Re: [OT] Universities, Linux, M$, USA
Michael Dominok wrote:
> [Snipped Horrorstory (by Gnu Raiz)]
> Gnu Raiz wrote:
> > Oh if your curious about what University I attend it's
> > the University of Memphis, not that it makes any
> > difference.
>
> Is this typical for US-universities?
*Sigh*...it certainly is at mine. Almost all the labs are
Windows-only, but a few proudly sport fancy new Macs. Of
course, even the Macs run Microsoft products (particularly
MS-Office). Many people have no idea that Firefox is
installed on the computers and use IE exclusively. And they
blame the fact that the network isn't secure on IRC--it's
forbidden without special permission, and yet they allow
people to send and receive MS Office files over the Internet
and use Outlook Express! Oh, and they require professors to
set up websites sites on a lovely online program called
Blackboard, which is not only proprietary software but also
clearly just *bad* (I know several students with physical
handicaps who simply can't use it because it breaks their
screen readers). And to top it all off, if you seek support
for anything computer-related and it comes out you use
Linux, the support folks just assume that you don't need
help after all (even if it's a hardware problem) because
you're clearly a "computer wizard."
I've managed to get a few professors to recognize some
accessibility problems with the website thing and also to
start sending files in open formats such as PDFs and text
(because it really is inconvenient to go to the library or a
computer lab just to read my email), but for the most part
everything computer-related on campus is just bad news. And
it kind of puts me in a bad situation because I advocate/am
active in a lot of groups on a lot of different issues, so
with the computer stuff on top of everything else I kind of
get seen sometimes as "that girl who complains about
everything," since my school does have some serious
accessibility issues in general.
In non-computer realms, however, it's an amazing school.
Very progressive, even. *Shrug*
Amy
P.S.: They start the MS training early. When I was in high
school, they offered classes on how to become
"Microsoft Office Certified" or some such nonsense.
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