On 9/20/07, rbw <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I don't quite follow... > > I understand this argument which, while real > enough, is still FUD in the long run... > "Mid-sized companies switching to free software > may incur less obvious costs. Re-training > employees and working with programmers to > customize the new software to match previously > made tweaks in Microsoft's products can add up." > > But I don't understand what is being implied in > the next sentence. Can someone clue me in on > what this means in terms of an Office Suite of apps? > "Most large companies will find these trade-offs > unacceptable. The applications do not provide > adequate archiving options to meet legal > demands, nor do they guarantee the type of > security requirements." > http://www.forbes.com/business/2007/09/19/microsoft-office-software-tech-cx_rr_0919ibm.html > (It almost looks like there was something that > was supposed to come after the word "requirements") > > Discussing "adequate archiving", "legal demands" > and especially *"guarantee"* in the same > sentence as "security requirements" in any > argument that even implies that the level that > M$ is at can't "easily" be reached seems to me > to be absurd. > > If someone has an idea of what this sentence > means I sure would appreciate being clued in ;^) > > TIA, > rbw > > > -- > [email protected] > http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list > I suspect that may be referring to the Sarbanes-Oxley or HIPPA rules, but I could be wrong. Even if I'm not wrong, the author still doesn't seem to get the fact that though Open Office may not have all the features they're talking about in one program or bundle of programs, there is almost certainly a number of other free software equivalents that could be added to get them. Yes, one stop shopping would be easier, but one of the nice things about open source is that is costs you little to nothing to experiment with a lot of different software offerings. I see this with the ATutor and Moodle systems I install in some offices for clients. I usually just install both and let the customer choose which one they like. Some prefer one over the other depending on what they're doing. In most cases, they just make a decision, move all the course content to whichever one they like best, and get rid of the one they don't want.
Robert Donovan -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
