On 06/29/2010 08:26 AM, Jeremy Yanofsky @ Ben Bronz Academy wrote: > To respond to NoOp's comments: > > I have no part in BBA's marketing of CyberSlate. I am a writing teacher at > the school who is currently pursuing a degree in Educational Technology, and > I thought this summer would be a great opportunity to push the school to > update its internal system out of the stone age. I just started looking > into using OpenOffice because I thought it would be the quickest and > cheapest way to upgrade our systems and because since it is open source, I > thought that meant that it would be possible to manipulate the program just > a bit so it would better suit our needs. As I've said, though, I'm not a > programmer, and so maybe I'm completely wrong in thinking that this is even > possible.
1. If you are not simply wishing to use OOo at the school out of the box. If you wish to use OOo then please do so. But to try to jump off the blocks by presenting OOo as an attempt to imitate a specific DOS application in the process is counter productive, and will do a disservice to OOo in the long run. Instead implement the suite for what it is published to be, become familiar with it, allow the other staff etc to become familiar with it, and use/add the extensions/etc available if a particular one meets your needs. 2. You are attempting to introduce OOo to the school as a viable replacement for a specific DOS program that was written by the former headmaster. That is the wrong approach, and of course the entire attempt *will* fail as OOo isn't intended to do what you are asking out-of-the-box. You may possibly get some "tweaks" via extentions etc., to approach what you are asking for, but in the end those familiar with your "CritiWriter" will simply get pissed off at you, and OOo, because: 1) CritiWriter works for them, 2) OOo as presented is *not* a replacement for CritiWriter. > > That said, if it IS possible to do what I have asked, I would certainly be > more than willing to share the "tweaks" with the OOo community, but the fact > is that what I am asking for is probably of very little use to anyone else. > Who knows, though -- I could be wrong. There could be other tiny schools > out there for students with learning disabilities or there could just be > other people out there who have dyslexia and the like who would greatly > appreciate the spellchecker tweak, for one. I see. There seem to be others out there that need/want the CyberSlate and Keyboard Classroom software as well. Yet that software is not FOSS or even opensource. What gives you the idea that your employer would not bundle a modified OOo and do the same. Note: nothing wrong with actually doing that if you folks have taken the source, used your resources to modify and will maintain for the long term. > > In any case, I'm not making a dime doing this, nor do I intend to if and > when what I am looking for has been made. I'd love to design an app from > scratch, but I'd also love the superpower to walk through walls, and that's > not going to happen any time soon. I am volunteering to make these > improvements happen in my school, and I am asking for help to make it all > happen, but if what I am asking is sincerely impossible, then fine -- so be > it. Right. You're volunteering to "introduce" a 'modified' version of OOo to your school to replace a school written DOS application that has been used, and is currently used for specific needs in the school. > > I'm not one to quit so easily, Please do, and/or rethink what you are asking. Use OOo for what it is intended for, over time modify add extensions, templates, et al to suit the school's needs. Dont try to introduce OOo out of the box as a CritiWriter replacement... IMO that's just plain silly, and will only end up giving OOo a black eye in the end. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
