Re: Confusion about legality of Linux
2008/12/10 Nate Bargmann <n0nb@n0nb.us>
> * Sam Kuper <sam.kuper@uclmail.net> [2008 Dec 10 05:52 -0600]:
> > 2008/12/10 Tom Ashley <tomashleyjr@gmail.com>
> > > http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2008/12/linux-stop-holding-our-kids-back.html
> > "After confiscating the disks I called a confrence with the student and that
> > is how I came to discover you and your organization ... I cannot either
> > support your efforts or allow them to happen in my classroom ... putting
> > linux on these machines is holding our kids back ..."
> >
> > Bloody hell, that's a teacher who ought to be disciplined for libel, and
> > maybe also for theft (since the physical disks were the student's property
> > and were not hers to take unless she was freely offered them).
>
> No doubt, the teacher in question was misinformed, but, she does have
> the right to do what she needs to do to quell a disturbance and restore
> order in her classroom.
My feeling is that she should have investigated whether this really
was a "disturbance" before intervening. It is not clear to me that the
action she took was "needed". Hence my comment.
> After she is informed on the matter and
> understands that the disks are not illegal, contrary to her initial
> claims, she should return the disks to Aaron. She also has the right
> and obligation to enforce rules of conduct in her classroom and if that
> involves no use of laptops except for school work, then so be it.
We don't know what Aaron was demonstrating. It may be that he was
showing his classmates that they could potentially improve their
productivity and understanding re: school work by using open source
software. If what he was doing was totally irrelevant to the class,
then perhaps she was right to tell him to stop, but that does not
suggest to me that she needed to confiscate the disks, nor that she
was right to libel* Ken Starks, "I assure you, the claims you make are
grossly over-stated and hinge on falsehoods".
> I do hope that she comes away from this experience not embarrassed and
> angry, but rather with an appreciation of the path of learning that her
> students would like to voluntarily take.
I broadly agree, though I do feel a degree of embarrassment on her
part would not be inappropriate.
Sam
*In my opinion. IANAL.
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