Romanian readers:
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There's a CS/informatics competition for high school students being held this weekend in Cluj and it is combined with educational software presentations from software companies for informatics professors.

I asked the organizers if our Free Software Group could hold a short session about the benefits of FOSS in education, with references to Ubuntu, Edubuntu and Kiwilinux and we were given a slot after the ones which had already been planned a while ago - those of Microsoft, Cisco and a local company that sells education software for Romanian schools.

That was two days ago but yesterday we were notified that the Microsoft representative in charge with the education strategy had requested the organizers to pull the Ubuntu presentation because it is 'unfair competition' to hold such a presentation at an event sponsored by them. They are indeed co-sponsors but the conference is organized by the Ministry of Education and its local office, and is being held on the premises of a public University.

It is sad to know they are resorting to this sort of coercing and that they have such influence over the educators but looking on the bright side of it, and that's how I perceived it after thinking a bit about it, THEY ARE SCARED :)

We were also promised to be given the opportunity to present at a later date to a similar group of professors in June.
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  1. My recommendation: Protest.

    Hold signs that say "Microsoft Hates Free Speech" or somesuch.

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  2. Go Jani! I think your attitude is a good one, and I'm glad that you'll get to present at a later time, in front of the same professors.

    Please let us know how that goes.

    Jim

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  3. Ah, so they plant themselves and actually force the portuguese government to invite them to a Free Software event co-sponsored by the government on "unfair competition" grounds, but at first opportunity they block out THEIR competitors under "unfair competition" grounds?

    Predictable, I'm sad to say...

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  4. It's nice you can hold your presentation anyway, but is Microsoft going out of their minds? They pay part of the program and then they think they can decide the program? This is absurd!
    Good luck with the presentation later on!
    Cheers,
    Maarten

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  5. OK, i'm officially pissed

    http://www.mylro.org/content/view/791/1/

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  6. I doubt that you will be given the opportunity to present anything to a really comparable audience and in a comparable context.
    You should protest - and threaten with juristic steps. Also, try to reach the FSF, maybe they can help...

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  7. @all: we'll see how it goes, but we won't resort to protesting let alone legal procedures unless there's no easier way. And handing out CDs and being helpful and open to questions is such a way :)

    The thing is the educators are not agains FOSS, but they are not very motivated, do not have experience with FOSS and faced with huge pressure from companies and their lobby at the edu ministry they do not have much say in this. We try to unite and be on good terms with them so we can have a better chance at this.

    Criticising or pissing them off will just make it harder for us and is actually hurting the goal of promoting FOSS education.

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  8. It might take a commerical interest in FOSS to be motivated enough to fight this. If there are not big companies locally then maybe one of the big internationals (RedHat, Novell, etc) have local representatives who would like to exert pressure.

    If there's one thing I know about (Romanian) politicians, it's that they listen to people with money.

    Murray

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  9. Good luck to you.

    I've hired a number of Romanian open source programmers in the past and they have proven to be very knowledgeable and hard working.

    I think it's important to continue to foster innovation and education in the Romanian open source technology industry.

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  10. Make a bunch of ubuntu cds and hand them out...

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  11. Hi!.

    If You decide to hand out some Ubuntu CDs to attendants, please be sure to also give them a little brochure/pamphlet giving a glance at the contents: productivity, games, internet, etc. Other way many of them will not even hesitate to give them a try.

    ilde.

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  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  13. show them gnu linux!!!!

    god save gnu linux!!!

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  14. When Gates came to Carnegie Mellon University to talk, within a half hour of the announcement, the LUG had permission for a Linux fest in the lobby of the very same building. As people walked in to hear Gates, they were handed Knoppix CDs. One student got up and handed Gates a Knoppix CD :D

    They also did various fun things like putting a large cement penguin on the roof and painting the fence into a BSOD.

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  15. Excellent attitude Jani! :)

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  16. Linking your post....

    I'd love to see it go off with Ubuntu in the face of MS, it would be a nice roundout on this. Maybe you could compare everything to Ubuntu without it being there, perhaps?

    /on 8.04 myself

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  17. I agree with them. It IS unfair competition. Any way you look at it M$ can't compete with FOSS on a level playing field. They know it, we know it. So they just HAVE to scream that its no fair. To make it fairm FOSS would have to charge oodles of money and fill their Software with bugs, bloatware, broken standards and bull***t.

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  18. Organizations breed like organisms, much like hospitals have the toughest antibiotic resistant bacteria. Microsoft bred the only competition that could withstand it and now has to deal with it.

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  19. Protest yes. But how? Any protest that allows Microsoft to document and use later as an affirmation of their own superiority over Open Source will do more harm than good. I don't know how it could be done but it should be subtle, clever and omnipresent.

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  20. If I were "director" of the competition, I would say this to the Microsoft representative: "You have a choice: Either you stay with your statement as it is, and obstruct part of content of this years presentations, and I will remove the FOSS presentation from this year (since you are sponsor), but you will not be allowed to sponsor any following year of this competition (since I don't want sponsors to obstruct content of other presentations). Or you make a statement where you take everything back and everyone will be fine. Choice is yours."

    I am only afraid that some pressure from "unknown" 3rd party would remove me from my position before the next year comes around.

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  21. 1) Why would Microsoft be allowed to sponsor this presentation? 1a) Since this is the case, why would any government, or educational organization even take it seriously? et al - ethical conflict of interests/possible bribery of elected or appointed officials. Corruption.

    2) Given the above (your blog) I would think that this requires immediate legal attention, if not public notice in the form of media coverage, should they be so inclined. Failure to do so will only result in more of the same type of activity. Corruption breeds more corruption as a rule, until it is stopped by an outside party, typically. If those involved (or uninterested, as you say) cant/wont do it, then someone like yourself has the moral obligation to do so.

    3) Handing out Ubuntu CD's while pounding the tambourines and waving the tye dye T shirts, while entertaining in a 1960's kinda way, wont fix this problem, and wont make Microsoft "go away". Its a pleasant thought - VERY naive - but quaint. This is a Corporation that sits on $60 Billion last I looked. Do you really think that they will just cave in to some CD throwing geeks?.. Not gonna happen, definitely not without a really messy fight, and one they are far better equipped for, at least in the money/power department. Your time would be far better spent lobbying the even remotely powerful FOSS supporters in your area to bring some pressure to bear on the powers that be to fix this situation. TV Media can be helpful in that regard.

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  30. I am arriving late at this history, but i want to catch up... How did it end up ???
    Did Micro$oft win, and prevented Ubuntu to be showed in the academic meeting ???

    Please, let me now...

    Best regards from Brazil!!!

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  31. A: yes, the presentation did not happen. What's worse they admonished in private the professor who unwittingly let us know that the presentation is cancelled due to MS's opposition not because some random last minute obstacle.

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  32. Jesus merciful Christ...
    Hope this doesn't affect the morale of all our friends in this fight to be free from M$...

    Ahhh, my linux Blog:

    http://tuxfunny.blogspot.com

    I would be honored if you'd pay me a visit.

    Best regards from Brazil!!!

    ReplyDelete

  33. Well we all know how much fucked MSFT is.
    A reason we can only laugh about.
    They are scared!!!

    :D

    ReplyDelete
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