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List:       openoffice-discuss
Subject:    Re: [discuss] A driver's license for free software and OO.o?
From:       Marco Fioretti <mfioretti () mclink ! it>
Date:       2005-01-14 12:44:53
Message-ID: 1.3.200501141344.62822 () mclink ! it
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From: Marco Fioretti <mfioretti@mclink.it>
To: ian.lynch@zmsl.com 
Subject: Re: [discuss] A driver's license for free software and OO.o?
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> > 
> > Another reason to also keep the discussion here is to not "restrict"
> > the discussion to specialized groups like the one you mention. 
> This
> > is something that every FLOSS-conscious parent should know 
> about,
> > and use to push FLOSS in his or her children schools (at least).
> 
> There are some clear distinctions that need to be made here.
[...]
> ... ECDL is fundamentally about training not education.

I agree. See my answer to you in the newsforge forum associated
to the article. You are that IanL, aren't you? I remember
the two of us bickering about the distintion between training
and education on this very list :-)

> So while I think ECDL is fine as far as it goes, there is great 
> danger in governments adopting it as some sort of IT panacea.

I agree again, as with the other comments from you which I deleted for easier \
reading. My attitude wrt ECDL is very pragmatic: since it's here, let's make the most \
of it. The reason to write the article in that way is exactly to avoid the risk you \
mention:

> All this will do is limit thinking about learning in the 
> technological field and create a gigantic assessment monopoly
> similar to the Windows monopoly for operating systems.


> > > the hability to make this certification trully valid
> > > is the biggest challenge.
> 
> Valid to whom? We just interviewed for a job here.
You are not (from this point of view) a typical employer. As I
said in the article, a lot of public administrations and SMEs *have* started to \
require it just as they require the primary school certificate, the one that (should) \
demonstrate that you can read and write...

Whether it's silly or not doesn't matter. Unfortunately!

> > > So, since it's already accepted, "all" that remains is to make 
> > > it use FLOSS.
> 
> Fine if one understands the limitations and the difference between
> training and education.

Yes again. Even so, when training, not education, is enough, better
do it with Free SW. I am thinking to public offices. They don't need
education in their employees, just basicly trained monkeys? OK (more
or less...), let's send to them OO.o trained ones at least.
It's about acting on all existing fronts. No doubt that considering
ECDL a panacea would be wrong and dangerous.

Ciao,
Marco



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