Cross platform software at the Open University

Signatures 59 total

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1. 1
   Name: Peter Bradley on Jan 8, 2007

   Comments: I am the sponsor of this petition

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2. 2
   Name: Linus Rees on Jan 8, 2007

   Comments:

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3. 3
   Name: Nic Shakeshaft on Jan 8, 2007

   Comments:

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4. 4
   Name: Marilyn Tregidgo on Jan 9, 2007

   Comments:

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5. 5
   Name: Paul Janik on Jan 9, 2007

   Comments: It is deeply regrettable the OU has adopted a discriminatory and monopolistic policy in favour of $600 billion rich Microsoft to the obvious detriment of free choice, equality of opportunity, equality of access and general fairness and plain commonsense. The OU's existing policy of Windows Only contravenes one of the essential principles of any university that of an inherent willingness to embrace new, and often exciting, ideas and alternatives to the status quo. The role of universities, including the OU, are to encourage and stimulate the gaining of knowledge in all manifestations and not about preventing enlightened individuals using different and possibly superior technology participating in the full life of the university. Unless the OU has done a deal with Microsoft, the OU will know that Linux is a lot cheaper and unlike Microsoft does not need expensive new and more powerful hardware to run on.

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6. 6
   Name: Victoria Scarrott on Jan 9, 2007

   Comments:

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7. 7
   Name: Anonymous on Jan 9, 2007

   Comments:

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8. 8
   Name: Philip Riddle on Jan 9, 2007

   Comments: Long overdue.

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9. 9
   Name: Alan Russell on Jan 9, 2007

   Comments:

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10. 10
    Name: Jon Connell on Jan 9, 2007

    Comments:

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11. 11
    Name: Teresa Flannery on Jan 9, 2007

    Comments:

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12. 12
    Name: Deirdre O'Donoghue on Jan 9, 2007

    Comments:

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13. 13
    Name: Justin Ross on Jan 9, 2007

    Comments: The Open University is certainly less than 'Open' when it comes to platform choice.

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14. 14
    Name: Anonymous on Jan 9, 2007

    Comments: 3rd year as an OU student

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15. 15
    Name: Jenny Le Peuple on Jan 9, 2007

    Comments:

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16. 16
    Name: John English on Jan 9, 2007

    Comments:

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17. 17
    Name: Robert Marr on Jan 10, 2007

    Comments: Unfairly limiting students to Microsoft (or other Windows only) software can greatly increase the cost of Open University study by forcing people to pay Microsoft licence fees. Allowing students the freedom to use any platform allows them to choose free alternatives to Microsoft, this in turn will bring the overall cost of Open University study down and thereby extend its availability to more people.

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18. 18
    Name: Alex Hunt on Jan 10, 2007

    Comments: I use various flavours of Linux and MAC OS X I prefer them to any version of Windows. I also feel much safer using any OS other than Windows!

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19. 19
    Name: Susi Calder on Jan 10, 2007

    Comments:

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20. 20
    Name: W. G. Paine on Jan 10, 2007

    Comments:

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21. 21
    Name: Terry Filmore on Jan 10, 2007

    Comments:

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22. 22
    Name: Peter Millar on Jan 10, 2007

    Comments:

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23. 23
    Name: Janet Downey on Jan 10, 2007

    Comments: Please allow us the option of avoiding Windows!

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24. 24
    Name: Tracy Whitfield on Jan 10, 2007

    Comments:

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25. 25
    Name: Mark Bell on Jan 10, 2007

    Comments: Please adhere to the OSI standard and mandate ODF as the default.

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26. 26
    Name: Esther Scarrott on Jan 11, 2007

    Comments:

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27. 27
    Name: Clare Hibberd on Jan 11, 2007

    Comments:

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28. 28
    Name: Amy Harvey on Jan 11, 2007

    Comments:

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29. 29
    Name: John De Mattos on Jan 11, 2007

    Comments:

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30. 30
    Name: Alun D on Jan 12, 2007

    Comments:

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31. 31
    Name: Paul Baird on Jan 12, 2007

    Comments: I agree - let's get First Class on Linux sorted !

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32. 32
    Name: Alison Matthews on Jan 12, 2007

    Comments: I use OS X and have always preferred this platform to windows. Feel much more secure using my mac.

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33. 33
    Name: Georg Paassen on Jan 12, 2007

    Comments:

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34. 34
    Name: Denise Orr on Jan 12, 2007

    Comments:

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35. 35
    Name: Mike Protts on Jan 12, 2007

    Comments: For document formats this is a very easy option. For software, many students will be prepared to help with migrations at no cost to the ou.

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36. 36
    Name: Geoff Hollands on Jan 13, 2007

    Comments: Linux fedora core user

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37. 37
    Name: James Inman on Jan 13, 2007

    Comments:

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38. 38
    Name: David Marchant on Jan 14, 2007

    Comments:

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39. 39
    Name: Lauren Ghier on Jan 15, 2007

    Comments:

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40. 40
    Name: Andrew Phillips on Jan 15, 2007

    Comments:

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41. 41
    Name: Tim Walker on Jan 15, 2007

    Comments: To give credit where it is due, the Linux FirstClass client works well with the OU's FC servers. However, it would be even more welcome if TMAs could be submitted in OpenOffice.org/ODF file format, as I do not have MS Word at home, and it is not always appropriate or possible to use the MS Word on my work PC.

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42. 42
    Name: Angela Kennedy on Jan 15, 2007

    Comments: Hi, my OU name is Angela Borthwick but I have since married. I am a MAC OS X user and am astonished that the OU does not support us. I have emailed the IT department about this but have had no reply. My husband emailed asking for some information to help him set it up on my MAC OS X - information not difficult to impart but it was ignored and he was pointed the online helpdesk - very poor!

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43. 43
    Name: Sam Carroll on Jan 16, 2007

    Comments: This is absolutely what the Open University needs. It will surely relieve some peoples headaches.

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44. 44
    Name: ANDY Cranston on Jan 16, 2007

    Comments: yeah baby - linux

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45. 45
    Name: Mike Smith on Jan 17, 2007

    Comments: The OU states in many of its course descriptions that a Windows PC is necessary to do the course. This is not true in many cases, since no Windows-specific software is involved and students have successfully done the courses using a Mac or Linux. This misleading information is likely to put potential new non-Windows students off studying the courses since they have no way of realising that in fact they could perfectly well do the course without Windows. In contrast to this there are courses which have software which does need to run in Windows, and the potential motion is that the OU should distinguish between these two types of course in its course descriptions.

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46. 46
    Name: Diana Isserlis on Jan 18, 2007

    Comments:

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47. 47
    Name: Stephen Hill on Jan 22, 2007

    Comments: I am not an OU student. However, I believe that promoting a diversity in supported systems is a good thing since it allows the user to choose the system that works well for them and therefore improves their productivity since they aren't forced to use an arbitrary system of questionable quality.

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48. 48
    Name: Mark Summerfield on Jan 22, 2007

    Comments: I believe that all Institutions that are in receipt of taxpayers money should support users of open source software.

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49. 49
    Name: Dick Bain on Jan 22, 2007

    Comments:

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50. 50
    Name: Kathryn Elsby on Jan 22, 2007

    Comments:

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