Re: [libreoffice-marketing] Marketing campaign/infographic idea: Freeing schools from proprietary software

I was surprised to find in Ireland that the reliance on the ECDL meant 
that OS applications are regarded as a bit odd. Fortunately my employer 
flew the flag for LibreOffice, although some new employees did grumble 
at first. My employer was a co-operative and viewed OpenSource as being 
in line with co-operative values. Indeed the ICA Guidance on 
co-operative values and principles makes direct reference to OpenSource 
software. a few years ago there was a massive data breach in the Health 
Services Authority which appeared to have been caused by some units in 
the Health Service still using patched-up Windows 7 systems.

In the UK OS is a little bit more established in the voluntary and 
co-operative sector and I think that this would be a good marketing 
target. It is in fact the reason I joined this group. There used to be a 
group in Cambridge called (I think) Net Riders, which provided training 
and support to Third Sector OS users. I believe that Norfolk County 
Council is OpenSource but this may have changed. It got started by 
renovating obsolete hardware, stripping out the Windows OS, installing 
OS, and selling them cheaply to individuals and small organisations. 
This turned Microsoft's obsolescence strategy against it.

The Co-operative Movement and the wider Third Sector (Charities and 
Social Enterprises) are a fruitful field for increasing market 
penetration. A mapping of the sector to identify target organisations in 
each country would be a start.

Happy to help,

Norman Rides



On 26/03/2024 16:10, Sully Sullivan wrote:
> I think this underscores the need to market ourselves effectively to local-level governments. But 
> perhaps think a little smaller than the school systems. Education is not the low-hanging fruit on 
> that branch. I'll explain.
>
>
>
> A part of the problem I see here is that public school curricula need several layers of approval 
> and that even a small school department is a very complex hive. The ecosystem around large 
> proprietary user bases and huge educational publishers is one chokepoint. It's not just MSOffice 
> that crowds this space. Google, for instance, has large resources devoted to getting US schools to 
> purchase ChromeBooks for their students and faculty, to use the Google Classroom suite of 
> educational management apps, and to teach using Workplace system that is our competitor. Cf. 
> https://edu.google.com/  You'll see that there are sales teams, trainers, developers, etc. devoted 
> just to the schools market.
>
>
>
>
> If we can get much smaller entities of municipal government to forego expensive proprietary 
> software licenses--the public works office, the library system, the town clerk--as a discretionary 
> choice so that their funding can go to other programs, then there are inroads to the bigger budgets 
> within government.
>
>
> Best,
>
>
> Sully
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---- On Tue, 26 Mar 2024 11:42:32 -0400  <warrencamilleri@gmail.com> wrote ---
>
>
>
> Good evening all
>
> To clarify that the uk and most of the eu educational institutions follow the ECDL curriculum which 
> is MS based sadly, LO is featured with linux under the ICDL and woth todays generations computer 
> users like us are seen as power users as many are more adjusted to using thier phones and tablets 
> for everything these days through an app, some dont know what a folder/directory means
>
> Do keep it in mind that most educational curriculum is centered around moulding the young for the 
> workforce and not for life and the many options it tosses at them
>
> I may be out of line to say that this is a
> Paradox for OSS vs proprietary in the educational feild as it is mosty following what the market’s 
> & government strengths are..
>
> Regards
> Warren
>
> - ossmalta.eu / mt.libreoffice.org
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On 26 Mar 2024, at 14:14, mailto:nigelverity@hotmail.com wrote:
> >
> > Hi Mike
> >
> > This is indicative of a widescale problem. At my daughter's school the "Information Technology" 
> > classes were not generic e.g how to use a spreadsheet, database or word processing/presentation application. 
> > It was specifically how to use Microsoft Office - nothing else.
> >
> > At one parents' meeting I took the IT head of department to task over this, asking why no reference was ever 
> > made to free/open source software. He seemed to know roughly what "open source" means but had not 
> > the slightest clue about the concept of free software and no interest in open standards or open formats.
> >
> > All the while this is indicative of the level to which our children are being taught the only scope for the 
> > adoption of FLOSS applications by the general public is going to be limited to nerds and other "self 
> > starters". This suggests to me that the emphasis - in the UK at least - needs to be on business, where 
> > staff use whatever applications are mandated by their organisation. In my early days of using computers I 
> > tended to use at home whatever applications I'd grown used to using 40 hours a week at work. Perhaps that 
> > same principle might eventually apply and the wider use of applications like LO could
> > ripple out from the workplace.
> >
> > All the best
> >
> > Nige
> >
> > LibreOffice - Free and open source office suite: LibreOffice Website<https://www.libreoffice.org/>
> > Respects your privacy, and gives you back control over your data​
> > ________________________________
> > From: Mike Saunders <mailto:mike.saunders@documentfoundation.org>
> > Sent: 26 March 2024 10:07
> > To: Marketing list <mailto:marketing@global.libreoffice.org>
> > Subject: [libreoffice-marketing] Marketing campaign/infographic idea: Freeing schools from 
> > proprietary software
> >
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > On Twitter (I mean, "X") someone posted about their school requiring
> > students to use Microsoft Office. Even worse, the school has a quiz for
> > new students where they are asked what software they can use, and
> > LibreOffice is an option, but the "correct" answer is Microsoft Office.
> > Here's the thread:
> >
> > https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FWarlockN1ck%2Fstatus%2F1771748533038911601&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cc93f52042af64f05947908dc4d7cd659%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638470445774235987%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Hk513vhDtuym8vzJecPi1uhXZbPdkPV%2FNSKnWJ10O3k%3D&reserved=0<https://twitter.com/WarlockN1ck/status/1771748533038911601>
> >
> > And for those who don't want to use "X", a screenshot:
> >
> > https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FnvxTvAm.png&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cc93f52042af64f05947908dc4d7cd659%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638470445774244181%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2BCvwMKgE6IoHOQn6KLxZuMl2Jce1v1XJt7pEOdeZDX4%3D&reserved=0<https://i.imgur.com/nvxTvAm.png>
> >
> > So what can we do about this? My idea is a short infographic that we can
> > post in response to such things, pointing out the benefits of FOSS
> > (especially with regards to data privacy) and how it's important for
> > students to have choice in the tools they use, and the value of learning
> > other tools.
> >
> > Ideas and mockups very welcome :-)
> >
> > --
> > Mike Saunders, Marketing and Community Coordinator
> > Deputy Member of the Board of Directors
> > The Document Foundation
> >
> > --
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