On 04/29/2007 03:42 AM, Marc Paré wrote: > NoOp a écrit : >> On 04/28/2007 12:30 PM, Marc Paré wrote: >> >> >>> I guess the idea was to get our IT department to recognize that a filter >>> for odt files is now a necessary thing and seeing that OpenOffice fills >>> in the gap from the point of view of productivity as well as price that >>> it could be considered as a replacement for MSOffice. Our budgets are >>> constantly under pressure. I also promote the suite at school and >>> encourage the students avoid using pirated software which is why so many >>> of our students are using OpenOffice at home. They are also aware that >>> they can also save in .doc/ppt etc formats, but if they could they would >>> save in odt and not worry about the file format changes. >>> >>> I think I will do as Manfred suggested and try to direct IT to the >>> daVinci page. >>> >>> Marc >>> >> >> And, in addition to OOo, you might want to direct the schools to Sun's >> StarOffice site; they can obtain a license and training for free. SW is >> fully compatible with OOo & in fact OOo came from StarOffice. >> >> http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/index.jsp >> http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/education.jsp >> http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/edu/solutions/staroffice.html >> >> Free training tutorials & guides are here: >> http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/comm_invest/giving/so8/ >> Note: to OOo beginners - the above guides are also suitable and useful >> for OOo. >> >> That combined with OOo & I'd say that your schools can save a >> considerable amount in their annual budgets. >> >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> >> > Thanks for the note and the links. The Ontario Ministry of Education > (Canada) has actually licensed the use of StarOffice for all of its > schools but very few boards in the province have installed the suite. > Change happens slowly. I personally would prefer to promote the OOo > rather than StarOffice as the students where I teach can mostly not > afford to purchase any software. OOo allows them to work at the same > level as their richer counterparts.
Perhaps you failed to read: http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/edu/solutions/staroffice.html <quote> StarOffice 8 Office Suite - No-Cost Licensing For Education and Research The StarOffice 8 office suite is the smart choice for education and research institutions. It allows you to save money, pick your platform and work smarter. StarOffice 8 is a feature-rich, full-function productivity suite that includes powerful and integrated word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing and database capabilities. As part of Sun's ongoing commitment to education, Sun Microsystems provides licenses for StarOffice 8 at no-cost to education and research institutions. StarOffice 8 delivers exceptional cross-platform compatibility with enhanced support for the Solaris Operating Environment, Linux, and Microsoft Windows, and is designed to suit all your academic and administrative needs. . . . How to Get StarOffice 8 - Individuals If you are a student, researcher, staff, or faculty member you can download StarOffice 8 for free from Sun's Software Download Center. Login into the Sun Software Download Center by using your user name and password. If you do not have a user name or password for the Sun Software Download Center please register. . . . </quote> It's _free_. Same as OOo. They are for the most part 99% compatible - SO provides some added bundled templates, it slower to implement changes (consider it a Long-Term-Support/LTS of OOo for obvious support reasons), and a few extra filters. Basically they are the same product. Support can be had for somethnng like USD$85 per month, free web support etc., and a reasonable per call charge if you can't figure it out over the web or do not have a monthly support contract: http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/edu/solutions/staroffice/support.html So there are some advantages (I think) or going the SO route rather than the OOo route. But either way you're much better off (financially and Although I do understand that OOo > came from StarOffice originally but I think the reverse is truer today > where StarOffice now gets all of its code from OOo development (except > for the proprietary code it includes). I don't know about that. I do know that Sun is *very* active in the OOo code development. Sun also encourages educational institutions, students et al to participate in the OOo development: <quote> StarOffice Development: OpenOffice.org Students, faculty and staff can access the StarOffice source code and help in the development of the next generation of StarOffice by becoming part of the OpenOffice.org community of developers. OpenOffice.org is the leading open-source project developing the most advanced multi-lingual and multi-platform office suite. It provides the base code for StarOffice and offers users a familiar work environment that can be customized to any user's needs and preferences. </quote> So encourage the Ontario Ministry of Education to start implementing today. And let your students know that they can download and use SO for free, same as OOo. The only key advantage to SO v OOo is that they can then also take advantage of the Sun support (free via the web) and that the IT folks may appreciate having everyone on the same version so that they don't have to sort through OOo version xyz vs SO version zyx. Either way the OME, schools, staff, and students win. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
