[Opensource] FOSS - different arguments

[victor rajewski]

In a strange twist of fate, Microsoft is releasing a firefox plugin that
renders OOXML files anywhere firefox can run.

Strange days, people, strange days.

vik

On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 2:36 PM, Jim Maunder <techo at ruyton.vic.edu.au> wrote:

> Lots to comment on here (not that my comments will help anything!)
>
> Glen Turner wrote:
>
>> Cameron Bell wrote:
>>
>>> Bugger 24 hours too late.
>>> I was having a "robust discussion" ;) in the staff room yesterday and was
>>> told by those "in the know" that big business still use MS Office and
>>> *always will*.
>>>
>>
>
>> Just a few years ago if you'd looked on the other side of the average
>> customer service desk you would have found a mainframe terminal.
>> Schools didn't see that as a reason to run mainframes, or even
>> teach people how they operated
>>
>
> If you look over the counter of an average shop these days you are likely
> to see a POS app running on DOS (well, in character mode).
>
>
>  I think I am going to put in place a policy of "I don't care what
>>> Application you use, as long as the files it produces are: odt, pdf, jpg,
>>> <insert lots of open file formats>"
>>> Specifying acceptable file types rather than acceptable Applications may
>>> be a better way to go. People can choose the app they are most comfortable
>>> with, although some apps are better than others for certain file types. ;)
>>>
>>
>> I've been down that road and it ends up at PDF. The reason is that
>> it's one thing to be e-mailed the document in .DOC/.DOCX/.ODT and
>> another thing entirely to be e-mailed the fonts referenced by that
>> document. That's especially so for presentations, where you might
>> download some fonts from the web.
>>
>> The big fly in that ointment for a school is the money or complexity
>> in producing PDF documents from Office 2003.
>>
>
> I set the default file type in Word/Excel 2007 to .doc and .xls in our
> laptops and the few office machines running '07. I also install
> 'fileformatconver.exe' on machines running Office2003. As for PDFs, I
> install PDFCreator (as a 'print to PDF printer') on all machines that need
> it. Works here. Also set them to 'Embed fonts in the file' while your at it.
> Of course some will fall through the gaps (mostly due to kids sending files
> from home), and the recipients will be the ones who 'steam'. I just install
> the appropriate converter etc as above, and promise them it will work from
> now on (fingers crossed).
>
>  If multiple people need to edit a complex document then it really
>> sucks if the editing platforms are different, even if the document
>> format is identical. It's not just the small incompatibilities, but
>> the different ways of working (eg, templates in ODF actually work,
>> but they don't work in Office, so no Office user uses them).
>>
>
> Hard to see how that scenario would occur in a typical school.
>
> As for teachers being free to choose whatever platform/application they
> want ... would they allow their students the same sort of freedom? Would the
> school be prepared to pay for the extra support needed for non-standard
> platforms/applications? (ours is not - students who bring in a laptop bought
> outside the school laptop program are charged $100 setup and support fee)
>
> A bit of PD for those having trouble adapting to Office07 helps.
>
> rgds
> Jim (I'm not mad on Office07 either - I was happy with Word6)
>
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> We have to use this Disclaimer
>
> Views, opinions, etc. expressed reflect those of the author and not
> Ruyton Girls' School
> -----------------------------------------------------------
>
> Jim Maunder
> Laptop Technician
> Ruyton Girls School
> Melbourne, Australia
> ph 9290 9374
>
>
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