Does anyone have any good ideas (Both ethical and practical) to convince a library to (At least) let users choose which operating system they can use?
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Does anyone have any good ideas (Both ethical and practical) to convince a library to (At least) let users choose which operating system they can use?
Im sure it would be much harder than just asking any ol' library, to sit down and listen to what you have to say. Start at the Main Branch if you are serious :)
Of course the first thing they will likely say, is bring your own computer, and run whatever you like.
What would their incentive to change be?
What do you need to do on a library computer that you can't do with Windows?
Certainly though, being a public place, it would be nice to see use of open-sourced means. Can't hurt to ask, if you can manage an audience.
if its just dumb systems accessing the Internet might not be too hard to change.... but to change the core infrastructure over.... well.... the techs might not know linux, they'd certainly have to re-train the staff...... and of course the down time....
I can't really see you having much luck, sorry
Offer to pay the municipality or county for the cost of infrastructure, integration with the city or county systems, training of administrators...
At my library, the PCs run special software to limit users to 2 hours per day which is tied to your library card. This is 2 hours which can be split up, so you can get a 30 minute reservation, use it for 25 minutes and quit. Then sign back into another computer later, do an hour, etc. In between users, the computer "forgets" everything you've done as far as browser history and any files saved on the computer.
The computers are also integrated with their printing system, where the print jobs are saved on some server. Then you go to the printer station and provide your library card number to release your print job (and pay the per-page fee).
Even if the same functionality was developed for Linux, I don't think they would want to run it as long as the "customers" want Windows. Many people use the library for job searches and use MS Word for their resume. I'm aware it's possible to use other software, but the people without PCs are probably less computer-savvy.