Today, jim t.p. ryan gleaned this insight:
> I think your question of "will Linux make it on the desktop without
> office" is the most critical. I personally think the answer is a
> resounding no.
Ugh.
> It's almost like why the Dvork (ok, I can't spell it)
> keyboard didn't make it over qwerty.
You were close; it's Dvorak. But on to the point...
> Office is just too far integrated into the general office/business
> environment to be displaced anytime soon.
I don't see it that way...
> People who use this product are, by and large, non-technical with no
> interest in learning anything new.
I can agree with this point, but...
> Putting Office on Linux is exactly what is needed to get it on the
> desktop. Quicken too. Not to mention a decent browser.
Respect for maddog's opinion aside, I can't agree less. I understand that
people don't want to learn anything new. I think what I would have said
is more like:
"Putting something that looks and works like Office, but is much more
stable and bug free with less bloat and security holes is exactly what is
needed to get it [Linux] on the desktop." This can be done.
Gnumeric is a good example (I believe). It basically IS excel, from what
I understand. I can't really vouch for this, since my idea of a
spreadsheet is what covers your bed before you put the blankets on, and I
use neither. But from what I've heard, it has the look and feel of excel,
and was designed specifically to be compatible with it (from a usage and
feature standpoint). It may be missing some of the extra bells and
whistles, but in my experience no one actually uses the bells and whistles
anyway. Most people use very basic functionality of such packages. Even
so-called "power users" probably use less than half of the available
functionality, I'd venture a guess.
> I've never really understood the free software thing anyway. Sooner
> or later somebody has to pay don't they?
No, not really. As long as there are people who want quality software who
are willing to write it if necessary, OR there are people willing to put
in the time and effort to write software SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ENJOY IT, and
Microsoft (and others by the way) continues to put out the trash they put
out, there will be free software, and no one will need to pay.
This argument is really based on the idea that all work is unpleasant and
people won't do a good job unless they're getting paid, therefore free
software must suck. This is simply not true. Many of us who work in
technology have the good fortune of having jobs that we LOVE, and likely
would be doing in our spare time, in some capacity or another, were we not
to have those jobs, myself included.
I'm not a programmer, but I enjoy programming because it excercises my
mind, and periodically I need to do that... :) I AM a sysadmin, and I got
into the sysadmin business essentially because I spent a lot of
time learning how to get my computer to do things, and eventually
when I had more computers, learning how to get them to do things
with eachother, and I thought to myself, "this is really cool." Then I
discovered I could get paid to do it! Ooooh yeah... Lots of people who
write free software are like me. At least in that regard...
> That was a real question, not rhetorical. I mean is any really big,
> established business going to run on free software? I don't think so,
> it's unamerican;+} Really, the mindset is "you get what you pay for",
> right or wrong, that is the culture. If it doesn't sell, mark it up
> and people will assume it's better.
There does exist such a mindset; it is evil. If we allow ourselves to
succumb to it, the human race is doomed. Much better to foster the
mindset that if something needs to get done, you just get off your duff
and do it, and that it's A GOOD THING(TM) that everyone can benefit from
what you did. Not everything we do requires compensation from others, and
nor should it. If we can foster that mindset, then business people may
be able to get away from managing their businesses from a GREED standpoint
and start managing their business by taking into account WHAT MAKES SENSE.
Not paying for things that you don't need to pay for just makes sense.
Now if you'd said that what people needed was something that reads and
writes Office formats, given the prevalence of Office, I'd conceed that
you have a point. But that too, can be done.
--
---------------------------------------------------------------
Derek D. Martin | Unix/Linux Geek
[EMAIL PROTECTED] | [EMAIL PROTECTED]
---------------------------------------------------------------
**********************************************************
To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following text in the
*body* (*not* the subject line) of the letter:
unsubscribe gnhlug
**********************************************************
