RE: tlug: What's wrong with Microsoft?

[Jim Schweizer <schweiz@example.com>]

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tlug note from Jim Schweizer <schweiz@example.com>
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Hi all,

On 18-Jun-97 Philip Jarvis wrote:
>Jim Schweizer wrote:
>> ps Pointcast (and my scanner) are the only things keeping me
>> tied to Windoze - I really should work on the scanner...

>Are these really the ONLY things keeping you tied to Microsoft?!

In a word, Yes. I don't have nor need Word, and I don't do
spreadsheets so why would I need Excel?

It wouldn't be fair for me to say that I don't use and
appreciate software which runs on the MS platform. However, the
packages I'm most likely to use come from Adobe or Corel not
Microsoft. So, for that I could go out and buy a Mac (there are
a lot of people in Okayama who want me to do that, too.)

Also, we're talking about my home office not someone else's
office. At home I'm spending my off hours learning Perl and
regular expressions, studying UNIX security and soon will embark
on my first foray into the hardware side of networking. For none
of these do I need MS. 

That said, I'm not a 'Gate is the anti-Christ' kind of guy. I
like to poke fun at Microsoft especially to my brother who is a
certified Microsoft everything, but that doesn't mean I don't
respect what he's been able to accomplish. I do, however deplore
many of the marketing tactics MS uses, and God help us if they
ever become a media provider.

>What ARE people using for a word processor?  

Years ago I taught Wordstar to secretaries in Maine. What I see
most people using word processors for today could probably still
be done the same way we did it then. Unless you're talking about
a professional secretary (do they exist in Japan?) most of the
functions of Word are never used. 


>I'm asking these questions in all seriousness.  

It's a good question, and one that the Linux community will have
to address if it ever wants to attain world dominance.

Regards,

Jim S.
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