Bonum Certa Men Certa

Education Without Free Software is Training or Indoctrination

Not every adult will have a computer

A programme in school



Summary: Kids need to decide for themselves what they want to do and what they wish to use when they grow up; schools need to provide general tools and the mental capacity to make good decisions (rather than make these decisions for the kids, sometimes at the behest of foreign monopolists)

TRAINING. What is it really? How does that differ from education?



What about indoctrination? Well, the former tends to allude to relatively simple tasks, which do not necessarily require profound understanding. It tends to be something mechanical, associated with muscle memory, subconscious reflexes and skilled art. The term "indoctrination" is a lot more loaded because of political connotation and association with cults. When people affiliate themselves with bad things that cause them to do/say bad things we tend to call them "indoctrinated".

There's nothing wrong with training. Cops undergo training, barbers are trained for even longer periods of time than cops (in the US at least), and artists gain experience by apprenticeships, practice, inspiration and one might say "training". No "indoctrination" to it; creativity is inspired by various outside influence(r)s and artists are rarely forced to follow one single "genre" or "style".

"Skills that are dependent on menu layouts and GUIs (which change over time; see what we said about AWS a month ago) aren't really skills and they won't stay in the minds of young people, unlike analytical skills."Enter the realm of software and what we typically deal with is either programming or the use of a program (application). There has long been that debate about whether we should teach kids/adolescents to code (at school level) and whether we should teach them how to use particular applications (and, if so, what kind/s of applications). Many schools still teach students/pupils how to use spreadsheets and word processors (not typesetting programs). They tend to focus on only Microsoft products, albeit with 'clown computing' hype being a 'thing' and with Chromebooks becoming very ubiquitous in schools, Google Docs also became an option.

If a school's job is to prepare youngsters for "jobs", then that might make pragmatic sense. The problem is, the schools become pipelines of proprietary software giants, a peripheral 'training camp' of sorts, teaching kids to become vendor-controlled and indebted to monopolies. This is morally wrong.

I share the sentiments of figosdev when he says that schools need to focus on teaching the nature of programming (even if at some abstract/basic level such as LOGO). Skills that are dependent on menu layouts and GUIs (which change over time; see what we said about AWS a month ago) aren't really skills and they won't stay in the minds of young people, unlike analytical skills. Teachers ought to sternly insist their students are taught general skills. Public education is otherwise merely an extension of "the industry" and this is ripe for abuse (cushioning corporate investment at the taxpayers' expense).

Say no to proprietary software in schools. Say no to monopolies. Let kids decide for themselves what they want to do after they end their actual education period. Schools are not mills/factories.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
 
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 18, 2024
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day