Restrictive Environment From School

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by phrontist

I don't follow this line of reasoning at all.

Then you're apparently either ignoring or dismissing one of the premises. The reasoning is quite clear to me.

It should, for all "official" purposes, be against the rules to do something like this. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be done, but rather that you shouldn't bother tech support when you get yourself in trouble.

Okay, that's enough. Stop it with the "break the rules, just don't let anyone know" already!

A computer is a tool like any other, why should it be treated differently?

It shouldn't be treated differently from any other valuable tool owned by the school. Among other things, that means it should not be modified in violation of the school's rules.

[phrontist]

I mentioned in a previous post not to mount drives. If no drives are mounted, which is Knoppix's default state, no damage can be done.

Other than that, Mr.Flowerday's comments compute. I recind any previous contradictory post.

Really, the way out of this situation is to use someone's private machine. Surely any group of nerds has at least one or two boxes lying around...

I still think the customised FRC Knoppix could be immensely useful though...

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by phrontist

I mentioned in a previous post not to mount drives. If no drives are mounted, which is Knoppix's default state, no damage can be done.

This is getting tiresome. Please stop trying to rationalize breaking into a school-owned computer in order to use non-authorized software. You have already done damage simply by promoting the subversion of the BIOS password and booting "around" the laptop's security.

(Even if you think it's a stupid rule, it's still a rule. Stupid rules are not meant to be broken; they're meant to be changed. Unless and until they are changed, breaking them is wrong.)

[Travis Hoffman]

Perhaps school districts should stop indiscriminately handing out freebie laptops to everyone and instead use their obviously plentiful $$$ to hire more and/or better teachers and expand the selection of *live* instruction the kids have to choose from?

I'd like to see any kid try to erase a teacher's "operating system". I think the resultant swift kick in the pants would do him/her some good. Oh wait, that kind of real discipline isn't permitted any more.

Sitting still and listening to your teachers seemed to work fine in the good ole' days (1995). You could not ever convince me that the majority of those laptops are being used for educational purposes the bulk of the time. I would hope each student in possession of a laptop were required to somehow *prove* that they were putting this item to good use to retain the right to use it.

So what to do with all those confiscated laptops? How about distributing them to local libraries, community centers, and colleges, where only those who possess a genuine desire to use the technology for practical and educational purposes will ever use them? Those who want to chat on AIM all day can wait until they get home. Poor widdle babies.

Pardon my aggressive and quite possibly off topic post, but this bugs me greatly. It's bad enough such educational and economic disparity exists in this country to the point where some schools have a laptop for every kid while others have one computer for every building (if they're lucky); but to hear of a few truly fortunate students either abusing or suggesting the abuse of this extreme privilege on top of it all.........GAH!!

Please respect those who have put so much faith in you all to use and take care of such expensive pieces of equipment. If you have a desire to install hardware/software for FIRST or other programs, then please don't circumvent the system. You may find your school's IT staff will kindly accomodate you. If they decline, accept it and pursue an alternate solution to your problem through other positive, respectful means.