[luau] Thinktech Hawaii and Linux/Unix

[Tom Donahoe]

On 2/17/03 12:54 PM, "maddog" <maddog at heavymetalradio.net> wrote:

> I take all of your coments in stride. I read them all and they are well
> thought out. Gary had a great comment about being an outspoken advocate,
> that is not always the best approach when you are trying to get people to do
> something they don't like to do, namely change. Microsoft owns the desktop
> market and yes Open Office and the other open source Office Suites have come
> a long way. When sharing calendars and calendaring in general , and sending
> meeting requests can equal what Microsoft has done with Exchange and Outlook
> then I think Open Source will have a chance. Another thing that is quirky in
> Open Office is the Document translation. Now I could go on and on about this
> subject but I choose not too and I choose to listen to you folks and ask you
> to help me understand the power behind Open Source.
I think Maddog makes some good, useful comments here in approaching this
group. Change is a scary thing for anyone in any industry. (Although,
Maddog, if you think the rate of change in business is slow, change in
education is glacial by comparison.) Even when the benefits are clearly
spelled out, people can still be reluctant to change. It reminds of
something I saw recently: How many people does it take to change a light
bulb? Four. One to change the light bulb, the other three to stand around
reminiscing about the old light bulb. :-) You're gonna encounter a lot of
folks who want to stick with the old (burned out) light bulb, folks...even
when they can plainly see that the change benefits them although, once they
see how they benefit personally, it will be easier. (Personally is the key
word. Never mind the business or the organization, if it is easier or
benefits them personally, it will be easier to win them over.) Just some
thoughts on change.

Aloha
Tom Donahoe