I hope you guys can get up to OSCamp this week, or similar Camp experiences like a BarCamp -- this would be a GREAT topic to flesh out there, with a broad and participatory audience... the *development* of syllabus and some curriculum, in particular, as a topic, that is :) Thanks for the links, you two!!
~ben On Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 3:51 PM, marbux <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 12:10 AM, turtle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > Hi all > > I am thinking of putting together a series of classes this winter Jan - > Mar > > Focusing on Opensource Software for professional use. > > I am looking for interested presenters, sponsors and local IT's and > coders > > that support the software or use it. > > The Idea is to make the classes free or most of the classes free > depending on > > the cost of the presenters and there travel expenses. Some of the classes > may > > include handouts or books and will have a fee for the book. > > Software on the list so far is: > > Ledgersmb -accounting > > Qcad - drafting > > Openoffice -office > > Gimp / Inkscape - illustration / photography > > Scribus - Desktop publishing. > > > > Any ideas input discussion welcome. > > Advantages/disadvantages/methods of switching to a FOSS web browser > seems like a natural to me, given the history of security issues with > MSIE. The Zotero Firefox extension would be a good introduction to > the power of FOSS extensions to Firefox. <http://www.zotero.org/> > (requires Firefox 3 for synchronization). Other candidates: Tab Mix > Plus, <https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1122>, and the > Foxmarks Bookmarks Synchronizer service, > <https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2410>. > > Related, the use of FOSS server-side apps, e.g., Alfresco or Nuxeo > for ECM, Zimbra for eMail, contacts, and shared calendaring; and > vTiger for CRM. > > An over-all theme might be to stress the importance of cross-platform > apps as part of any sane migration strategy for a business > transitioning from Windows to another platform. E.g., a Linux web app > server can be plugged into an existing Microsoft-bound network, > cross-platform desktop apps can be implemented one at a time on > Windows yet still prepare office staffers for switching completely to > Linux down the line. With cross-platform apps, migration can be > incrementally deployed. > > Something along the lines of "FOSS -- Migrating Away from Vendor > Lock-in" might be a title for the series, although I'm sure folks here > can come up with a better one. > > Virtual machines/translators/emulators also belong somewhere in a > migration or cross-platform discussion, e.g., Wine, VirtualBox, Bochs, > as well as data synchronization tools. > > <intentional-thread-drift> > > Software as a Service, although non-FOSS, can also play an important > role in migrating away from Windows. Three examples: > > 1. Using a Linux desktop for new law school grads just became a whole > lot more feasible with the release of Clio, a law office practice > management service developed in collaboration with the Law Society of > British Columbia for firms with 10 lawyers or less. > <http://www.goclio.com/index.html>. To my knowledge, this is the first > competent practice management app for Anglo-Saxon nations that can be > used with a Linux desktop (and I've looked far and wide). > > As is said on the Clio web site, if you capture one otherwise missed > billable hour of work per month, you've turned a profit on the > subscription cost. When penalizing lawyers who don't keep competent > contemporaneous time records in attorney fee awards, U.S. courts > routinely cite studies showing that lawyers who do not keep > contemporaneous time records under bill by an average of 40 per cent. > So FOSS or not, welcome Clio because you make it far more feasible to > use free and open source software. > > 2. Many office users don't need a full-blown office suite like > OpenOffice.org. The free Google Docs and Zoho online office suites > both read and write, inter alia, OpenDocument, MS binary, RTF, and > HTML formats. > > 3. As an alternative to Microsoft Acess, the Dabble DB online service > is inexpensive and achieves an unusually fine balance of usability and > power.<http://dabbledb.com/>. Mashups and iFrames for > business-specific data. (The 8-minute flash demo is highly > recommended. As one who is RDBMS-challenged, I've found Dabble a > delight to work with. :-) > > </intentional-thread-drift> > > My 2 cents, > > Paul > > > --- > Universal Interoperability Council > <http:www.universal-interop-council.org> > _______________________________________________ > EUGLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.euglug.org/mailman/listinfo/euglug >
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