It never was my intention to attack anyone personally....
My sights were set on correcting some obvious misconceptions. It was a focused attack on ignorance but with some unsolicited commentary on a particular group.
Whether by proxy or focused intent, it appears that is what has happened, however.
A particular teacher within the Austin Independent School District now sucks.
The consensus began building about 24 hours ago when I published a blog strongly chastising a teacher who emailed me. She made, what I considered to be, some amazingly ignorant statements, statements that I felt attacked the very core reason for my existence. It made me much angrier than it should have.
I'm human, so sue me.
No wait, scratch that last line...don't sue me. It is being discussed.
Her tone didn't help her case much. She insinuated that I may had done something illegal. We build/refurbish computers for kids who are financially disadvantaged. We also build and present computers to kids of high achievement. To even hint that I am involved in anything that approaches breaking the law is not only silly, it evokes emotion better left un-evoked. I've worked for years to bring the level of success, however limited, we have now. The last thing I need is to lose it all for something silly.
So instead of crafting a measured, count-for-count personal response, I chose to share her obvious ignorance with members of the Linux Community. It was meant to illustrate the maddening ignorance and bias a Linux Advocate faces in a Microsoft Windows world. It was also meant to digitally spank the hand of the offender. It was a good direction to go I thought.
Things pretty much turned to fecal flakes from there.
Look, I write this little back-water blog to document what we do at the HeliOS Project and to advocate Linux in general. One of our main focuses is to see to it that Linux begins gaining a foothold in the computing public's awareness. And no, my goal isn't to convince you to switch to Linux.
That's my desire.
My goal is to make you aware that you have a choice in how you operate your computers. And yes, a bias exists on the Linux side of the ledger.
Ya think? People don't realize they are prisoners in their own computers when they use Microsoft Windows. If they ever read the EULA, they'd understand quickly.
So boasting a stunning readership in the dozens, I go about my business writing about things that happen in our day to day operations. Every now and then, something or someone does or says something that I believe needs attention.
Holy Crap!
Well, we got attention. When I published a part of the email this Teacher sent me, it experienced something known as "The Slashdot Effect." Slashdot is a website devoted to the tech/internet world and is read by hundreds of thousands an hour.
Yeah...hundreds of thousands an hour. My article scolding this teacher ended up on the front page of Slashdot.
For whatever reason, this story took on a life of its own. By 10:30 AM, I had to turn my cell phone off. Poeple were getting my number from my business website and calling me with their comments and reactions.
Not all of them were particularly on my side.
I received calls from South Africa, The Netherlands, Croatia, The Land Down Under and Russia.
It's the one from New Zealand that bothered me the most.
The caller identified himself and then further identified himself as an editor for a well known magazine published in the UK. He was extremely to-the-point with his call.
He would donate $1000.00 immediately to The HeliOS Project if I would give him the name of the Teacher I blogged about.
I hung up the phone.
"This is madness." I thought to myself. What is the big friggin' deal here? This is a non-story.
And my phone buzzed again but it wasn't with the incoming call ring...it was a text message being received. I cued the caller ID and it returned as "unavailable".
I pushed "read message" and waited for the text to appear on my screen.
"Can I call you?"
I pulled the truck over into a parking lot and answered:
"I guess. Who r u?"
The inactivity was so long that I started the truck and began to put it into gear and re-enter traffic when the buzz came again. I pushed the read button.
"Karen".
It was my turn to hesitate. Finally, I toggled Reply and typed in one character.
"k"
She didn't call right away. It took her about 15 minutes to finally call me. When she did she didn't say anything for the first 15 seconds. When she finally did speak, it was obvious she was crying.
"Why did you throw me to the wolves like that?"
I didn't even have to think of the reply.
"I didn't throw you to the wolves Karen, I threw ignorance to the wolves. Let me ask you something. If I had not emailed you a link to my blog, would you have even known about this?"
Again she hesitated. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that if you didn't know I had written that blog, would you have known about all these comments? Has anyone called you or bothered you about this? Have your co-workers mentioned it?"
"Well...no."
"Then the wolves didn't touch you Karen. If I had included your last name or email address, then yes, you could ask me that question but as it stands, you are just a nameless school teacher that evoked a public response from me."
She didn't say anything for several seconds. When she did, it was a quiet and simple:
"Thank you".
Yeah...thank you. Like I deserve that. Let me share a couple things with you here. First off, I want to sincerely apologize for some things I did say, things that were way off base and even if they were situationally true, they didn't add anything of value to the conversation.
I want to apologize to all the hard-working and honest NEA members. My statements were based on an isolated but nasty experience two years ago, and, while I developed a nasty dislike for the people in that situation, it was both unfair and short-sighted to say the things I did. The teachers that we entrust our kids with on a daily basis do us a service that is under-appreciated, under-paid and over-criticized. My mini tirade didn't add anything of value to the situation and only served to inflame an already volatile area of debate. You have my sincere apology for slapping you all with such a wide brush.
Karen isn't alone in her ignorance. I have sat in a PhD's office...a PhD that happened to be a principal of a school. She told me that according to her "tech staff", it was illegal to remove Microsoft Windows from their school computers. So who is ignorant here? The "tech staffer" afraid of losing his MCSE position or the Dr. of Education that didn't bother to check into such a statement. Ignorance isn't the sole possession of this particular school teacher.
Karen and I have talked on the phone now for a couple of hours, here and there. We've come to understand each other more and had she said some of the things in her email that she said during our phone conversations...this black ink on white digital paper probably wouldn't exist.
And neither would over 2000 comments that were less than kind on one end of it and absolutely brutal on the other.
The student did get his Linux disks back after the class. The lad was being disruptive, but that wasn't mentioned. Neither was the obvious fact that when she saw a gaggle of giggling 8th grade boys gathered around a laptop, the last thing she expected to see on that screen was a spinning cube.
She didn't know what was on those disks he was handing out. It could have been porn, viral .exe's...any number of things for all she knew. When she heard that an adult had given him some of the disks to hand out, her spidey-senses started tingling. Coupled with the fact that she truly was ignorant of honest-to-goodness Free Software, and you have some fairly impressive conclusion-jumping.
In a couple of ways, I am guilty of it too.
Karen seems to be a good teacher, and as she stated to me today, she has learned more about the tech world in a few days than she's learned in five years.
That's because she's trapped in a world of Windows. Most people are.
I have contacted the technology department of AISD and have discovered it has a rich technology environment that uses open source software in all aspects of instruction, operation, and administration. The District has over 36,000 desktop and laptop computers. While about 24,000 of those computers run some version of Windows, AISD is anything but a Windows shop. Their current standard teacher/student image includes both Open Office and Firefox on all Windows computers, and recently has added Open Office to the Apple OS image. Other open source software on both images include audacity and lame, and other free software such as Google Earth, iTunes, Adobe and many plug-ins. They also are members of the world community grid; their 36,000 computers are providing many hours of spare processing time (during the work day) to organizations trying to solve major world problems such as energy, cancer, and AIDS. Additionally, they are running more than 100 Linux servers. Other Open Source and Free Software AISD uses include:
apache for web servers
samba for file sharing
nagios for server monitoring
mySQL and postgreSQL for some databases
sendmail for email services
ISC DHCP and bind for DHCP services
moodle for course management
tomcat and jboss for web based applications
perl and php to build in-house applications
As an Austin citizen I am proud to see that AISD is a solid supporter of the open source community and is not blindly following a Microsoft centric architecture. In fact because they are reasonably agnostic they make an overt attempt to find applications that are multi-platform and save money. Also, it is not unreasonable that an organization with approximately 6,000 teachers representing a cross section of America with many different teaching specialties, that there will be some individuals that are not totally aware of current technology trends.
Now to the meat of the matter. Many, many of you have pushed for the identification of this teacher.
I cannot or will not relinquish that. Read the comments from slashdot alone or the hundreds on my blog to understand why!
There isn't any amount of money I will accept to throw a human being into that cement mixer.
The fact that I did it to a profession is bad enough.
All Righty Then
Custom Search
THIS IS MARIPIPI VIEW FROM BOAT
History of Maripipi, Biliran
Maripipi is one of the eight towns of Biliran Province. It is an island municipality located in the northernmost part of the province. It was named after Maria and Pepe who was believed to be the first settlers of the island municipality. They were followed by the people of Samar, Masbate and other neighboring provinces.
The birth of this barrio dates back to the year 1765. This barrio was previously called Isla de Rosa. In previous years the houses in the barrio was razed by fire in such a way that all residents left the place. Only after five years had passed that a group of settlers returned and settled in the said island once again. It is also known that in 1768, the Moros that holed-in on the sitio called Guijom, of the Province of Masbate, conducts a once a week raid of Maripipi.
Being an island municipality, it has been a constant prey to roving pirates and bandits. Its existence dates back during the Spanish regime in the Philippines. Leaders consisted of capitanes, presidents, alcaldes and mayors. They assumed their office either by election or appointment.
Being full of depredations caused by the ravages of the Moros, the people agreed to wage war against the enemies. In Sitio Awang, the inhabitants dug up a hole nine feet deep and covered it with bamboo leaves as a camouflage for the purpose of capturing the invading Moros. They were able to kill Moros and the rest ran away after the bloody fight staged by the inhabitants. In order that they may be forewarned from any further attacks, they built a bulwark to serve as a watchtower (Lantawan) in Barangay Ermita. This bulwark was guarded by warriors, among them were Capitanes.
Brief DescriptionThe Philippine archipelago is dotted with numerous tiny islands, some of which remain largely undiscovered by travelers due to distance or lack of information. Several of these beautiful but little known islands can be found in the Visayas. Biliran Island, a young province, lies between Northern Leyte and Eastern Samar.
Biliran comprises eight towns: Kawayan, Almeria, Naval, Biliran, Culaba, Caibiran, Cabucgayan, and Maripipi, with Naval as the capital town. The province thrives mainly on the fishing and seaport industry. Most of its towns like Naval and Biliran are considered as excellent ports and are often the gateway to further destinations within the Visayas and even the Mindanao region.
spacer spacerGeography
Biliran is bounded on the north by the Samar Sea; on the east by Western Samar; on the west by Visayan Sea ; and on the south by Carigara Bay. It occupies a land area of 555.42 sq. km.
Biliran’s topography ranges from slightly flat to gently rolling terrain. It has coastal lowlands with a mountainous interior except for the municipalities of Naval and Caibiran. Mountain ranges occupy the major portion of the island municipality of Maripipi.
spacer spacerPolitical Subdivision
The province is composed of eight towns. Capital is Naval.
spacer spacerClimate
Biliran Island does not experience a prolonged dry season. It has very pronounced rainfall during December, which subsides in January, and minimum rainfall in April.
spacer spacerPopulation
As of the May 2000 census, the provincial population was 140,274.
spacer spacerLanguage / Dialect
Cebuano and Waray-waray are the major dialects spoken.
spacer spacerMajor Industries
Fashion bags, Romblon bags, shellcrafts, placemats, hotpads, baskets, coasters and trays.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Site Build It - a User Review
Posted: 26 Nov 2008 06:29 PM PST
site-build-it-review.jpgOne website building program that I have been consistantly asked about by readers over the last 12 or more months is Site Build It. While not a blogging platform as such it is a way of building a website for money and as a result I guess readers feel I will have an opinion of it. Unfortunately I’ve not used it before so don’t have any personal experience to offer. When I mentioned this on Twitter recently Julie Bonner (one of b5media’s staff writers) told me that she’d used SBI successfully - I asked her if she’d be interested in writing a user review. She agreed and here it is.
I first heard of SBI (Site Build It) back in August of 2004. I had tried, unsuccessfully, to build a website on my own a few months before that. Needless to say, I was frustrated because of my sheer lack of knowledge of html, seo and all the other stuff involved. I knew I could write, I knew I loved to write and I knew there was money to be made on the Internet. What I needed was a program where I could just pump out good content and have all of the other stuff taken care of for me, while making money of course. That’s when SBI fell into my lap.
In July 2004 I purchased SBI and hit the ground running. In a span of about 3 years, I built a handful of websites and then turned around and flipped them for a profit. I wrote on everything from decorating kids’ bedrooms to on-line games for kids. While I was in the process of building the sites, I was making a fairly decent income off of Google Adsense and affiliate links. To say I am grateful to SBI and what it has taught me, would be an understatement.
Some of you may be asking what the benefits of purchasing SBI are. It’s not super expensive, but pricey enough to where you need to do your research and think about if this is something you are willing to open your wallet for. You also have to realize that every year there is a renewal fee. For me personally, my income from the site has covered that fee over and above, so it has never been an issue.
Here are some of the benefits of SBI:
* Hosting is taken care of.
* You are guided through the process of choosing a topic and domain name that is profitable.
* There is an amazing keyword tool built in to the system.
* You can choose from many different templates, or upload your own.
* They submit your site to the search engines. All you have to do is place your keywords in the right places – which they tell you exactly where that is.
* No knowledge of html, ftp, graphic or programming skills needed.
* The training is phenomenal!
* Forum support is some of the best I have ever seen. It’s a very active forum with the give first attitude.
* You have the chance to learn from people who are making a full-time income off of their SBI sites.
* It is great for beginners who cringe at the word Internet or website.
I won’t go into great detail about the individual benefits, because SBI has a great site where they explain everything. You can read about the program or take their video tour.
What I will tell you, is that if you think you can go out and purchase SBI, throw up a few pages and watch the money start rolling in, then you might as well not waste your time or money. I was successful at building web sites and making money at it because I worked hard. SBI gives you the tools, but you have to provide the blood, sweat and tears. I spent many late nights writing and writing and writing and it payed off. I wrote for three months before I started seeing the money come in, but once it did, it just didn’t stop and continued to grow from there.
If you dig a little into the SBI site, you will see that this program has really changed people’s lives. I can tell you that it’s true. I have personally exchanged emails with people who are making a full time living off of their SBI sites, but like I said, it’s because they worked very hard in the beginning. They understood what they needed to do and they just did it.
SBI is what convinced me that making money on-line was truly possible. The thought of working from home and doing something that I loved became a reality for me and I have never looked back. It’s funny because SBI is one of the places where I first heard about this thing called blogging. They talked about it as a way to promote your web site and build traffic and encourage you to use the two together. Little did I know back then that blogging would take over my life.
My web site building days are currently on hold because, well, blogging is my new love. Will I pick it up again some day? Maybe. And if I do, I can guarantee you that Site Build It is where I will go back to. No doubt about that!
A Note from Darren - thanks to Julie for this review. While I’ve not use Site Build It at all and can only rely upon the advice of people I respect and trust (like Julie) I find myself reacting to the idea of SBI in a couple of ways.
Firstly, if I’m honest - when I hear of these programs I get a little skeptical. Why would you need to pay for this type of thing when you can set up your own blog or website using free tools?
Secondly, I really like the sound of some of the tools and features bundled up in this product. Some of the keyword tools, SEO that is built in, the community aspect etc. While the skeptical side of my brain tells me that you can get a lot of this for free - I guess I’m reminded of my first year online trying to build my first blogs where I quite literally had no idea what I was doing. I had to ask a fellow blogger how to make text bold - I didn’t know where to begin.
While some of us who have been around for a while might look down our noses at this type of tool I think that they can have a place - particularly for those starting out, who want to learn some basics and who don’t have the skills (or know someone with them) to get going. The idea of a service that bundles a lot of this stuff into a package and then charges for it will not appeal to everyone - some of us prefer to spend time researching, pulling together information from lots of sources etc - However for some, SBI sounds like a good ‘getting started’ tool.
I’d love to hear readers experiences of SBI. Have you used it? How did you find it? What did you like? What could they improve and do better?
Share This
Posted: 26 Nov 2008 06:29 PM PST
site-build-it-review.jpgOne website building program that I have been consistantly asked about by readers over the last 12 or more months is Site Build It. While not a blogging platform as such it is a way of building a website for money and as a result I guess readers feel I will have an opinion of it. Unfortunately I’ve not used it before so don’t have any personal experience to offer. When I mentioned this on Twitter recently Julie Bonner (one of b5media’s staff writers) told me that she’d used SBI successfully - I asked her if she’d be interested in writing a user review. She agreed and here it is.
I first heard of SBI (Site Build It) back in August of 2004. I had tried, unsuccessfully, to build a website on my own a few months before that. Needless to say, I was frustrated because of my sheer lack of knowledge of html, seo and all the other stuff involved. I knew I could write, I knew I loved to write and I knew there was money to be made on the Internet. What I needed was a program where I could just pump out good content and have all of the other stuff taken care of for me, while making money of course. That’s when SBI fell into my lap.
In July 2004 I purchased SBI and hit the ground running. In a span of about 3 years, I built a handful of websites and then turned around and flipped them for a profit. I wrote on everything from decorating kids’ bedrooms to on-line games for kids. While I was in the process of building the sites, I was making a fairly decent income off of Google Adsense and affiliate links. To say I am grateful to SBI and what it has taught me, would be an understatement.
Some of you may be asking what the benefits of purchasing SBI are. It’s not super expensive, but pricey enough to where you need to do your research and think about if this is something you are willing to open your wallet for. You also have to realize that every year there is a renewal fee. For me personally, my income from the site has covered that fee over and above, so it has never been an issue.
Here are some of the benefits of SBI:
* Hosting is taken care of.
* You are guided through the process of choosing a topic and domain name that is profitable.
* There is an amazing keyword tool built in to the system.
* You can choose from many different templates, or upload your own.
* They submit your site to the search engines. All you have to do is place your keywords in the right places – which they tell you exactly where that is.
* No knowledge of html, ftp, graphic or programming skills needed.
* The training is phenomenal!
* Forum support is some of the best I have ever seen. It’s a very active forum with the give first attitude.
* You have the chance to learn from people who are making a full-time income off of their SBI sites.
* It is great for beginners who cringe at the word Internet or website.
I won’t go into great detail about the individual benefits, because SBI has a great site where they explain everything. You can read about the program or take their video tour.
What I will tell you, is that if you think you can go out and purchase SBI, throw up a few pages and watch the money start rolling in, then you might as well not waste your time or money. I was successful at building web sites and making money at it because I worked hard. SBI gives you the tools, but you have to provide the blood, sweat and tears. I spent many late nights writing and writing and writing and it payed off. I wrote for three months before I started seeing the money come in, but once it did, it just didn’t stop and continued to grow from there.
If you dig a little into the SBI site, you will see that this program has really changed people’s lives. I can tell you that it’s true. I have personally exchanged emails with people who are making a full time living off of their SBI sites, but like I said, it’s because they worked very hard in the beginning. They understood what they needed to do and they just did it.
SBI is what convinced me that making money on-line was truly possible. The thought of working from home and doing something that I loved became a reality for me and I have never looked back. It’s funny because SBI is one of the places where I first heard about this thing called blogging. They talked about it as a way to promote your web site and build traffic and encourage you to use the two together. Little did I know back then that blogging would take over my life.
My web site building days are currently on hold because, well, blogging is my new love. Will I pick it up again some day? Maybe. And if I do, I can guarantee you that Site Build It is where I will go back to. No doubt about that!
A Note from Darren - thanks to Julie for this review. While I’ve not use Site Build It at all and can only rely upon the advice of people I respect and trust (like Julie) I find myself reacting to the idea of SBI in a couple of ways.
Firstly, if I’m honest - when I hear of these programs I get a little skeptical. Why would you need to pay for this type of thing when you can set up your own blog or website using free tools?
Secondly, I really like the sound of some of the tools and features bundled up in this product. Some of the keyword tools, SEO that is built in, the community aspect etc. While the skeptical side of my brain tells me that you can get a lot of this for free - I guess I’m reminded of my first year online trying to build my first blogs where I quite literally had no idea what I was doing. I had to ask a fellow blogger how to make text bold - I didn’t know where to begin.
While some of us who have been around for a while might look down our noses at this type of tool I think that they can have a place - particularly for those starting out, who want to learn some basics and who don’t have the skills (or know someone with them) to get going. The idea of a service that bundles a lot of this stuff into a package and then charges for it will not appeal to everyone - some of us prefer to spend time researching, pulling together information from lots of sources etc - However for some, SBI sounds like a good ‘getting started’ tool.
I’d love to hear readers experiences of SBI. Have you used it? How did you find it? What did you like? What could they improve and do better?
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306 comments:
Thank you for this post. While I was as outraged as anyone about the ignorance exhibited by Karen in the email snippet you posted before, I was absolutely horrified by some of the comments posted here and on slashdot.
It did *not* make me proud to be a member of the open source community.
Good on you!
I held back my comments on this topic for just this reason... my "There must be more to this story" meter rang off the charts, and while my initial impulse was to post something nasty, my experience has taught me to think about things twice before I say them.
I'm glad to see that there was more misunderstanding and less ignorance than was originally presented.
X
I posted no comments about this, but... she gives the kid a hard time, writes you an email instead of inviting you to clarify the issue, threatens with legal action, doesn´t take 30 minutes to check anything for herself, and when it backfires she cries foul??
I don´t expect anyone to be aware of FOSS or tech stuff in general, but this isn´t just about software, it is about a very wrong attitude for someone who is (to quote her) "someone looked up by children"... sorry, but no pitty from me for these kind of attitudes.
Lizard.
Yep, you're human. And a good one, too, methinks, for both realising you can be wrong, *and* publicly admitting it.
This part of the story probably won't appear on /. though :-)
Thank you for the follow-up.
I am happy it turns out that way.
It is amazing what a bit of communication can do.
Please continue your good work.
Thank you for this. I hope that even a few of the people that commented on this with hate and their own ignorance can learn from it and try to spread Linux in a positive way. No one wants to be apart of(Join) anything where it's members would hurt those who oppose their cause or just flat out don't know what it is about.
Along the lines of what VegiVamp said...it's going to be interesting to see if this post gets 1/4 of the attention that the orginally received. Public apologies and admittance of being wrong doesn't sell :)
Thank you, Ken for this post. I originally saw red when I saw Karen's letter and was ready to have fire and brimstone showered on her, but reading your post this morning made me stop and think.
In one of the comments on your original post, someone said something to the effect of "it's better to convert and enemy than to beat one." That was definitely the case here, and I'm encouraged to see how you handled this, and makes me look sheepishly at myself in how I was ready to throw this lady under the bus.
Heya,
I found this story on slash dot and I’ve been checking regularly to read the conclusion. Good on you man, for not revealing her name and apologizing when you thought you did something wrong. It’s a thin line of decent people on the net, which makes the time I spend here justifiable.
I am a Windows user but this humility and effort to right a wrong make me want to give LINUX another shot. Why won't “the other company” admit a failure with their latest OS?
Uh.....no. While I didn't read every comment from yesterday, those that I did read weren't that "horrible." In fact, given the situations (even with ALL the facts as I now understand them) I really didn't see much out of line.
What I saw was a few people trying to stick up for such an obvious retard. "Teaching is hard!" While this MAY be true (I doubt it, being an educator myself) the point was summed up nicely by Lizard/Anonymous/#3. Karen pulled the trigger first with some threats and deserved any problems (hardly any, it seems) that she received because of it.
I seriously doubt the need for you to apologize for your actions. Did she do the same? Somehow, I doubt it. It sounds more like a shifting of blame to make herself look like an innocent victim.
I'm probably still going to make some "Karen Sucks" signs and post them around the various middle schools....and there's not a damn thing any of you can do about it.
I received a callback from the "Public Liaison" of AISD and got the same kind of information about how they're not a Windows shop, the kid was disruptive, etc....BUT, he also admitted that the teacher was WAY off base and should have kept her ignorant mouth shut. I made sure to let him know that my tax dollars (I live in Austin) are not supposed to be going to pay some one to spout their religious beliefs on operating systems/FOSS to children.
As the others I appreciate the follow up. And for making sure ppl read the follow up I'd suggest a direkt link and mention of this follow up in your original post.
Further more, even though I am happy that Karen had already learned a lot more about software, proving that she's not unworthy of her job.
I'd wish she had also learned something more about communication, especially for being a teacher.
Society has at the moment a serious problem with ppl reacting the way she wrote her first email (I am hoping that you did not leave out any softening words on your quoting of her email).
It would be sad to see kids not being thought about making informed conclusions. It would be nice if in school they'd be thought about opening a conversation. Even if they think somebody has done something wrong. And then in this conversation try to understand what happened in the wrongdoer's eyes.
Of course I am right now not entirely following these guidelines since I did not contact Karen about this. I hope this won't backfire on me ;)
Thank you. This shows class. I will make an effort to post this to slashdot as well.
I'm really glad to see a follow-up here. Comments like the one signed "Lizard" demonstrate that you did the right thing by preserving Karen's anonymity.
You're right to be angry that a teacher is so misinformed, but ignorance is only partly the fault of the ignorant. If we, the free/open-sounce community want people to be aware of us, it's our job to make them aware. I believe this pair of blog posts has done that for at least one teacher.
Ken,
I am very glad you posted this "apology".
And to those who still want to "blame" Karen for her rash email:
"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right"
(Asimov)
I feel the same holds for moral outrage. The only thing to do now is to find out how "we" can make up with the harassed teacher(s).
Winter
You have nothing to apologize for.
It is rather confusing to talk about "Free" (libre) or "Open Source" or however you wish to describe software under permissive licenses and then in the next sentence talk about "free" software and refer to software that does not have a monetary cost. Unsurprisingly, you did not mention any of the "free" (gratis) software that is offered by Microsoft as you have some kind of complex against them (as many people do for some reason).
Its pretty amazing how a real voice can humanize a persona so quickly. I wonder how this would've gone down if she had called you instead of emailing? I suspect very differently.
Sir, I salute your conviction and purity. You are a true humanitarian.
"I was absolutely horrified by some of the comments posted here and on slashdot."
You should have seen some of the ones on Digg.
I don't understand it: you have an apparent outrage caused by temporary ignorance. I get that - but it's been reported on, and dealt with, by an obviously intelligent agent.
There's no need to attack the individual at this point.
The demands for contact information are the most ludicrous, though - sure, he'll release the contact info, and thus switch the conversation from one between a teacher and learner to one between a learner and a thousand thousand rabid fanboys. That would be the pinnicle of brilliance.
Meanwhile, the hate speech is unwarranted - when someone appears to be so stupid that it's hard to believe they can dress themselves, it's very likely that they are merely not well-exposed to the field you're so self-important about. The word "ignorant" doesnt even really apply, as it implies that something has been ignored.
Which is kinda what Linux's PR problem is: the users. Oh, sure, we love our shiny OS - but we can't even stop fighting over whether KDE is better than Gnome or vice versa.
Forgive a Windows user for being completely unaware of something she's had no exposure to (and, as a result, reacting as Karen had)? Not something the community appears to be capable of as a first response.
At best, our response should have been an expression of sympathy for the student, a light chuckle about the shelteredness of the teacher, and a mandate that she be given a quick-and-dirty education in the ways of OSS (which, by-the-by, she was).
The "stab her in the face" sorts of responses? Completely uncalled for, and almost certainly one of the sources of Linux's bad rap.
The punk little script kids should be ashamed.
Anonymous said...
It is rather confusing to talk about "Free" (libre) or "Open Source" or however you wish to describe software under permissive licenses and then in the next sentence talk about "free" software and refer to software that does not have a monetary cost. Unsurprisingly, you did not mention any of the "free" (gratis) software that is offered by Microsoft as you have some kind of complex against them (as many people do for some reason).
Oh, please enlighten us, Shill! Which OS is is that Microsoft gives out for free? Which applications? I mean real applications, not the "free" ones that come with their OS.
Fordi said...
Forgive a Windows user for being completely unaware of something she's had no exposure to (and, as a result, reacting as Karen had)? Not something the community appears to be capable of as a first response.
I guess you didn't read her e-mail where she admitted to "experimenting with Linux" in college. Your point fails. SHe is ignorant, dangerous, and a liar.
As Charles said, you don't need to apologize. You did the charitable thing by not posting the teachers name.
As to the teacher, On our blog we lambasted her. Not for her beliefs but for her ignorance. If one is not knowledgeable on a subject then 'better to remain silent, than speak and remove all doubt' as Twain would say.
But the biggest part of the blame it probably the IT dept. They are probably taking the expedient of using FUD, to tell all staffers that only windows certified software is 'legal'. That is from the perspective of what is permitted. Apply a generous helping of 'he said, pass it on' in the teachers lounge and you get the email you got.
But the biggest crime is that the school district is not using MORE FOSS. As a taxpayer in the state every effort should be made to eliminate costs. Including the schools. To do less than that is theft.
Ken, you are no hero. Big deal you didn't publish "Karen's" last name-- you made sure she saw what you posted, and the vile comments that followed. Do you think it would have been better for the entire Internet to get on her case without telling her? Hey, that's classy too!
The apology is nice, though still rather self-aggrandizing. Please, think before you post-- that is Lesson #1 of the Internet.
signed, sort of still a fan
I always tell my students (when things like this come up) that the true measure of a person as someone of quality is the ability to step up and say "I was wrong." Your initial response was completely understandable and you had no way of knowing your blog--I have a really minor blog too with a strong emphasis on free software to use WITH Windows--would get Slashdotted! (My server would probably crash...) Anyway, I say good on you for proving yourself to be a person of quality. Congratulations and keep up with the good work. Oh yeah--I'll be dropping a buck or two with the HeliOS Project, as every other well-wisher writing here should step up and do as well!
@Zak
">>Comments like the one signed "Lizard" demonstrate that you did the right thing by preserving Karen's anonymity."
Don´t get me wrong, even if I had her name, phone and address I would do her no harm, my issue is not with her but with the people who believe children don´t deserve to be listened and are unable to think for themselves.
I am sure Ken´s son tried to explain what was it all about and he went ignored. I don´t like that, even less when teachers do it.
My issue is not with Karen, but with a system where children are thought not to think for themselves but to just follow the rest of the pack.
Regards.
Lizard.
Thanks for the follow-up. I'm relieved to know that 1) there was indeed more to the story (like someone else said, I had this nagging feeling we weren't hearing both sides), and 2) everyone involved managed to come to good terms even when the original incident got pretty far out of hand.
Good for you. Good for her. And yay for happy resolutions in a combative world.
umm... she still deserves to be stabbed in the face... MY reason:
the people who immediately jump to THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS deserve to be pummeled in the face. She did not just take it away, and say she would give it back after she does research... she automatically used her judgement as LAW and condemned the OS that the student had to death... a figure of speach. If she was king 400 years ago, the equivalent is... she just has him beheaded.
THAT IS WHY I THINK THE RUDE COMMENTS ARE NOT OVER THE TOP, and that she deserves each and every one of them.
WHEN PEOPLE START TO THINK BEFORE THEY DO THINGS, AND NOT THINK ALONG THE LINES OF WHAT THEY WANT IT TO BE, THAT IS WHEN BULLSHIT LIKE THIS WONT HAPPEN.
THE TEACHER IS A MORON and JUST PLAIN FULL OF HERSELF, NOT JUST IGNORANT.
I'm sorry that she's sad and I wish that we lived in a better world where we never hurt each other but the fact remains that she was ready to prosecute you.
Again, I wish we were all saints and weren't run by a plutocracy that insists that we all attempt to outcompete each other. There are enough men and women to go around for none of us to have to be Alphas and technology has made it such that there's enough food to go around without needing to fight for resources. But we live in a wicked world where our baser instincts are encouraged and where are better instincts are only spoken of half-heartedly and in the context of "what it can do for you".
That being the case, I certainly wish that you, I and John and Jane Smith were kinder, but that not being the case - you have nothing to apologize for. She was willing to destroy your life and in that dog eat dog environment there's no reason for anyone to demand that you be the better dog.
mnuez
I congratulate you for not acting immature when she contacted you, and finding a way to come to terms with what happened in a fashion that was agreeable by both sides.
Kudos man, Kudos.
I'm sorry I'm not blinded by utter fanboyism, but jesus christ that is one of the worst apologies I've seen. You still insult the NEA, you still say people are shackled into slavery by microsoft, the exchange with Karen only makes you sound like a horrible dick. Your a good guy, I'm not going to argue that what you do is evil, but if you toned down your approach i'd be much at ease to read this. Teachers have a hard enough job, and yeah any teacher is going to be weary about something that a child report he got from a strange adult that he has no relation with.
Well, I have to give you credit on more than one level. Thanks for the update!
Epic Win, Helios project! It can be hard, as you stated in your previous mail to the teacher, to fight the good fight. More people should spread the word about OSS and Linux as concientiously as you do.
I still find it hard to believe this person actually exists.
I didn't see much wrong with your original post to be perfectly honest when I first read it.
Though now I see you're are wise in your ways. It really isn't Karens fault that she had no idea about FOSS, she should ahve been made aware of its existence by it having been channeled down from the very top.
National Government should make it a requirement to implement FOSS in schools. It's not the teachers job to work out how to spend the budget. Karen should have learned about its existence, when it suddenly appeared in her classroom - legally. Let's hope that at some point it will become a reality.
See there is one problem. When she wrote the original email her accusations were unjustified. What she should have done as a responsible adult teaching children was to talk to his parents, consult and Admin, research for herself, then come to the conclusion that she didn't know what she was talking about. Am I wrong to think that these steps were better to take then to email you give little or lacking detail then threaten you with legal action and accusations? While I respect the fact that she is a teacher this ignorance alone justifies to an extent the response it got. I do commend you on the apology but I'd rather see one from her. (names aren't necessary just a post here would do)
Madness? This is SSSPPAARRRTTTTTAAAA!
Thank you for giving the other side of the story.
KC
Thank you for posting that update. This is hardly the first time I've seen a non-computer person make an honest mistake and become the target of vicious hatred from techies (usually Linux fans, unfortunately). But it's the first time I've seen this kind of resolution. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
The important thing, really, is the conversation that you had with Karen. It sounds like the incident may ultimately prove to be really worthwhile, both in terms of open source consciousness in your region's school system, and in terms of your own ability to communicate with people who are I.T. naive. The concerns she had about the disk distribution seem obvious and natural, in hindsight, but they didn't occur to me at all when I read your original post.
It seems to me that a school should always have at least a few linux machines available, simply because the more serious computer students absolutely need to learn C and become familiar with *NIX systems.
The confusion about the legality of Windows removal is concerning. You should review the relevant agreement. Is it possible that Microsoft was involved in providing or subsidizing some or all of the school machines? A clearly written letter providing legal guidance would be helpful to your cause, if it could be established that there would be no grounds for launching a civil suit (that it would not ultimately succeed in court is insufficient comfort).
Just some thoughts.
Bravo. I am glad to see the denouement has transpired. I presume everyone has learned a small lesson from this incident, myself included. My hats off to both parties, and long live FOSS.
I still don't believe this Karen person actually exists. I think it's all a publicity stunt.
Good man! I read some of the comments on it and was sickened that the FOSS community is tarnished by them.
I think your current post is an excellent reminder to the *nix community that idiot evangalists like that do not deserve to be part of such an awesome global project!
Perhaps once we have finished educating the anti-FOSS establishment we can turn to the internal ignorance and purge it. Or even better lets do that first.
And if by some miracle Karen reads these comments - respect for being able to be aducated and have your mind changed!
"other free software such as Google Earth, iTunes, Adobe and many plug-ins."
wait ... what?
I see you're using the lower-case "free software" here, but still. This is unclear and misleading at best, in the midst of a storm brought about by ignorance about Free Software.
Thank you! In particular, thank you for being a civil person and not disclosing Karen's real identity. For those who are trying to pry it out, I say (and you can quote me on this): Get a life!
@Tungsai
Yes, yes, I think we got your point the first time. Hate to break it to you, but she does exist, this whole issue did transpire as stated, and the blog is still there as it's meant - to inform folks about his Linux advocacy and about the charity work.
Bye now! :)
@Vineet
It looks like your point was taken and the blog edited.
For anyone looking for an apology from Karen: she has nothing to prove or apologize for to any of us. That is between her and him and it is their perogative to post further details.
Even if Karen was every bit as evil and malicious as many posters imagine, yelling or verbally abusing her or others is not going to help the situation. The only beneficial response is to be a testament of how important Linux is to you. Post about what you can't do in windows, how necessary learning Linux has been for your career, and how it's paramount to our nation's success to encourage students' interest in engineering.
Teachers try their best but sadly most lack the computer skills to keep up with their students and it's a continual frustration. They're teachers because they're "people"-persons and have a divergent set of skills than us tech-savvy engineers.
So, instead of being angry at them (they're embattled enough, trust me) improve the situation - help out. Volunteer to teach an after school computer class, get involved at your local high school, do something to make a difference in the lives of young engineers around you.
"Karen" isn't due any apology. Ken S. isn't the one who went off half-cocked ranting about the legality of what had occurred. I agree with an earlier anonymous post, "...she gives the kid a hard time, writes you an email instead of inviting you to clarify the issue, threatens with legal action, doesn´t take 30 minutes to check anything for herself, and when it backfires she cries foul??"
If anyone is due an apology it would be Ken and the kid that Karen tried to make feel like criminals.
She tries to absolve herself by explaining she was concerned about kids playing with porn. But, when she learned that obviously wasn't the case instead of ASKING Ken what was going on, she still went off the deep end ACCUSING Ken of illegal activities. And now she is upset to hear many other people question her sanity, intelligence, integrity, etc?
I'm encouraged she says she will try to learn more. I hope this is true.
I agree with Lizard (12/12/08 8:43 AM comment). After reading many of the comments I went back and re-read Karen's original e-mail and its obvious that she is a small-minded, myopic tyrant and this really isn't an "IT" issue. She should not be around children as she probably regularly abuses her position of authority over them. It's a shame that public schools have to pay teachers so little that they are obliged to hire, and fight to retain, people like her. It's ruining our schools.
The upside is that we all got learn good things about the AISD IT department.
Is there a reason why my reply to your original post was omitted? I said nothing inflammatory or offensive.
Just FYI, Google Earth, iTunes, and Adobe software is not "Free Software", as their source is not available for modification; they are merely freeware.
Anonymous said...
Ken, you are no hero. Big deal you didn't publish "Karen's" last name-- you made sure she saw what you posted, and the vile comments that followed. Do you think it would have been better for the entire Internet to get on her case without telling her? Hey, that's classy too!
The apology is nice, though still rather self-aggrandizing. Please, think before you post-- that is Lesson #1 of the Internet.
signed, sort of still a fan
another Anonymous said...
I'm sorry I'm not blinded by utter fanboyism, but jesus christ that is one of the worst apologies I've seen. You still insult the NEA, you still say people are shackled into slavery by microsoft, the exchange with Karen only makes you sound like a horrible dick. Your a good guy, I'm not going to argue that what you do is evil, but if you toned down your approach i'd be much at ease to read this. Teachers have a hard enough job, and yeah any teacher is going to be weary about something that a child report he got from a strange adult that he has no relation with.
I'm pretty sure I didn't read anywhere where Ken was intimating that he was some kind of hero. How did he make sure she saw what he posted...did he call her up and say "hey, you might want to see this"? Talk about thinking before you post....that's classy!
Let's see...the part about being shackled wasn't in the apology, it was in the very justified response to the stupid teacher. But, hey, don't let facts get in your way! How does getting tired (weary) have anything to do with her lies, deceit, and threat of litigation?
Now....WHERE is Karen's apology? As a vaunted educator of the highest esteem who is able to pass judgement on anything under the sun, I'm sure she can see that in this case, it is far better to "apologize" than to continue playing the innocent victim who was "thrown to the wolves"....not only a teacher, but a flaming drama queen, as well!
Great post. It takes a big person to apologize, especially in the open. It sounds like both sides were at fault. You're doing the right thing for keeping her information private.
I applaud your reflection and honesty. Not everyone who is correct can view the total scope of their stance and the opposition. Your willingness to take responsibility for being human has given me pause. I have given correct but harsh criticism to those who have attached my beliefs. Your experience has helped me to think more and react less. Thank You. Terry
I'm glad you published the follow up, but I really don't think you did anything wrong in your original post. The problem is that teachers tend to forget how much authority and influence they have over children (at least until the kids get into high school). Even a kid that seems pretty hardened can feel brutalized by a teacher.
I think the reason we respond so viscerally to reports like this is because most of us had at least one really awful teacher during our time in "mindless conformity camp" a.k.a. school. I know that personally I went into the school system as a bright, curious child who loved learning and science, who by the time I got out of high school absolutely hated school, never wanted to step foot in a university because my entire time in school was horrible, and really never amounted to anything in life (I am in my late 50's now). I blame 50% of my horrible school experience on the teachers, 25% on the fact that I had undiagnosed ADD (or possibly even Asperger's Syndrome, but they had no idea what those were in the small town where I lived) and about 25% on the other students who (especially in Junior High) made school a living hell for me. I can't even bring myself to go to a school reunion because I hated my time in school so much. And yet whenever I took intelligence tests I typically scored in the 98th-99th percentile (this either says something about how inaccurate those tests were or how badly the school system screwed me up, I'm not sure which).
Were it just me, I'd think that maybe it was more my own conditions, but I hear the same types of stories all the time, and especially from bright students. This is why I had such a gut reaction to this story - in this situation the kid was obviously better educated on the subject than the teacher. I got the sense that the kid is both bright AND to some degree influential among his peers, which for some reason is a combination that some teachers see as threatening. Better to dumb the kid down and make him conform to all the petty rules of the typical classroom than actually help him develop his talents and gifts.
When I was in Kindergarten I had a teacher that chastised me, in front of the entire class, for painting on a hand-drawn mural that was supposed to be a class project. My crime? I used a color that the teacher had mixed to represent the color of sand (we lived near a beach) to paint a girl's face. To me, that color looked an awful lot like a human skin tone, but to hear the teacher tell it I had ruined the entire mural (after she calmed down she "fixed" it by painting something akin to long hair over what I had done, so it was the back of a girl's head). Guess how much I enjoyed ANYTHING to do with art after that.
I knew a woman who hated to read. It's not that she had problems reading, she just hated doing it. When I asked why, she finally admitted that her fifth grade teacher had driven any love of reading right out of her. Apparently she didn't hold her book in just the way the teacher wanted it so her hand was slapped with a ruler, again in front of the entire class. Of course, back when I was in school the teachers refused to let left-handed kids use their left hand to write (then were quick to mark them down for bad "penmanship").
Now in the instant case, we have another teacher who saw nothing wrong with humiliating a student in front of his peers. I'm not saying this teacher should be burned at the stake or anything, but teachers need to stop and think that these are human beings they are dealing with, not dogs or cattle. And at that age, when you humiliate a kid in front of his peers, the hurt can go very deep and last a very long time. And then the TEACHER thought that SHE had been thrown to the wolves? I beg her pardon, but who is the adult and who is the child? Suck it up, lady, you did something very wrong and if you were a halfway decent human being you would apologize to the kid in front of all the kids who were present during the original event. And if you are so emotional that you can't take constructive criticism, maybe you shouldn't be in the teaching profession, because the very last thing we need are teachers who think they are always right and above correction or criticism.
When I had kids in school, I taught them that the teachers were not always right, but that didn't mean that they could disrespect the teacher. I always told them if there was any sort of conflict to have the school call me, and that I would not be upset because I got a call from their school unless they had clearly done something wrong. On a couple of occasions one or another of my kids did tell their teacher (or in one case, an assistant principal) to call their dad and in both cases it probably averted a pretty nasty situation. But the "word of wisdom" I left them with - and I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but after my experiences in school I felt it necessary - was that teachers were generally not the people who graduated at the top of their class in college, and that if they were very smart and talented people they'd probably be doing something in the private sector that paid a whole lot better than teaching - UNLESS they were that rare and talented individual that loves teaching so much (and is so good at it) that they'd probably do it for free if no one would pay them. I realize that probably put a more mercenary spin on things than I wanted to impart, but I felt it necessary to teach my kids that teachers are only human, they do make mistakes, and in particular that they should not define the child's image of themselves or wreck their self-esteem. In effect I was trying to inoculate my kids against what happened to me, and to other bright people I've known.
Anyway, I wonder how many of the really strong reactions on this topic came about in part because this incident stirred memories of perfectly awful teachers we've had in days gone by. Any parent who thinks that a teacher (or the school system in general) really messed them up does not want to see the same thing happen to their children. I wish I could say that things have gotten better than when I was a child, but I honestly wonder if that's the case, especially when I read of incidents like this one. I think even bad teachers can learn to be better, but they have to WANT to be better.
One final note - when I was young my dad did moving (as in moving household items and furniture from one house to another) for a living. He didn't discriminate against anyone, except one group. If he found out that a potential customer was a teacher, he'd try any excuse he could think of to get out of the job and send it to a competitor. The reason? Because back in 1950's America, almost nobody would try to sue if he accidentally scratched a leg on a sofa or put a small ding in a refrigerator (usually while going up or down steps, or coming through a too-narrow doorway) - EXCEPT for teachers, who seemed to go out of their way to find some reason to sue or to force him to file an insurance claim, even in cases where he had flat out told them ahead of time that he probably couldn't move an item to where they wanted it without causing some damage (think old houses, narrow stairways and you may have some idea what he was up against). I never knew that until I was in high school, but when I thought about it, it made sense - teachers in those days (and in the town where I lived) always seemed to have a need to prove they were right and everyone else was wrong. As I say, I sure hope things have changed since then.
She made a mistake. You made a mistake. The real travesty would have been if neither one of you owned up to it and tried to correct the situation. As it is, it looks like you both have tried to resolve the issue and find common ground, and I applaud you for that.
More importantly, you realized (very quickly, from this post) that there were things more important than identifying the teacher in question so that others could bother her. I still dislike what she said, but nobody deserves to be thrown under a bus for making an honest (even if ignorant) mistake. Kudos for keeping her ID private, especially in light of the financial incentives offered to you to divulge it.
People make mistakes; treating them like people after they do is what makes us special.
Very nice post showing you are a decent human being and very compassionate toward someone. A great illustration of how it's real easy to hate third parties near your kids without meeting them first, it's more challenging yet rewarding to meet those you oppose and try to find common ground.
Now then, HOWEVER:
I am thrilled your post and this situation hit the public fan, especially in Texas.
To me, an IT support professional and a consumer activist, this is really the perfect story to get in the public discussion. This is the pristine example of the mental corporate-consumer prison think people are locked into this country today, but thankfully starting to escape it. I am THRILLED to start seeing linux pc's on sale cheaply and flying off the shelves into consumers' hands and homes.
Microsoft is EXTREMELY and RIGHTFULLY hated and this story depicts WHY. This woman unwittingly became a public image of the overpaid, incompetent corporate bully going WAAAYYY too far and bullying our kids.