[Mageia-dev] Identifying Target Markets

[Marc Paré]

Le 2010-10-03 02:34, Wolfgang Bornath a écrit :
> 2010/10/3 andré<andr55 at laposte.net>:
>>
>> Targeting the school boards makes a lot of sense.
>
> Again this is something you can not generalize, different countries
> have different structures.
> In Germany it is not a school board who decides what software will be
> bought for a certain region or school. This is decided on state level
> for the various states of the federal republic. You have to go to some
> state office and compete with the reps of Microsoft. You do not talk
> to parents or teachers, it's some bureaucrats who decide this over
> here (with very few exceptions).
>
> Same with many other countries. This school board system as in the US
> is not a world wide system.
>

I can't speak for André (he sounds like he is Canadian), but I am not a 
US citizen, I am Canadian. Our school system and software purchase 
models are the same as you describe. However, we do consult with school 
boards and interested partners before acquiring software licences. I am 
sure, the German states would consult with their partners before doing 
such as well. We have provinces in Canada and, as you say, in Germany 
you have states -- same hierarchy but with different names. As far as I 
know, the American model is more of a federalist model and 
consultation/coordination is done mostly from a national point of view. 
I am sure someone on the list will straighten us out on this account.

We shouldn't assume that, if people describe a different system on this 
ML, that they are therefore American citizen who are trying to impose it 
on everyone. I just assume that we are all Canadians on the list (chuckles).

Marc