__/ [ amicus_curious ] on Monday 04 December 2006 14:43 \__
>
> "B Gruff" <bbgruff@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:4tijloF144s9lU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> If you read this, it looks almost as convincing as one of Erik's
>> postings:-
>>
>> http://www.crn.com/sections/vista/vista.jhtml?articleId=196513325
>>
>> .... but then if you go on to read this (written after the author had seen
>> the above) you get rather a different picture:-
>>
>> http://www.linuxtoday.com/it_management/2006120102126OPMRPB
>>
>> "So, the premise of the whole analyst report was flawed, since to me it
>> was
>> akin to a hypothetical analysis done at the end of the 19th Century, where
>> wagon maker commissioned a report that indicated that yes, indeed, a vast
>> majority of the world's population still used horse-drawn carriages.
>> Clearly, such a report would imply, this newfangled horseless carriage
>> would amount to nothing"
>>
>
> The problem that Linux faces in these situations is the lack of support and
> interest in Linux applications in most office environments. Companies that
> are interested in hiring entry level clerical personnel look for candidates
> who are facile with the commonly used desktop applications used within the
> company, which are almost always versions of Microsoft Office. Most large
> companies also have some form of Microsoft Exchange set up for intra office
> memos and calendar/tasking use and so expect the employee to be able to use
> Outlook effectively. To adequately prepare secondary school students for
> this environment, the school must offer access to these applications.
> While it is true that free software such as Open Office is perfectly
> adequate for the tasks assigned to Microsoft Office, the student cannot
> claim direct experience and is generally perceived to thus need some sort
> of training or
> extra supervision in the office. And so the candidate who cannot claim
> such experience is in a worse position relative to one who can make the
> claim and may fail to be selected for the position.
>
> Students going to universities and not joining the workforce are similarly
> faced with having to be compatible with academic administration systems
> that are Microsoft Windows dependent and so must have notebooks or desktop
> computers that can run the university's software. Open Office may be used
> effectively here, although it would still be used in a Windows setting and
> so it would not be a boon to using Linux.
>
> I think the analogy is that, regardless of whether a horseless carriage was
> superior to a horse-drawn one, the driver of the carriage still needed to
> know how to drive a horse or team of horses. I might add that this is not
> a
> simple task or easy skill to acquire. It is easier to drive a car.
I think you are missing a key point here. The 'studies' have no value. They
are bought, not truly conducted. It is nothing but brainwash, so we mustn't
assume that Indiana prefers Microsoft software.
>From the above:
,----[ Quote ]
| This is something Microsoft must know is coming, which is why it is
| trying to discredit any existing efforts to deploy Linux in schools,
| like ACCESS. Fortunately in this case, we don't have to buy what
| they are trying to sell.
`----
Also have a look at some recent examples of 'studies' and government
'reports'...
Big businesses boast of patent benefits, for small businesses
,----[ Quote ]
| A report published by an EU task force on intellectual property claims
| that small businesses benefit from a patent system, despite lacking
| almost any participation by the small business community.
|
| Instead, the report, titled IPR (intellectual property rights) for
| competitiveness and innovation, was written up almost entirely by
| large corporations and the patent industry.
|
| [...]
|
| The report does note objections from the likes of patentfrei.de and
| Sun Microsystems, which were recorded at some length in the report.
| But this does not appear to have impacted the conclusion of the
| report in any way
|
| [...]
|
| Jean-Pierre Laisne, of ObjectWeb, an open source software community,
| said that he found the report useless: participants were told that
| all their contributions would be recorded but at the end only
| those of Business Software Alliance and Microsoft were used.
`----
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/99155/big-businesses-boast-of-patent-benefits-for-small-businesses.html
MA Governor-Elect Names MS Anti-ODF Lobbyist to Technology Advisory Group
,----[ Quote ]
| That person is Brian Burke, the Microsoft Regional Director for Public
| Affairs, and if that surprises you, it surprises me as well, given the
| degree of acrimonious debate and disinformation witnessed in Massachusetts
| over the last 15 months involving the Information Technology Division's
| transition to ODF.... it is my understanding that it was Burke who led
| the lobbying effort on Beacon Hill against ODF, and also urged legislators
| to introduce the amendment intended to take away much of the ITD's
| planning power generally, and as regards standards specifically, and hand
| it to a task force made up of political appointees.... Although I'm told
| that Burke announced yesterday at the first meeting of the new working
| group that he will be participating as a private citizen rather than a
| Microsoft employee, I believe that Burke should recuse himself from
| participating in any discussions or recommendations relating to
| document format standards.
`----
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20061128161343183
Changing the Report, After the Vote
,----[ Quote ]
| That agreement was nearly imperiled last weekend, though. Gerri
| Elliott, corporate vice president at Microsoft's Worldwide Public
| Sector division, sent an e-mail message to fellow commissioners
| Friday evening saying that she "vigorously" objected to a paragraph
| in which the panel embraced and encouraged the development of open
| source software and open content projects in higher education.
`----
http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/09/01/commission
A new Microsoft-commissioned anti-Linux study debuts
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft seemingly has backed off from trumpeting its "Get the
| Facts" studies, as of late. But that doesn't mean the company has
| ceased commissioning research outfits to perform its anti-Linux dirty
| work.
|
| On September 25, Mercer Management Consulting released a new
| Microsoft-backed study. The study is entitled "Driving Lower TCO and
| Rapid ROI through UNIX Migrations." The synopsis: "Microsoft Windows
| the preferred choice for UNIX migration when IT organizations migrate
| servers as part of a focused effort to improve business processes,
| deploy critical applications or restructure their IT architecture."
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/index.php?p=12
|
|
