I have to agree with you to a point about your historical examples and how change
occurs. But those were the days when everything was new. Today we�ve reached a point
where the system in place is so widespread that change becomes harder and harder.
Where you work what do they use for their daily office operations like email client,
word processor, spreadsheets, and presentations? I just can�t envision the sales
department being told they have to start using a laptop with Linux and Applixware to
get in front of customers with. Or the CEO�s secretary telling her boss that she has
to fix all the formatting changes that happened to the critical document that was just
emailed to her from another CEO�s secretary in Word.
Maybe as new startups grow they will bring in Linux on the desktop from the onset, but
I don�t see Liberty Mutual or Fidelity doing it anytime soon. I�m not even sure how
important it is to be on the desktop. But then I like Office. Sure it�s bloated,
but for me it�s just a known tool. I can go in and bang out a document or a
spreadsheet in no time at all. I�d rather spend time learning an OS like Linux then
waste time trying to figure out how to open up a word document in Star Office and
retain the formatting. Or worse yet trying to teach some admin support person how
to do it. I have spent a LOT of time doing that in the past as DEC moved from WPS+ on
VMS to PC�s and WordPerfect or Word. In fact that shows how once the OS gets in the
door, the rest follows. If users had Office on their Linux box the transition to
other applications would be a lot less painless for them. But throw a new OS and the
applications and you have a much harder road to go.
By the way, I still want to know how the free thing works. If I use an open source
Word Processor and I�m a home user (non-technical), and I want to know how to set up
columns for a three fold document I�m making who do I call? Sooner or later SOMEBODY
has to paid for something don�t they? I have never felt that I got screwed by
Microsoft. I have bought a product knowing what it was, eyes open. I�ts not perfect
but it does what I want it to do at least as much as any other software product that I
have bought, or downloaded for that matter.
How come nobody is screaming at Netscape? Netscape on Linux, is a piece of crap.
It�s usable, but I don�t think anybody can honestly deny that browsing the web under
Windows and Explorer 5 is a better overall experience than doing it in Linux with
Netscape stability aside. This is where energy should be focused. Netscape is the
only major browser available to us in Linux. I know about Opera and I�m sure there
are others, but Netscape comes with Linux (uh oh, don�t tell that to the justice
dept.) and as such is the one that gets used. Maybe AOL should take a few people out
of the CD mailing division and get them working on their browser�;+}
Sincerely,
Jim Ryan
-----Original Message-----
From: Benjamin Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 23:07:07 -0400 (EDT)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: maddog speaks
On Tue, 27 Jun 2000, jim t.p. ryan wrote:
> All I'm saying is that in 20+ years of working in companies I can't
> comprehend suggesting that they change their internal desktops over to
> sendmail and star office, or whatever.
Except MS-Office isn't 20+ years old.
Before Office, it was Word Perfect and Lotus 1-2-3. Remember those?
Everybody thought everybody would be using them until time ended (at 3:14:07
AM on Fri, Jan 19th, 2038). Now they are practically non-existent.
Before the IBM-PC, it was software like VisiCalc and Bank Street Writer.
They ran on single-sided, 180 KB floppy disks, on the Apple ][ series.
VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet, and is credited by many for really
enabling the personal computer revolution.
Before *them*, everybody uses IBM mainframes and dumb terminals. Everybody
thought everybody would be using *those* forever.
And before the programmable computer was invented, everybody thought we'd be
using punched cards and tabulating machines.
I have seen absolutely *ZERO* evidence that businesses will stick with what
they're running over the long term. Generally, businesses seem to use what
network effects indicate they should use. For several years now, that's been
Microsoft Office. However, the winds are beginning to shift, as more and more
corporate managers wake up to the fact that they've been shafted royally by
Microsoft. Managers may not understand much about technology, but they know
what being ripped off is about, and they don't like it.
Being locked into a single vendor (be it software or anything else) is
always considered a Bad Thing, unless the vendor in question manages to pass
it off as a "feature". This happens rather depressingly often, but the wakeup
call generally comes eventually, and payback's a bitch.
Open Source offers too many advantages to be ignored. You're free to choose
and change your software and support suppliers independently. More then
anything else, I think that's what is going to enable Open Source to win in
the business world. It makes software and support commodities, and thus makes
the network effect universal.
Want proof? Look at email. Look at the web. Look at the Internet. All of
it was designed with Open Source methods, and most of it still runs on Open
Source software. Open Source promotes networking, which maximizes profit.
No two ways about it. And profit is the one and only thing driving business.
RMS is right; Free Software is great for users and hackers. But ESR is
right, too. Free Software is great for business. It's two sides of the same
coin.
The only group Open Source software doesn't help is the companies deriving a
revenue stream from software licensing fees. Well, times change. I'm sure
horse buggy manufacturers hated the automobile, too. Such companies are going
to have to adapt, or die out and be replaced. Such is the nature of the free
market.
> But say they could have office on Linux, they at least the OS is "in the
> door". From there it would be an easier road to acceptance. Sometimes
> you might have to join 'em a bit to win.
As far as I'm concerned, MS-Office on Linux makes absolutely zero difference
to me. I don't like Office on Windoze; I'm not going to like it on Linux,
either. Furthermore, within a year or so, I believe you'll see everything
MS-Office does, done on Linux, but cheaper and better. At that point,
MS-Office on Linux becomes moot.
--
Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
| "People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading." |
| -- Logan Pearsall Smith |
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