Re: tlug: Office suite for use under Linux

[Karl-Max Wagner <karlmax@example.com>]

>     To give you a petty example of just how reactionary, in 1990 my
>     Japanese host had a seal made for me, since I would need one for
>     official papers.  After 8 years (nearly to the day) of daily use,
>     Monbusho decided it would no longer permit me to use that seal
>     because I am a foreigner, and the seal uses kanji:  $BC88E(B -> 
>     $B%?%s!&%U%k(B -> $B%?!<%s%V%k(B -> Turnbull.
I LOVE that seal nonsense: those things are a lot easier to copy
than a signature. Every idiot with a scanner can get an
electronic version of it, have a stamp maker make as many as he
wants and cause trouble. Opens huge opportunities for the
criminally inclined.....
> No, I think there is little hope for progressive behavior from
> Tsukuba-Dai.  The faculty is certainly not averse to the current
> system; except for a few of us with special needs, the huge amount of
> money that flows to Tsukuba-Dai in return for no discernable (extra)
> production of research is more than sufficient compensation.  (And
Seems to me like a program of being sure that the next
generation is unable to cope with the requirements of the 21st
century. I fear that the long term consequences of this will be
disastrous for Japan.
> it's counter-productive, as the faculty use Macintoshes and 200MHz P6
> boxes without thought of cost, while the students have to suffer with
> bloated software on lowend notebooks.  No wonder they think computers
> cause more problems than they solve.)
If I look at the time wasted with the constant trouble fixing
required with a lot of widespread operating systems and that in
combination with (unfortunately frequent) IS departments in
companies I have to admit that computers in most cases are a
waste of time and resources. Doing things the traditional way
mostly is cheaper and faster.

The problem is that computers are only helpful if they work
reliably and if the maintainers are competent. Reliability
requires rock solit OS'es and applications, easy to use and
without unnecessary "bells and whistles" and and IS department
that knows what it does and how to do it efficiently. Only a
dream in the majority of cases.....
> I think the project proposed a few weeks ago (volunteering to set up
> servers in schools) is much more likely to have an impact.  Linux will 
> make inroads into the University; there are too many of us who are
> unwilling to bear with incompetent technical staff and bureaucratic
> restrictions.  But it will have to be  guerrilla movement without
> official support.  Many of my colleagues assume that Linux is far
> beyond them, and just don't want to hear about it.  But there are huge 
> numbers of Windows and Macs around, and the vagaries of those OSes is
> a daily staple.
Sounds like here. But with Germany most have given up hope
anyway.
> On the other hand, people _will_ be interested in their child's
> school's face to the world.  Assuming you can find schools willing to
> accept them....  But if you do, some teachers and some parents will
> show an interest, and learn from it.  High profile.
With the amount of homepages out there, who the heck will bother
to look at a homepage of an ordinary school. Just plain
boring....No, I don't think that this has much of an impact.

                                Karl-Max Wagner
                                karlmax@example.com
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