[TOS] Use of proprietary software in colleges and universities

[Matthew Jadud]

Hi Luis,

Your abstract makes some claims that you cannot support. For example:

[quote]
We have been collectively raising an entire generation of engineers
who are ignorant of the essential inner-workings of hardware and
software due to the widespread use of proprietary products in college
campuses which has prevented them from learning how things really
work.
[/quote]

I suspect you will be "preaching to the choir" at OSCON, but you
cannot actually, rationally, defend that statement. It is overstated
and you have no evidence that the use of closed-source software
somehow creates engineers who are ignorant of the inner workings of
*anything*. Or, if you do, I would like to see the peer-reviewed
research that demonstrates it.

Given your question, I'm going to make the assumption that you're
going to attack the (common) practice of students receiving
low-cost/gratis copies of proprietary software. My apologies if my
assumption is wrong. If you do, please include a rational, financial
argument from the student's perspective as to why this is a bad idea.
While I believe we need to encourage change, we cannot expect our
students to make choices that are not financially sound. From the MIT
webpages:

[quote]
Nine months' tuition and fees for 2009–2010 is $37,782. Additionally,
undergraduate room and board is approximately $11,360, dependent on
the student's housing and dining arrangements. Books and personal
expenses are about $2,858.
[/quote]

http://web.mit.edu/facts/tuition.html

If an engineer graduates from MIT and has zero proficiency with the
tools used by the employers, how is she going to pay back her student
loans? That's no small change... and walking out the door saying "I
don't use Autodesk as a matter of principle because it is closed
source" won't get you far in the interview circuit.

Cheers,
Matt