>How would we set up this > system so that it works and so that we can benefit from the productivity > increases that some significant advances in software provide? What are the > costs and the savings, who would bear the costs and who would benefit from > the savings? Would it actually advance social justice in a practical way? >... > Ann
Thankyou for your comments everyone. Ann raised a couple of questions which I think are very relevant, and deserve some consideration. IMHO it would be a huge call and a massive task for the UC to abandon MS completely. I've had a look at a fairly popular web-site to see what the main browers and operating systems are used. Out of 1.5 million page views, over 85% use Windows, with the next most used is Mac with a little over 1.5%. Entirely moving outside of MS would seriously risk isolating the UC and possibly reduce the effectiveness of its work. >From my experience it is difficult enough to covert Word files from Mac to Windows, let alone Word files into another program. I think we would have to seriously consider whether the time and money that would go into this kind of research could be more productively spent elsewhere (ie. more practical mission work). I went to a Midnight Oil concert a couple of years ago, where a certain Labor Candidate said in one soap-box session how we should be supporting artists and developers, and paying for their (often hard) work and not pirating music and programs. Later, standing on another soap-box, he criticised business and individuals for exploiting people around the world with low wages and high prices and for fostering uneven distribution of wealth. I was confused, do I pay for my next Midnight Oil album, or do I fund his early retirement? Wesley ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
