Re: tlug: Office suite for use under Linux

[Matt Gushee <matt@example.com>]

Karl-Max Wagner writes:

 > > The academics in Japan have not even heard of postscript; the
 > High time you tell them. Postscript is one of the most standards
 > in computing.

Telling them is one thing, making them listen is another, I'm
afraid. A couple of months ago one of the bigwigs in my university was 
visiting this far-flung rural campus. During lunch the discussion
turned toward computers, and said bigwig came up with the remarkable
statement that anyone who doesn't use MS Office has "no common
sense" (his exact words were 「常識ゼロ」). I couldn't help grimacing
at that one, but no one else seemed to think it the least bit odd.

Many of the people I work with are sophisticated computer users who
have reason to be aware of the shortcomings of Microsoft products---in 
fact, they *are* aware of them. If I could count the number of hours these guys
spend messing around with their broken MS software . . . but Windows
is "mainstream," therefore good. Standards? Windows is the
standard. End of discussion. Maybe a nicely-packaged product like
TurboLinux can become a viable alternative in Japan's academic market, but 
I'm not going to hold my breath.

Matt Gushee
Oshamanbe, Hokkaido
---------------------------------------------------------------
Next TLUG Meeting: 11 April Sat, Tokyo Station Yaesu gate 12:30
Featuring Tague Griffith of Netscape i18n talking on source code
---------------------------------------------------------------
a word from the sponsor:
TWICS - Japan's First Public-Access Internet System
www.twics.com  info@example.com  Tel:03-3351-5977  Fax:03-3353-6096