Re: [Fsfe-uk] Proof of how scared senseless higher ed is of MS

[Paul]

Hi Ralph,

Nice to hear fro you again :-)

> > [Snip professional problems encountered after responding to a troll.]
> >
> > In an argument I had with him coming back from just outside of
> > Cambridge a few years back, I was arguing that using anything not from
> > MS would give companies an advantage as they would be more productive.
> 
> That's a stupid argument.  How productive a piece of software will be to
> a company is not measured by whether it says `Microsoft' on the packet.

Which was my argument. At the time, I was arguing that Impression Pub+,
TWP and PipeDream4 offered far more flexibility, reliability and being
cost effective than the MS suite.

> I expect your bigotry is putting the people you're trying to persuade
> off `free software'.  And please stop using `Microsod' or any other
> childish replacement and it slows down this reader, and many others.

Not quite following you there. I would not equate advocasy with bigotry
(though some may). My argument is (and always has been) to use the best
tool for the job. Unfortunately, those with the power equate best tool
with MS without actually knowing either (a) what they're talking about
and (b) having looked at any of the alternatives.

That said, the ones I really feel sorry for are the ones who know they
shouldn't be using MS, but carry on doing so (email me off list if you
want to know which company that is in particular)

> There's two sides to everything.  I know what one I'm one, but it helps
> to see the other.

Well, as someone who does see both sides of the coin, I can honestly say
it gets more and more depressing day by day. Last year, we spent
somewhere approaching 5000 UKP on non-MS software licences for 2
packages (Adobe Premier and Quark Express 5). While I agree at the time
there was nothing to touch Quark, Cinerella was already more stable than
Premier under XP. Now Scribus is maturing nicely (and the Quark loader
is behaving itself) there is an alternative. In one part of the school I
have managed to duplicate everything we use under Windows under Linux
but no-one will take the plunge. They won't even allow dual boot...

TTFN

Paul

-- 
One OS to fool them all
One browser to find them
One email client to bring them all
And through security holes, blind them...