For something other than straight Linux, we first need to resolve the
issue brought up earlier, namely, expanding our target audience beyond
Linux (preferably without fully dropping our current name). We will have
an easier time getting people into Linux if we get them into open source
software such as OO first. Even then, many will prefer to stay with the
devil they know (Windows). No one is going to come to a Linux Users
Group meeting if 1) they fear that a bunch of wild-eyed nerds are going
to evangelize them into switching to a non-Windows OS, and 2) won't make
the connection anyway -- "it's a /Linux/ group, right?"
As far as high schools, technical schools (BOCES, etc.), and colleges
go, they teach MS Office because that's what so many businesses use (and
they get nice deals from the Evil Empire). Granted, once you know the
basics of using one spreadsheet or word processor, it doesn't take all
that much to switch to another, but you'd be surprised how much inertia
there is once someone has learned, say, MS Office, and is used to using
it and has become somewhat proficient. Most people are not capable of
switching over without a full, formal class leading them by the hand.
Among other things, they may have built themselves a reputation as a
genius, and going to a new product means they're a noobie again. Do we
concentrate on educating the educators, who will face pressure from
students and parents to teach "the" standard product (MS Office) because
that is what graduates will be using in the workplace, or do we educate
businesses on the benefits of free software?
Remember that once a business has committed to, say, MS Office, there is
tremendous resistance to switching to something else. Time is money
(unlike for a home user or a student), and training employees in a new
product /and/ (if necessary) converting existing usage is very
expensive. Yes, MS does periodically obsolete their existing products,
often requiring some amount of retraining and file conversion, so that
would be the best time to strike. Otherwise, businesses are going to be
very reluctant to go through the considerable expense of changing
platforms, once they're up and running with something. The cost of MS
software licenses may easily be outweighed by the costs of conversion,
so "free" (as in beer) software means nothing. Most businesses aren't
going to care about MS being evil ("but Bill Gates is giving away all
that money to wipe out malaria... isn't he a saint?"). They /might/ care
about business records saved in a format that will be unusable a decade
or more down the line, and open software has a better chance of being
usable (fully documented format, and current source available for
someone to modify). Of course, most businesses don't have anyone
proficient enough in programming to update/rewrite that spreadsheet or
word processor for them, so they would have to pay someone to do it
(recover their data). This is an even bigger problem in government,
which needs to keep records for very long periods (indefinitely long
times). Much more likely, the media will have deteriorated to the point
of unusability and/or there is no device left to read it (how many 8
inch diskettes are lurking in filing cabinets? 8 or 9 track tape reels?).
That alone would make an interesting project (and maybe a talk) itself
-- how to encourage businesses and government to periodically re-record
their records onto newer media (/and check it/) before their last tape
drive breaks down, and how to import them into newer versions of
spreadsheets, word processors, etc. That second point could be a good
place to evangelize open source, in that with a fully documented open
file structure there should always be a way to use old data.
On 1/9/2011 3:01 PM, Robert Mark Wallace wrote:
Our current constituency obviously doesn't want to sit through two
hours of the basics of an Open Office Spreadsheet, but the colleges in
our area are still focused on proprietary Products and the Open source
software does work differently.
How can we do this?
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