The idea that people don't have choices is silly. Certainly with BIG COMPUTER and BIG SOFTWARE dictating people's thoughts, perhaps it seems like there's little choice. Whatever open source software offers, there are significant costs associated with its use. Sure, you avoid the upfront costs of acquisition, but maintenance, troubleshooting and administration are real and palpable. What the school may have lacked in funds they'll more than make for it with management. Not that O/S tools shouldn't have been an option, the idea that they were running without anything shows that they were mismanaged for quite some time. Can you imagine? A school without any means of monitoring or protecting children from the scourge of Internet predators?