Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 27506
Tech evangelism needed in Vaasa and Tampere, PDQ
Last modified: 2013-02-07 22:32:38 UTC
3000 licenses for MS Office are being dumped with much fanfare on library and school staff in Vaasa and Tampere. http://www.itviikko.fi/uutiset/uutisalue.asp?alue=paiva&UutisID=60307 A little tech evangelism from OpenOffice would go a long way, especially info regarding support on multiple languages, multiple platforms, virus resistance, and "legal deposit" requirements. Especially since now is when decisions are being made for the autumn. I can offer time to help but cannot write Finnish.
Actually, it's 30,000 licenses, not 3,000. And that's not all, they are working with schools to create "Microsoft IT Academy" programs within the schools. So the government will be paying for the Microsoft's marketing campaign. That is certainly an interesting development. Microsoft has apparently adopted an aggressive strategy to push freebies to children, students, and teachers, to get them hooked with their products from the start. Well, I guess we all know where that model comes from... First time is always free. Sure, evangelism would be a good way to get OpenOffice into schools. We would just need people to do such marketing. If you have some ideas in mind, I can translate to Finnish. I'm just not sure if writing is enough -- we would need evangelists who can actively seek contacts and opportunities to give presentations.
I'm sure that the freebies will be loss leaders for expensive and intrusive servers and other essential extras. There are probably rules regarding use of state funding that are being violated as well as possible EU rules. If they are pushing v 2003, then it requires MS-Passport or MS-AD both of which gather and disseminate personal data, apparently in violation of Finnish and EU privacy laws. (I would personally also interpret it as an attempt to gather intelligence data on school and library staff and possibly on pupils) The DRM in v 2003 creates surveilance issues. Likewise, the nature of the file format of v 2003 goes badly against the constitutional requirements of public records. Perhaps there is a more appropriate forum to discuss the incident or plan how best to ammeliorate it. Is there a general OSS forum in Finland that would be interested in OO.o this spring and summer?