anyone seen or heard this before?

[Collins Richey]

On Thu, 17 Apr 2003 23:30:24 -0400
Joel Hammer <Joel at hammershome.com> wrote:

> It seems to me that linux advocates should stop worrying about what MS
> might be doing and spend their time making linux so easy and powerful
> for the average desktop user that when MS tries this sort of thing
> migration to linux would be a viable option for the average person.
> Right now, linux is nowhere near good enuf.
> 

100% right on!


> <rant>For another example of the failure of open source, the only
> office suite that has consistently worked for me is the much maligned
> (by the open source advocates) staroffice. 

Perhaps it's much maligned because there is a 99% compatible version in
OpenOffice.  Free is great when you can get it.

> Could this be that
> people who write for money worry  about keeping customers happy while
> opensource developers are more concerned with writing beautiful
> software and impressing their peers but which may or may not be usable
> by average folks?  This should send a message, but, it will likely
> fall on deaf ears. Linux advocates tend to blame stupid users, not
> stupid software.  </rant>
> 

All too true.  There's nothing wrong with software that costs money,
it's just that I find so much stuff that's absolutely free that I have
no need for much beyond open software.  About the only non-free software
I have anymore is 2 old copies of Win98 and related stuff that I use to
keep the family happy.  Unfortunate but true, M$ Word 97 is still
easier to use than OpenOffice (ever try page numbering while skipping
the first page?).  The spread sheet and graphing functions, OTOH, are
just as easy to use as Excel.

Some day, linux will be just as easy as the costly alternative.  It's
made tremendous progress just in the past year.


-- 
Collins Richey - Denver Area
gentoo stable - ext3