What happens when organizations try to give out free software? Not everyone understands that some programs are truly free. My wife put me on to this story via Good Morning Silicon Valley. It turns out there’s a teacher in Austin, Texas, who sent a stern e-mail to the HeliOS project, which provides Linux-based computers to kids. Here’s an excerpt:The student was showing the ability of the laptop and handing out Linux disks. After confiscating the disks I called a conference with the student and that is how I came to discover you and your organization. Mr. Starks, I am sure you strongly believe in what you are doing but I cannot either support your efforts or allow them to happen in my classroom. At this point, I am not sure what you are doing is legal. No software is free and spreading that misconception is harmful. These children look up to adults for guidance and discipline. I will research this as time allows and I want to assure you, if you are doing anything illegal, I will pursue charges as the law allows…A few years back when I used to write humor for a satire site, I would have rejected something like this as being too absurd. And yet, it seems in some circles, there’s still a lot of ignorance about open source.I can’t decide whether the follow up is funny or sad, but it’s thought provoking. Open Source