> A mouse is not necessary to understand computers nor to interact with them.
Almost every operating system on the market comes with a WIMP interface that requires some sort of pointer device. So yes they are kinda necessary now.
> don't want schools to prepare the next generation of Web users that can create an account with Google, but barely anything more; that way the democratic oversight of technological changes and powerful companies fails, because the citizens aren't informed and competent.
You are building a strawman here. We were talking about concepts. Concepts can be taught on any modern operating system. What logging into Google has to do with any of this isn't clear.
> Humans are strongly bound to habits. I have seen that personally, and in reports about institutions doing the change. Some people were strongly opposed to change away from Windows because the alternative doesn't look and feel the same, so they don't like it. And that even if the alternative offers the same capabilities.
Sorry this is another mis-representation conflating habits with people not liking people changing something that works for them.
People generally don't like you changing things because change normally brings a new set of problems they don't want to deal with when what they already have works perfectly well. That is what they are really telling you when they say "It doesn't feel the same".
This has nothing to do with teaching computing concepts in schools. The reality is that only a small percentage of those children taught these core concepts will choose to pursue them in higher education.
> Building a habit around Windows is part of Microsoft strategy to bind people to its platform. That is why academics and schools get discounts. Public infrastructure like schools must not fall for this fixation.
Another way of saying this is "Apple and Microsoft make products that work well and people will prefer them if they aren't forced to use something else first".
Again this isn't anything to do with teaching computing concepts which can be done on any modern computer (or even ones from the past).