Just to put the cat among the parrots... I wouldn't recommend putting OpenOffice under linux onto anything slower than a i586 at 400Mhz, with 128Mb of ram. If the machines they have are in the normal vein of free machines they will not meet that grade.
I'm likely to start something ugly here, but OpenOffice on linux with (for eg) a P166 and 32Mb of ram is just not a good advert for OSS. Windows 98 and Office 97 will piss all over it for performance and usability. Especially in the environment the advertiser is in. I'm not saying that OO isn't good, it is, and I've just moved my own business accounting into it, and use it as my 'office suite' of choice at work, but it's damned slow compared to MS office on low spec hardware. Linux itself running X will be slower than win 96/98 as well, adding to the problems. If the machines are marginal, OO on Win98 might be an option, but it's still not as fast as MS office due to carrying around it's own widget libraries etc. LTSP is a good option for older PC's, but they need some grunt for their server... Yes, I know a number of users on the list are using Open Office on 386sx and 4M of ram... And i know that if you use a 4 bit pallet and Scungey Bob's window manager it will run on a single transistor stuffed into a can of coke. I'm talking reality, not what an enthusiast is prepared to call usable. Cheers, Chris H. On Sun, 2003-06-08 at 20:42, Ken McAllister wrote: > I haven't the experience to help this advertiser into OpenOffice running on > /choice of flame war/ version of Linux, > but I'd like to get the experience by helping someone else help her. > > The advert below is from the Spreydon Baptist newsletter today, 8 June > 2003. "Alison" is Alison Ford, manager of the Spreydon Pre-school, 239 > Lyttelton Street. > > "Preschool have a need of licensed copies of Windows 98 and Microsoft > Office software. We have been given 5 computers for children and staff > but lack the software. Can you help? Please contact Alison on 338 5468" > > Once they're happy, I'll pop a photo into the local newspapers. > >
