Re: [school-discuss] FW: OpenOffice in education

[ian <ian.lynch2@ntlworld.com>]

On Fri, 2004-02-27 at 19:04, Tom Adelstein wrote:
> cdmiller@adams.edu wrote:
> 
> > <snip>
> > Thanks for clearing that up Tom.  I think the main issue is that in 
> > education, real value comes from the FLOSS nature of OO.  Education is 
> > going to be more open to solutions that are, well, more open.  I think 
> > SUN should concentrate big SO incentives for business and government 
> > sectors, while supporting OO penetration into education.  Sure some 
> > school business programs and school administrations will opt for SO 
> > over MS Office or OO, but for many education uses SO and MSO are 
> > overkill, while OO is good enough and "free".
> >
> > - cameron
> 
> Cameron, I respect your opinion, but it makes no sense to me. More open? 
> Overkill?
> 
> Neither of those concepts apply here. The opportunity for educators to 
> obtain a quality product like Star Office versus MS Office doesn't 
> negate the Open Source roots of the former product.  The products use 
> the same code base and SO is far more polished. You'll also find 
> educational templates available for SO. The So for kids site offers 
> better educational materials. Also:
> 
> If my child brings Star Office home and I see it and go for it, then the 
> community seems served. Getting Open Office from my child just says that 
> I can get an inferior product for free, also.
> 
> Open Office has lots of positives and extends the availablity beyond the 
> few platforms and localities of SO. But for the US and Western Europe, 
> Sun obviously would prefer SO disseminated via the educational community.
> 
> Of course if you prefer to support Microsoft, that's another matter.

I think he prefers to support Free software. The original post you made
queried why people in education use OO.o instead of SO. I think the
replies demonstrate a number of possibilites. What Sun prefers is fine
for Sun and Sun is very important in the context of OO.o, but not the
only contributor.  Choosing to use OO.o instead of SO is a perfectly
valid thing for schools in the USA and Western Europe to do. As the
Education Lead for OO.o I have an interest, but I do also respect Sun's
position. Choice is good, monopolies are bad.

Regards
-- 
ian <ian.lynch2@ntlworld.com>