Re: [Fsfe-uk] FLOSS is more democratic for schools!

[Space Bunny]

The poll is actually at:
http://www.math.umd.edu/~dcarrera/openoffice/polls/mascot/vote.cgi

A more fitting (and fairer) process than a raw vote of all these mascot 
images lined up together where they have brought very different creative 
element and skills would maybe be several  votes using Single 
Transferable Vote (STV) around did viewers think the proposal fort 
filled certain criteria, and then with results let those involved 
collaborate on drawing together elements ones that came out top together 
into mascot to be use.

This is because some of one that are not doing well in this vote have 
within them element that it would not be good to loose when the one 
winner wins through.

After all one of strengths of free software is the one winner does not 
beat all the rest, but everyone still gets a chance to input into the 
mix. And the winner often has to take on board what even minorities for 
them they like about those that don't win.

Now I realise that the totality of the way co-operation is encouraged 
under free software can not be taken into this one bid for one mascot 
for one particular project but I am just observing.

I myself don't have time to create voting scripts to handle the multiple 
STV vote, as I don't think I know of any free software ones.

btw Is there a freely usable Open Office macro or spreadsheet template 
to do Single Transferable Vote, knocking around?

I once remember some  DOS executable maybe from code written in FORTRAN 
or similar being used for a student committee, which I once stood for. I 
did not win but my ego was not as crushed as it would have been if I had 
not seen all those second and third choice votes coming in.

Though the real thing for the kids who participated in this competition 
is that whatever happened in the vote they will be free to give a copy 
of OpenOffice to their friends with whatever logo they wish stuck on the 
cover, because they are not subjugated by wishs the developers, and the 
developers can not force use to only fit in with one outreach/marketing 
project, which in turn mean those dominant outreach/marketing projects 
will take on board and incorporate from the vast range of creativity and 
energy that abounds in the world, that is attracted to the software.

I have been a cheerleader of TheOpenCD project http://theopencd.org
with version 2 the autorun popup menus for installers with 
screenshots/demos/tutorials (disctree) will be easier to modify to 
create derivative versions. Hopefully soon it will be easier to roll 
one's own outreach cdrom based on it, so so see a multitude of various 
outreach cdroms with different  themes to suit different people.

Also as regards Outreach, my local LUG group has developed a constituted 
Outreach group, which at one point seemed impossible to have formally 
attached to the the EdLUG group due to it's history.
http://edlugadv.morpheux.org/

I myself am not that involved with EdLUG and so would have gone for 
developing separate  Free Software advocacy group but have never made 
time to do so, and so maybe outreach.

bye for now

Micah
http://j12.org/sb/


ian wrote:

> Please help in voting for the OpenOffice.org education project mascot.
> Entries by pupils from around the world at 
>
> http://www.math.umd.edu/~dcarrera/openoffice/mascot/vote.cgi
>
> The project will adopt the work of the pupil that gets most votes. Get
> your students to vote and get them participating in a live FLOSS
> project. This is an element of total cost of ownership that is
> impossible to put a price on in education.
>  

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http://j12.org/sb/