[dundee] Open Office - Baby Steps

[Lee Hughes]

We'll having come up up against the glorious wpa-ms-protocols-of-death on the uni wifi network, and the 'we only support office 2019 issues', well, it's hard one to crack. People go with what there used to, and what works, the fear of the unknown is always a problem, but hey, it's university, so it's about learning isn't it? You've got to support something, but I can't help but laugh when people say that theres a network/app/block of cheese that is support by xxx company I've never been able to get any sense from those boys and girls (even after paid support).

Don't get frustrated, real this http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=692833 
and you'll feel a lot better. In fact, print it out and stick it on a few walls..... ;-).

and quote..

-----------------------------------snip------------------------------------
The hardware is provided by a tier 1, namebrand hardware provider
(number 2 worldwide in server sales, I hear). The support guys who come
on site are paid absolute buckets of cash and are supposedly the best
of the best. These guys come out and utterly bollocks up installs. They
constantly tell you things are impossible to achieve, only to stare
slack-jawed in amazement three weeks later when they are achieved and
working faster than their setups were supposed to provide. They rant
and spit when I build things for zero-dollar licensing cost that their
multi-hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollar hardware is supposed to be the
only stuff that can do the job (my latest GFS/CLVM cluster outperforms
their SAN snapshotting, and is free of charge compared to their
pay-a-license-per-snapshot "solution"). And of course, their golden
trump card is to say "well that's fine, but we don't support it" when
you offend them. Watch the CIOs scramble when their hardware vendors
threaten to not offer support! Yet ask them when they last called on
the "professional" support (other than simple break/fix/replace stuff),
and most can't answer.
------------------snip--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


This thread is so true, and rings so many bells, it is a rant, but it's a fairly accurate rant.
Digest it, rejoice in it, it's the truth, and that what you can try avoid. Think professional, upgrade to vista? use office, is that what a professional would recommend? I doubt it, I'd say  a professional would recommend hardware, software and methods that are right for the job.???? Is the microsoft suite of application right for institute of learning and research? 
I don't think the tool is correct....its fundamentally flawed, don't even talk about cost,
talk about what it actually does..... Uni's are not office blocks..... or lawyers offices...or 
small business..... they are something entirely different...

Does any ever sit down and work out what this software enables, what it actually does,
how people use it, what they get from it, what the benefits are, is there a over plan,
what is perfect digital ecosystem for a university???? Get your thinking caps on!
Lets get away from, wow cool I can down load a pdf of a book, to a real process so
that if I used technology in a uni, I get real value back, it's worth using.????

I like to think some is thinking about the architecture of this stuff? are they? sounds
like a good project for someone...

However, I do think the uni support do an excellent job of supporting what they
say they will support, they just don't understand if they use software that was not
third rate and poorly coded to amuse the consumerist masses, then they
could stop firefighting, stop dealing with virus and security problems, and start
developing a new way of using the network.  Distributed services, dash boards, 
more collaboration and sharing with a mail server that doesn't look like it's from 1980's (in fact it was from 1980 it would be better).

There a few interesting things in the mix at the moment, they are

Windows Vista.....

The Credit Crunch....

Global Financial Meltdown....

so , when a company , who purse strings are tight, are they going to spend $$$$$ on
office 2045 and windows bisto....hmmmm..bisto.... or are they going to roll out
something different?

I've not heard anything about vista upgrades at the uni, demand vista, demand 
windows 2009 server steroids  ROctober edition, roll it all out, spend all the 
$$$ for software you'll never actually own....pay for all the hardware upgrades..... 
then moan at the person that instigated such things when they don't have enough money to pay their lectures  or support staff!!.

On my travels, when I offer them a Microsoft solutions and give them the cost, then
I offer them the open source route.... Lets take a guess what they go for.

One of the things I really wanted was room dedicated to open source solutions,
a room,a few pc's and a couple of server, all tied up and a working live example of the 
'open source' office... where people could go , unsupported of course, but could
 experiment , learn and do work in a open way (a uni hacklab (not hack as in cracking...)....)

Grab a room, setup some PC's, see who turns up....if the uni won't give you one,
just take one, and do it anyway. lets get back to 1960....

But all in all, they (uni's IT) do a fine job with what they have, and uni's don't exactly pay good  wages to it people, so I think they do all right in the long run......

Overall long term tech strategy comes from above, seek them out, get them talking,
you may be surprised with the answers, it's their jobs on the line if all goes wrong,
so you could see there point....

Look on the bright side , at least the don't have the open source police, they refuse you to connect, be thankful there are not draconian teams tech's , roaming every corridor, 
uninstalling Linux and replace anything that moves with close source solutions.

We're in a very interesting position, we've seen the future, we know what it looks like, tool yourself up with the skills, learn protocols and standards, don't go with the clickedy click click people...use the source....lucas....

I believe those at the top (correct me if I'm wrong you top people) think that open source means risk and end to their jobs), but the real facts are that if they don't adapt and change with new technology they will be heading toward the it dole queue for quite a lengthy time....

Mark my words, and may google archive this for many years , closed source software (for communication and collaboration software) with be a thing of the past. There you go I've said it........

But you know what, We'll thank them for letting us learn from their mistakes.

may 'heads' at the uni take a look in this direction.......

http://www.sourcesense.com/en/home

Cheers
Lee 'microsoft please give me a job, I'm not good enough to work a google' Hughes


--- On Sat, 18/10/08, Arron Finnon <afinnon at googlemail.com> wrote:
From: Arron Finnon <afinnon at googlemail.com>
Subject: [dundee]  Open Office - Baby Steps
To: dundee at lists.lug.org.uk
Date: Saturday, 18 October, 2008, 4:53 PM

This issue of Open Office has been flying around the Linux Society for
some time.  My views on this is it is not just a case of lobbying
academics, but raising the awareness of the whole issue.  I tend to
agree that for a large number of people if open office was installed
they would still use M$ office, however it is a case of choice.  I do
believe that a number of students would use open office, and to me its
the gateway to a world of open source use.

I think if i where to put my head on the chopping block, and formulate
a stratergy my first point of call would be raising awareness of open
office, probably best suited to workshops, showing the simple parts
like how to save a document in .doc, supporting open document formats
= good ethics, good business

The financal argument is really a mute point for the institute itself,
i'm pretty sure that the uni will get cut priced versions from M$ that
make it as good as free (as in beer) for them.  The real opportunity
we're missing is that the work force at large is going to have to be
retrained as it is, with thanks from our allies at M$ office who
created that fantastic propaganda piece of software they call office
2007.  The reality in any large organization is not just the cost of
software but the training that they need to give to their staff.
However as i stated earlier this cost will have to be paid either way
now, you change the user interface you change the users interaction

We are starting to see more business taking on our open office, and
that's where i think the most convincing argument will come from, if
business tell Abertay they need graduates that can use both M$ and
Open Office, then the uni will have no choice but to start supporting
it.  So i think it is also a case of lobbying employers as well as
academics, as well as students.  However lets not get this out of
context once we have one piece of FOSS in wide spread use, i think
we'll find it easier to get other open software supported.  I use the
term gateway drug when ever i speak about the subject, its the foot in
the door

I'm left with the nightmare that every time i go to the helpdesk with
a problem at Abertay, i spend more time being told that THEY DO NOT
SUPPORT LINUX then they spend listening to the problem.  I have one
issue each year, once with firefox which the uni does support, and one
with the web page authentication that the uni wifi network now uses.
I find the eventually have to be very forthright in the way i speak to
them, and basically say i'm not asking you to support Linux, i'm
asking you to support Firefox.  I'm not in the belief that this is
done on purpose but rather a fear of the unknown.

Back to my first point, if workshops are done, and marketed then it
gives us these benefits

a) to deliver our message
b) to canvass further support from others
c) to actually gauge the level of support from users
d) to find further allies inside various Abertay departments such as IS
e) launch a series of petitions (both online and physical) and
campaigns, and wrangle further outside pressure
f) deliver proof that Open Office is not just wanted but needed

Downside,

a) no one turns up
b) no one cares
c) we've wasted our time, and no one really gives a shit but us
d) we end up looking like nerds with nothing better to do, and come
off a little elitist

So there is my 2 pence worth, and its only my own personal views

Arron

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