[ale] Linux in Atlanta's public schools

[jhubbslist at att.net (Jeff Hubbs)]

This is one of the infuriating things that helped me get out of the 
business.  It's as though the people that were hired to run and manage 
computer systems aren't viewed as valuable; that they are 
interchangeable commodities.  There is a key difference with FOSS; it is 
meant to be figured out and understood deeply.  The things you're 
working with aren't *products*; they're tools that are meant to be 
picked up.  I wished people would stop to consider why this wonderful, 
magic "support" was made to exist on the other end of the phone in the 
first place, whereas the natural place for it is right under your roof.  
FOSS empowers its users, but gaining that power requires work and 
dedication.

On 7/4/13 10:52 PM, Sergio Chaves wrote:
>
> After the demos and everything else worked flawlessly, and all the 
> cost savings were evaluated, the very first question I heard was " So, 
> who do we call for support on open source software?". Before I could 
> finish my sentence, once they heard the words "community", forums, 
> IRC, etc., one of the main figures there told me how much my efforts 
> were appreciated but if they could not pickup the phone and call for 
> support, it was no good. Absolutely incredible!