the standard on the desktop.  Which as you
pointed out is true.  I agree with you that the concepts should be
taught, the medium is not important.  That leads to my belief that if it
saves the taxpayers money AND accomplishes the desired result it should
be heralded and championed by all.

KJ  

On Fri, 2004-11-19 at 11:03, Henry Hartley wrote:
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: k12osn-bounces at redhat.com [mailto:k12osn-bounces at redhat.com] On
> Behalf Of KJ
> >> Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 9:20 AM
> >> 
> >> I apologize if I sounded like a M$ evangelist.  I'm not, I was
> >> simply saying that the business teachers are correct, it is the
> >> standard and I understand their point.
> 
> While I 
> a) understand what you are saying here and 
> b) agree that MS software is "the standard in business" (at least
>    on the desktop) and
> c) understand the business teachers point,
> 
> I also disagree that the business teachers are correct. I believe
> they are very wrong.  No one here is disputing that MS Office is
> much more widely used than (say) OpenOffice.  The dispute is over
> whether this implies we should teach MS Office which is what the
> business teachers in question are doing.  The point (in my opinion)
> is that this conclusion (and therefore the business teachers who
> make it) is wrong.  The fact that MS Office is "the standard in
> business" is, if not completely irrelevant to the discussion, at
> least not central.
> 
> In fact, I think that most business people you ask will agree that
> knowledge of MS Word is completely useless in a potential employee
> if they cannot write (unless perhaps you are hiring an old fashioned
> secretary who will do nothing but type someone else's words).  In 
> the same way, knowledge of Photoshop in a potential employee is
> completely useless if the person is not at least a little bit
> artistic.
> 
> Furthermore, claims that MS software is the standard in business 
> anywhere other than the desktop are less obviously true and in some
> cases certainly false.