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

[Craig Ringer]

>>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. 
Hmm...
Kid: "I've got this program we used to use at my old school, can I 
install it?"
Admin: "No! No! No! No!"
Kid: "But its free, its an office program and I need it"
Admin: "I don't know the program and I will not install sw from students"
Kid: "Its not pirated or anything"
Admin: *yells* "NO!"

Seriously, your chances of getting many admins to install software on 
the network are minimal. Many systems are locked down so you can't do it 
yourself on your machine/account, and if they aren't there's usually the 
admin with the big stick looking for people installing things.

More to the point, thats just office sw. What about general OS literacy, 
the ability to set up printers, email, etc?

> 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.
_If_ they're allowed to use it.
SOE :-(

>>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.
But your employer wants you to use powerpoint like every good lawyer :-(
Some will be happy to flex, a lot won't.

Also, I wouldn't install OO.o on remote sites w/o an admin nearby, yet. 
Its getting pretty good but still not quite stable enough for me to be 
willing to leave users w/o support for a week or more.

-- 
Craig Ringer                           IT Manager, POST Newspapers
http://www.postnewspapers.com.au/
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