The author of this post made one mistake many tech savvy people do. Those of us that work in the fields of information or computer technology, work with and around technology constantly. Being around technology all the time can create a false sense that some of what you know is "common knowledge." However, there is still a large portion of the masses who are computer illiterate. It sounds like Dohtery and Anderson aimed this book at complete "newbies." Thus, "simplicity" in this case is justified. While the number of people who own and operate a PC at home is relatively large, I'm betting few run a home network. In fact, many of the people I am alluding to never heard of/.;-)
For the majority of users, OpenOffice is more than adequate.
The article does not say that MS Office is an inferior product. Total cost of ownership is the bottom line here. Face the facts! The cost of using OpenOffice is far less than MS Office. This is VERY important when speaking of students whose parents/school are not upper-middleclass or rich.
Opensource solutions make a lot of sense for working-class Americans and the schools their children attend!
I would like to see more working-class schools and colleges do the same. Savings can be diverted to things like books and gym equipment!
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The author of this post made one mistake many tech savvy people do. Those of us that work in the fields of information or computer technology, work with and around technology constantly. Being around technology all the time can create a false sense that some of what you know is "common knowledge." However, there is still a large portion of the masses who are computer illiterate. It sounds like Dohtery and Anderson aimed this book at complete "newbies." Thus, "simplicity" in this case is justified. While the number of people who own and operate a PC at home is relatively large, I'm betting few run a home network. In fact, many of the people I am alluding to never heard of /. ;-)
For the majority of users, OpenOffice is more than adequate. The article does not say that MS Office is an inferior product. Total cost of ownership is the bottom line here. Face the facts! The cost of using OpenOffice is far less than MS Office. This is VERY important when speaking of students whose parents/school are not upper-middleclass or rich. Opensource solutions make a lot of sense for working-class Americans and the schools their children attend! I would like to see more working-class schools and colleges do the same. Savings can be diverted to things like books and gym equipment!