Re: [school-discuss] [Fwd: (LOSS, Mr Doug) Britannica Technical Support [No Ticket]]

[Cameron Miller <cdmiller@adams.edu>]

If there is a non-proprietary project of encyclopedia software created 
via the port, ala mozilla and openoffice.org, then it could be a good 
thing.  But if they simply want to stick with only a proprietary 
product, they will get no help from me, and probably no help from many 
other folks.

If their new product is in Java, it should work cross platform anyway.

Strange that it would take them till 2003 to implement new software to 
display and search their encyclopedia data.  I would think updating and 
correcting the encyclopedia contents itself would be the real time consumer.

- cameron

Bruno Coudoin wrote:
> I am sorry, but I don't see why the free software community should help
> porting proprietary software to Linux.
> You will port this app for them and then you still have to pay them to
> get it. Later if they decide that's a too small market they will stop
> their support and we will have nothing at all.
> 
> For sure won't spent a second helping them.
> 
> Bruno.
> 
> 
> Le mar 28/05/2002 à 15:40, Doug Loss a écrit :
> 
>>I just received this from Britannica Technical Support.  From the sound of it,
>>if we can generate sufficient requests for a Linux version of the Britannica
>>software they'd be interested in having our help in doing a conversion.  We
>>should think about a campaign to have people request such a version.
>>
>>CD Technical Support wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Dear Britannica Customer,
>>>
>>>The Development Team Leader has responded to us regarding your enquiries in
>>>the following way.
>>>
>>>He advised us that at this time there is insufficient demand for a Unix or
>>>Linux conversion of the Britannica software but that should this change in
>>>the future that they would be very interested in working with your group to
>>>develop the converted product.
>>>
>>>In the mean time he has advised us that although the version of Britannica
>>>(2003) that they are currently working on is only being developed for PC and
>>>MAC it will be a Java based application and they feel that it will require
>>>very little work to get this new program to function under Linux.
>>>
>>>If you require further assistance with this then please do not hesitate to
>>>contact us on 0906 751 0101 (calls to this number are charged at 75p per
>>>minute) or 0044 117 976 0260 for customers outside the UK.  The solution to
>>>problems can also be found on the Britannica Technical Support website
>>>(http://cdsupport.britannica.co.uk).
>>>
>>>Kind regards
>>>
>>>Britannica Technical Support
>>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Doug Loss
>>>To: support@britannica.co.uk; enquiries@britannica.co.uk
>>>Cc: schoolforge-discuss@schoolforge.net
>>>Sent: 26/04/2002 19:17
>>>Subject: Linux support for Britannica
>>>
>>>I represent Schoolforge, a coalition of over 70 organizations from
>>>around the world dedicated to fostering the use of Linux and other open
>>>resources in educational settings.  I'm not sure that either tech
>>>support or customer service is the right place for me to send this
>>>message; if there's someone better positioned to address the points I'll
>>>
>>>raise here, please forward this to that person.  Thank you.
>>>
>>>Many of the schools we deal with are interested in installing Linux in
>>>their schools, for many varying reasons.  One of the concerns we
>>>regularly hear about is the ability to use the educational software
>>>they're familiar with.  Some schools have gone so far as to say, "If
>>>Britannica won't run, we can't use Linux."  We plan to test the ability
>>>to run your Windows software on Linux via WINE (a compatibility
>>>program), but we think having a native Linux version would be much more
>>>desireable.  Since you've already ported the encyclopaedia to the Mac
>>>OS, this would seem like a fairly straightforward thing to do.  We would
>>>
>>>be interested in assisting in developing such a Linux port in any way
>>>you'd like, even up to doing the port for you ourselves.  We haven't
>>>allocated any resources toward that yet, of course, but if you're
>>>interested in this please contact us and let's see what we can do for
>>>each other!
>>>
>>>--
>>>Doug Loss                 All I want is a warm bed
>>>Data Network Coordinator  and a kind word and
>>>Bloomsburg University     unlimited power.
>>>dloss@bloomu.edu                Ashleigh Brilliant
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>--
>>Doug Loss                 All I want is a warm bed
>>Data Network Coordinator  and a kind word and
>>Bloomsburg University     unlimited power.
>>dloss@bloomu.edu                Ashleigh Brilliant
>>
>>
>>
> 
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-- 
- cameron miller
- UNIX Systems Administrator
- cdmiller@adams.edu