Re: more on open source - my 2 cents

[chix linux <linux_chix -at- yahoo -dot- ca>]

I have to say that I agree with Andrew on these
points. 

I have spent most of my adult life working for
non-profit organizations. Open source operating
systems and applications would be ideal for these
groups who don't have the funds to purchase or upgrade
the hardware and often, software necessary to run many
commercial OSes and programs.

While attending a conference this past summer of
communicators for labour organizations, I heard a
pretty good grassroots political argument for such
organizations using open source in fulfilling
computing needs. Where the desire to use these
technologies exists, what prevents their widespread
use is often the fact that many simply don't have the
know-how to implement them.

Although I have read countless how-tos and man pages,
I have yet to see a comprehensive "de-geeked" set of
instructions which would allow the pedestrian user to
make use of these technologies. Non-profit
organizations, who, I believe, would most benefit from
open source, simply don't have access to the funding
or expertise necessary to develop their own in-house
adaptations, documentation or training.

I look at my own organization. Two years ago we
purchased Windows based computers for all of our
locations throughout the country with a view to
streamlining our communications and having everyone
on-line and able to communicate through email. To this
day I still have users call me with questions about
how to send and read attachments. This dispite the
fact that I regularly send out little tutorials and
tips on managing their computers. 

I also designed a simple little Access database to
allow the officers at each location to keep track of
their members. I wrote a full-colour, illustrated
tutorial to accompany the database and distributed it
to each location. Of the 30 locations, I can think of
only two who use the database.

If my users can't grasp the simplest concepts of
well-documented, commercial software, for which we
have, and continue to provide support, how the heck
can I expect them to tackle the maze of open source?

I see great potential for open source however, until,
as Andrew has stated, user-friendly (de-geeked, if you
will) documentation, training, and standardization are
widespread and readily available, for us open source
will continue to remain an unrealized dream.
Barbara.

Andrew said:
<snip>Thus, to make OS technologies productive for a
larger environment, the organization must invest in
their own training, support, and documentation
infrastructure. 

This is why most "I made open source work for me"
anecdotes are misleading.
They assume that everybody else possesses the EXACT
same experience, skills, and expertise as the
individual professing the value of open source. 
And for every tale of "I made it work" there are as
many, if not more tales of "I spent two days messing
around with this and gave up in frustration." 

But at a small, individual level, OS technologies can
be very productive and useful. They offer a
flexibility that closed source products often lack. 

If larger organizations are going to adopt OS
technologies, there needs to be something that bridges
the gap between the "individualism" of OS and 
the "mass market" thinking of corporations. 

Documentation, training, and standardization are the
kinds of things that can do that. That is an
opportunity itself. Something for everybody to 
consider. 

Andrew Plato 


______________________________________________________________________ 
Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 

LAST CHANCE for this steal of a deal! Purchase RoboHelp X3 by February 28
and receive $100 mail-in rebate and FREE WebHelp Merge Module ($339 value)!
RoboHelp, the Industry Standard in Help Authoring, has won over 55 industry
awards. For more information please visit: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l2.
 

"RoboHelp X3 is simply remarkable." - George Bell, Techno-Vision Systems


---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.