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

[Paul]

Hi,

> > Which was my argument.
> 
> Sorry but your argument, given above, was "using anything not from MS
> would give companies an advantage as they would be more productive".  If
> you phrased that poorly then fine, otherwise...

It was poorly phrased.

> I'm saying that "How productive a piece of software will be to a company
> is not measured by whether it says `Microsoft' on the packet".  IOW,
> program A may be the most productive of the alternatives for customer X
> even though it's by Microsoft.

In this case, it's the right tool for the job. I can fully understand
people using the VisualStudio IDE as it's really good, pretty much
stable and simple to pick up. It's downfall are the very strange things
MS believe are in the language standards ;-) I cannot understand though
companies choosing (say) MS Office over OpenOffice 1.1 or Premier over
Cinerella or Excel over something like SuperCalc (when it was around).

> You're saying that the mere fact it comes from Microsoft means it
> automatically cannot be the most productive alternative for customer X.

It depends on what customer X is trying to do. If a company was involved
in video editting, I would never recommend that they went anywhere near
the Windows arena, but use something like Avid on a Mac.

> Clearly false.  And talking to customers, your employer, or me on this
> list, with that attitude will make you views be discounted as a bigot:
> 
>     A person who regards his own faith and views in matters of religion
>     as unquestionably right, and any belief or opinion opposed to or
>     differing from them as unreasonable or wicked. In an extended sense,
>     a person who is intolerant of opinions which conflict with his own,
>     as in politics or morals; one obstinately and blindly devoted to his
>     own church, party, belief, or opinion.

Anyone like that in either the first or second part is not right. For
anything to go forward, the developer/person/whatever has to take into
account the needs of others or at least make it viable for others to
follow suit. If someone goes forward blindly they tend to hit a lot of
brickwalls, fall down holes or break windows (<groan> ;-p)

> Bigots can be useful in society, but a more softly-softly approach may
> work better in many situations.

I totally agree Ralph. Totally - as long as the bigottery is moderated
with a touch of sense or the desire to listen to an alternative (even if
it is discounted almost instantly). Someone who stands up and says
"such-n-such OS is the best OS in the world without exception" without
ever even so much as trying another OS either needs re-educating or if
they won't listen, ignoring.

Unfortunately, in HE and FE those at the top fall into the catagory of
"if it ain't MS or Windows, it's no good"

Before you say, yes, I know that I've said "if it ain't MS or Windows",
but I know of PHBs in some NW colleges who despite seeing the MS logo
when they boot up Win don't link the two as one coming from the other!!!

Anyhoo, it's lunchtime, then time for something productive... cooking
cakes with my son :-)

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...