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Originally Posted by phrontist
After all, if the taxpayer is funding incompetant IT staff that compensate through the implemenation of draconian policies hampering the education of said taxpayer's children, there is a whole chain of wrongdoing before the level of the student.
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I guess it's easy to say that the IT staff is "incompetent" and the policies are "draconian" when you're not the one who is responsible for keeping 100s or 1000s of laptops up and running with a whole bunch of students who think they know a thing or two trying to install their own software (or reformatting their hard drives, or running Linux because it's cool). You're not the one who gets the angry call from a parent when their son/daughter can't finish their homework on the school-supplied laptop because some friend installed some random junk software. You're not the one who gets in trouble with the administration or school board because all these kids who have laptops now installed IM and are goofing off in class, or cheating, or teasing other kids with it.
The attitude from several people in this thread about the school policies is really bothering me. People, it's precisely
because of actions like the ones being suggested in this thread that the laptops are locked down so tight. I can just about guarantee you that the IT personnel didn't go through all the effort to lock down those machines just because they thought it would be fun to get you guys all upset about it. They do it because if they don't, someone comes along and does exactly what you're suggesting (such as reformatting the hard drive) and then go back and complain to IT that the computer is screwed up, and now the IT people have to spend their precious time fixing the mess.
Anyone who purposely and knowingly disobeys district policies for the use of a
district resource (yeah, that's what it is, just because you take it home with you doesn't change that fact) deserves to spend a semester answering the phone at their local IT helpdesk. You'll find out very quickly why IT departments have no choice but to put policies in place that can help prevent users from doing something stupid to their computers.
If you want to run Linux or install your own software or boot from a USB key, save up your money and buy your own machine.
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I meant to be done with this post already, but I'm adding one more thing: you better get used to these policies because you'll find similar ones when you go to college and when you graduate and get a job. Most companies do just about the same thing to their laptops and desktops as the schools do.