(I have changed the subject line for relevancy & to get off the original thread.)
Thanks Nasim for the explanation. While I understand the point about document standard, sometimes the examples we give predisposes people toward not switching to a good FOSS alternative. As FOSS enthusiasts/activists, we ought to be give more confidence to the general public. Yes, there's still no alternative to the Windows GUI, but there is for MS Office. And as for your example of Bijoy, don't you think Avro/Nikosh<http://www.ecs.gov.bd/nikosh/downloads.php?cat_id=1>are good solutions for Unicode conversion? And I'm sure you/others know more such/better solutions. Frankly (now here is where I will begin to get some tongue lashing from list members), I think the Bangladeshi Ubuntu/Linux community is missing the boat on getting more people to switch their OS. This is the perfect time since: 1. Windows experience in Bangladesh is filled with all sorts of viruses that is a constant worry for users 2. we're getting a tongue lashing from Microsoft on Intellectual Property Rights every now & then and most people are sick & tired of hearing such criticisms from yet another US organization 3. Windows 7 GUI is different from XP, albeit not very different but average users feel they have to learn something new 4. Windows 7 has to be hacked to keep it from updating and installing/using new/crack software is an uphill battle thereby limiting individual freedom 5. many PC stores are blocking the internet ports as a workaround which causes many users to spend even more time, money & stress in simply trying to get online In my opinion, if the Ubuntu community provides an XP-like GUI with all the install/plug-n-play solutions in one package while letting me run some Windows software that has no good FOSS alternative, it will be more effective, perhaps even evolutionary, than localizing everything to Bangla. Because with Bangla localization right off the bat we lose communicating with the international community of Linux/Ubuntu developers, then all the local corporate users, then we lose the expats & finally those youths who will be migrating/studying/working for international organizations abroad will have a steep learning curve is trying to figure out which English terms is equivalent to the Bangla term they are used to. I am an XP user, tried Vista when it came out then went back to XP and can't even think of going with Windows 7. I would like to move to Ubuntu, but is it a good alternative for someone like me who is not an OS expert? If we some focused service from the Ubuntu community, I'm sure not only will I make the changes but so will many many others. Any corrections, advice & dissenting opinions are most welcome. Shumon On Fri, May 13, 2011 at 10:46 PM, Nasimul Haque <[email protected]>wrote: > On 13 May 2011 12:36, Shumon <[email protected]> wrote: > > commenting on Nasim's statement, "...Just like windows and MS Office. > Once > > you are committed to windows and MS Office it's very hard to use any > > other software. Not only for the user friendliness but also the > > file formats." > > > > We are friendly to such opinions, no? > > My bad. It looks like I failed to explain the analogy properly. Ok, > let me try again. > > Once you have written a thousands of documents using MS Office which > has some proprietary/non-standard elements in it (e.g., Equations, > Endnotes, etc. so called user friendly interfaces). You cannot move > **easily** to any other office software. > > Let me give another example. I hope the audience won't be too young > for this. If you have millions of ASCII Bijoy or some other > non-standard Bangla documents, you cannot move to Unicode Bangla > instantly. > > So the point is not a specific software but the document standard. > Since you are sending mails in plain text or HTML formats through > gmail. As long as the email standard is maintained there's no real > harm in using it via free software. > > -- > M. Nasimul Haque > Senior Developer > Appliansys > Coventry, UK > http://www.nasim.me.uk > > -- > Ubuntu Bangladesh > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bd > -- Ubuntu Bangladesh https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bd
