A change in perspective (was Re: [plug] suggestion: PLUG 4 Schools)

Harry McNally harrymc at decisions-and-designs.com.au
Tue May 7 00:52:33 WST 2002


On Mon, 06 May 2002 22:49:52 +0800 Arie Hol <arie99 at ozemail.com.au> wrote:

<snip>

> What happens when you have Linux established and operating successfully in a
> school, but all the parents of the kids at this school have Windows PC's at
> home.

OpenOffice.org 1.0 runs on Linux and Windows and reads/writes/repairs Windows
file formats. They could also own Macs and any Sun boxes that presently still
run Solaris. 
> What happens when these kids move on to another school or educational
> institution (like uni)?

They take a copy of the cross platform OpenOffice.org 1.0 CD with them. See
answer above.

> Will they be capable of handling the change of software environment -

Unless they are doing a CS degree, OpenOffice.org 1.0 covers a large part of
computing needs for tertiary study. And they have been using it since age 6.
Also, see answer above.

> it
> would be great for the kids if they can learn to use two operating systems
> and their respective software environments - but I think our kids are
> already under enough pressure with the current circumstances in our
> education system.

Do schools really teach the underying structure of Windows ? Or do kids learn to
poke dialog boxes until the #%*@# thing goes ? If you want to learn the
internals, Linux is still the better alternative because you .. actually learn
the internals. But I wonder if the focus should really be on applications. Let
the tinkerers learn the internals in their own time.

> What happens when the kids move out into the work force - will their Linux
> skills be what is required by their employers ?

Unless they have a job in IT, cross-platform OpenOffice.org 1.0 means people in
the workforce may not notice too much what OS it is operating on.

> A great win for employers if
> they are running Unix and/or Linux systems - but maybe a loss for the kids.

I think I'm starting to repeat myself. See above.
 
<snip M$ reference, no longer relevant>

> Who knows what the future may hold, but if we do not think, plan and act
> carefully - then our dreams may turn into nightmares.

We are but prawns in the game, Arie :-)

I really had a feeling that LCA 2003 would be a really interesting time for
Linux but I now suspect the tipping point is OpenOffice.org 1.0 because:

1. It's cross platform. Migration of the largest part of computer applications
can start now.

2. It will impact the largest M$ income stream (Office) .. as I understand it.

3. Large consultancy firms to the corporates can build office systems around OOo
and "share" the savings on license fees with their clients. With profit
involved, how fast will _that_ catch on? 

4. When Open Office is ubiquitous many users won't even notice the day they
aren't running Windows anymore and won't care.

Does this diatribe have any end^H^H^H usefulness ? Should our priority be
getting OpenOfice.org onto school desktops, then show how nicely it runs on
Linux ? 
cu
Harry



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