Student Expenses

It's bad enough we have to shell out vast quantities of money for our education, but imagine how much we, students, could save by using open source software. Below is an abbreviated table of the minimum software requirements just to provide some functionality:

Windows XP Home	199.99
Office Home and Student 2007	149.98
MS Money	49.98
Microsoft Encarta	39.98
Adobe Photoshop CS3	299.98
Systat 12	279.98
McAfee Internet Security	59.98
Norton Student Backup	39.98
Total	$1,119.85

Although the total reflects the total sum less student discount, one has to wonder why is it that colleges expect us to incur extra costs when we don't have to? I know, I know, people expect things to just work, but we attend college to learn something right? I've since migrated to Linux, and as an example, I am required to use MS Office and Systat 12. Of course, any office documents I produce are a result of Open Office, and I produce statistical models and graphs with R. All this costs me nothing, and since I am a nice guy I donate when I can. With an open mind and some elbow grease a student can take advantage of open source software to complement his/her education. After all, isn't computer literacy, above data entry, important in the job market?