On Wed, 28 Jun 2000, jim t.p. ryan wrote:
> 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.
Except that the next time MS changes their interface, and they get
ready to send the person back to school to learn the upgraded
software, they'll look at it and say "why don't we just learn one of
the Linux packages. They read all the documents we produce, they
don't keep changing the formats, it's more stable, and, as long as
we're spending the money on training, we might as well train them on
this." Formatting changes? I have seen it continually between Word
versions. MS's answer: Just upgrade. Send us money. Yet, I can still (or could
when I had windows running) read WP8 documents in my old WP3 / DOS
package. yes, some things got lost, but the format was such that when
WP3 didn't understand a tag, it ignored it.
>
> 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.
>
Yep, people are stupid, they can't learn. I've used Star Office. As
I tell people, my major complaint about it is that it's identical to
MS Office, including the stupidities. If you can't figure out that
File Open in SO means the same thing as File Open in MSO, you've got
big problems.
> 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.
>
You call the same people you call today. The difference is that you
pay for only what support you need. Getting screwed by MS? I see it
all the time. Friend of mine bought a new MB, HD, Windows 98.
Windows wouldn't install. Called MS (at cost). They told him he
needed new memory. Replaced the memory with recommended memory.
Still didn't work. Called MS again (for more money, since they'd
"solved" his problem). Told him the MB was incompatible with Win98
(despite being labeled as such). Replaced the MB. Still didn't work.
Call again ($ again). Told him he needed a new HD. Still didn't work.
Grabbed a copy of Win95. That installed. Hm. (Of course, if the one
program that he absolutely needs for his business were under Linux,
he'd change in a heartbeat. He's told me so. Why? Because of the
above.)
I see it routinely in business. Pay big money for "support contract"
(I mean big money). The help? "Have you read the MSDN?" "You need
to reinstall Windows." "You need to upgrade to the latest." "You
need to reformat the system." "You need better hardware." NEVER a
"Yep, that's a bug, we'll get to working on it." (Note, I'm not
saying that never happens, just that I've never seen it). I've seen
business plans that assume they will need to replace Office products &
train people every couple of years. It's built into the budget to
ship money to MS. Why? "Because MS changes things, and we need to
keep up." Why? "Because we need the support." MS must love them.
> 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�;+}
>
Actually, they are screaming at Netscape. However, Mozilla is a
complete rewrite. Massive. Much better structure, full compatibility
with all standards, etc. I think they're biting off too much, but
this is Open Source. The people who want the mailer will work on it.
In terms of major browsers, I happen to consider Lynx a major browser,
but then again, that's because I hate the majority of the Java,
Javascript, animated images, etc that is on the web.
In terms of the justice department, I don't think they're worried
(note that having a monopoly is not illegal, just what you do with it.
I haven't seen anyone saying you couldn't package other browsers with
Linux, and most distros include Lynx).
>
> Sincerely,
> Jim Ryan
>
jeff
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffry Smith Technical Sales Consultant Mission Critical Linux
[EMAIL PROTECTED] phone:603.930.9379 fax:978.446.9470
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thought for today: Once it hits the fan, the only rational choice is to sweep it up,
package it,
and sell it as fertilizer.
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