<rant>
UC ICTS booted their first goal within minutes of the opening whistle, whilst the Firefox users were still pulling on their shirts. It was a tricky maneuver to pull Firefox from the standard staff desktop without staff consultation.
Eventually, Firefox users caught whiff that a game was on and realised that it was important to strike back and let ICTS known that they didn't plan on being walked over.
However, in their overenthusiasm to return volley, and winning a concession that Firefox remain on the approved software list, Firefox users have nevertheless witnessed the dawning of a new standard of "institutional-homogeneity first, usability second" policy. Clearly, a formidable foe has come to roost.
The heavy weather of locked-down desktops looms and the thunder is starting to roll - there's clearly more standardisation and limitation to come down the pipeline. Despite this incredibly rich and innovative age of 21st century interconnectivity, with exploding possibilities for learning and development of knowledge to promote free and open socieities, and despite a recent $4.8 million grant to the university for innovative use of technology, the university sees it as a worthwhile investment to remove the #1 most popular online learning tool from its standard PC desktop image in spite of Firefox, a free and open source web browser, increasingly eating into the market share of Internet Explorer, to the point where it is now the preferred browser of the majority of tech-savvy users. More than 25% of Europeans, for example, prefer Firefox. And 15% of users worldwide. The trends are clearly in favour of Firefox - it is the way the world of internet users is moving.... so an institutional decision to swim against the tide leaves employees with an interesting dilemma....
Personally, I'm following with stronger tide - Firefox's steady and growing popularity is simply that it offers significant usability benefits over Internet Explorer. It's as simple as that. And usability is what fundamentally matters to me - along with using and promoting free and open source solutions.
This decision has prompted me to learn how to put Firefox Portable
onto my portable audio player. It's dead simple and turns out this is a far better option than maintaining versions, add-ons, and bookmarks across several different computers.
This is the beginning of preparing myself for the world I see ahead in which institutional conservatism continues to play out via desktop lock-down and service blocking policies to the chagrin and loss of productivity of innovative users. Only last week NSW Tafe blocked it's staff from using Twitter, a micro-blogging tool which a number of well-respected and leading online educators were experimenting with.... the demoralisation amongst the innovative staff was palpable.... this is happening all around us.
So, perhaps we should actually be counting ourselves lucky; perhaps Firefox is only a minor loss. I know plenty of people in other work places who are blocked from accessing a variety of websites and in some cases blocked from accessing their CD drives, USB ports, can't watch videos or listen to audio files, and who have no local administrator sites to install software. The Great Firewall of China extends it seems beneath the seas, encroaching upon our shores, and seeps into over offices overnight.
Perhaps we should be content with the retention of Firefox on the approved software list. Or perhaps we should start pushing back now and helping our institutions to swing their bows downwind.
As someone who strives to teach using free software, provide open access, using open licensing, and open formats, Firefox is a fundamental tool. However, the institution I work for appears to be taking a strategic path towards create an operating environment which is inconsistent with the practices of many educators whom I most respect.
It's an interesting position to be in as we sit and eat our oranges at half-time.
</rant>
References
Half-time Score... UC ICTS 2 - Firefox Users 1
