[oclug] MS Office on Linux

[Mahtew Kurviaa]

I believe that in order for Linux to be a serious competition to Windoze for 
non-technical people, we have to have WINE working for all the applications 
that are used by the same people on their windows desktop PLUS we need a 
desktop AND a window manager has to be something like qvwm and more, such 
that it clones the windows desktop to a large extent and the user is not 
able to see that they are not using windows. People might be willing to 
forgive a slower double-click, which is said to be a characteristic of X (by 
the creators of qvwm), but requiring them to memorize a myriad of commands 
that need to be typed in is just asking too much for the average person, 
such as a HR recruiter or a manager (people who are promoted according to 
level of ignorance). AND since Windows (Word and Powerpoint in particular)  
is what is currently what they are familiar with, we need to provide them 
with an exact replacement of everything on Windows with the linux kernel at 
the core.  The HR department is said to the one of the first (in the 
corporate north american history) departments that was computerized but the 
technical prowess of  the personnel is so weak, that they don't really know 
what to do with all the features that are available in their systems. One of 
the requirements for being in HR would be to understand psychology since 
they are the ones who are required to evaluate the 'fitness' of the 
prospective employee as well as the people who are consulted when there is a 
problem with an employee or when people have to be laid off. Therefore 
people who are specialized in psychology would simply prefer to have to have 
their thoughts transmitted to the computer and have the computer act as 
'genie' for them. The closest to this in the beginning of the 21st century 
is a double-click GUI.

M$ feels that WINE is a serious threat for them, and since Corel was 
contributing so much to the project, tthis was one of the things that they 
had in mind when they stepped in with the result that now Corel doesn't do 
that any more.
Mathew

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