WHEN Microsoft feels threatened in some geographical area, then it starts dumping software on this area. Sometimes it's American EDGI [1, 2, 3, 4] and sometimes it's some 'educational' deal where a school or university (or entire school district) agrees to give up education and instead deliver Microsoft indoctrination to young people, usually at the expense of their parents. This blatant display of disregard is now targeted specifically near Red Hat's headquarters. It's a familiar strategy as we gave other examples of Microsoft doing similar things specifically in this area (it's in our archives and there's also an example from Novell), but Gavin Clarke does not mention this cheekiness at all. Instead he just says that "North Carolina to raise army of Microsofties":
Thousands of students in the state of North Carolina are set to get a skoolin' in Microsoft technologies thanks to a state-wide deal with the software giant.
Microsoft said Tuesday that North Carolina has become the first US state to implement Redmond's Microsoft IT Academy Program for its public high schools — 628 in total.
The program offers students and teachers the latest Microsoft software for classrooms and labs, Microsoft e-learning materials, discounts on courseware, access to Tech Net, and marketing resources to help promote the institutions' association with Microsoft, along with certification in Microsoft technologies.