RE: [edlug] Adoption of Open Source.

["Bob Kerr" <robertnkerr@xxx.xxx.xxx>]

One of the best ways to talk to IT managers is to ask the Personel 
Department or Human resources department to give out the Software like 
OpenOffice to the users for their home computers. This allows the users to 
test the software and get over the initial reluctance. It also allows the 
users to understand that they can copy the software and give it to their 
friends. The Personel Department like this because they are giving stuff to 
people. IT managers like it because it doesn't cost anything to set up a 
testing environment and training is done before deployment. CIO's and CEO's 
like it because it doesn't cost very much.

Just my pennies worth

Cheers

Bob


> From: "John Sadler" <jms1@xxx.xxx.xxx>
> To: "Ed LUG" <edlug@xxx.xxx.xxx>
> Subject: [edlug] Adoption of Open Source.
> Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 21:13:36 -0000
>
> Talking to one IT manager about converting to open source he said the 
> problem was not that it would be advantageous to him.
>
> The problem is most staff are so used to Microsoft that they automatically 
> do things the Microsoft way and use the idiosyncratic short cuts they have 
> learnt.
> So when presented with a slightly different interface without their 
> favourite short cuts they were decidedly unhappy.
> So the problem is not the performance of open source software, but the 
> money and time lost in getting staff to use the software.
>
> It would seem if the open source software want to break Microsoft dominance 
> they are going to have to produce clones in appearance and operation (as 
> far as the user is concerned.)
>
> You can bet your bottom dollar that anybody who distributes a Microsoft 
> clone will be perused by the United States in the free world.
>
> So that is the catch 22

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