Low-cost Linux-based PCs in every school

Low-cost Linux-based PCs in every school

Dear Representative

In these days of economic uncertainty, it is important for individuals, businesses, and governments to look at ways they are spending their money, As a means of cutting costs and saving money, I am suggesting that school systems throughout the United States of America switch from overpriced software to free software, especially GNU/Linux.

I have been using GNU/Linux since 2004. As a longtime user of Microsoft Windows, I had been looking for ways to save money when it came to using my personal computers. I felt that switching from Microsoft Windows to GNU/Linux for no cost was a way to save money.

Most GNU/Linux-based operating systems can be gotten for zero cost. In addition, most GNU/Linux-based OSes do not have restrictions on the number of computers you are legally allowed to install it on. This has the potential to save school districts thousands of dollars. Proprietary OSes such as Windows allow you to install a licensed Windows OS on only one computer.

Here's an example. Let's say that a high school has a computer lab which has 25 PCs. Using the recently-released Windows 7 Ultimate as an example, the school could either elect to install 25 SEPARATE copies of Windows 7 Ultimate (which retails for $320) or install one copy of a free GNU/Linux-based OS (such as Ubuntu). In this case, electing to go the Ubuntu route would save the school $8,000. That's $8,000 which could go towards scholarships, teachers' salaries, extracurricular activities, more elective classes, and even school repairs/renovations.

I can attest to the fact that switching to GNU/Linux has saved me money. I have been using the Ubuntu operating system since 2006. Ubuntu allows me to do practically everything I could do on a typical Windows operating system without having to spend any money. With Ubuntu, I have a photo editing program (GIMP) and a complete office suite (OpenOffice.org) without having to pay hundreds, if not thousand, of dollars for comparable software such as Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office.

These days, GNU/Linux is very easy to use. Most everything is now done using a graphical user interface (GUI). Easy-to-use GNU/Linux installers such as Ubiquity - which is the standard graphical-based installer for the Ubuntu GNU/Linux-based operating system - makes installation a snap. And most GNU/Linux operating systems come standard with email (Mozilla Thunderbird), chat (Pidgin), web browsers (Mozilla Firefox), and even word processors (OpenOffice). Most GNU/Linux-based OSes, especially Ubuntu-based OSes, make all programs easy to find and execute. To put it simply, students in all levels of education should have no trouble using GNU/Linux.

In fact, some GNU/Linux-based operating systems include immediate support for "cloud computing," which means you do not have to store your information or your files on internal storage devices such as hard disk drives. In fact, a whole slew of GNU/Linux-based PCs can all be connected to a single server which can act as the storage medium for all the PCs. This means that GNU/Linux-based PCs connected to a "cloud" would also be a green alternative and would save energy, which in turn would save even more money.

President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and others who may read this, please consider the adoption of free software in the public education system as a way to save money and energy.

Thank you for your time.

[Your name]