I confess ... I am a former Microsoft addict! This interesting tidbit just hit my email box. It is an excerpt from an announcement. This is how Microsoft does business. INHO, letting people know they will get free stuff is the same as paying them to attend. > See how other customers have adopted Office 2000 and witness the vast industry >support behind this exciting new version. Join in the action and attend a free launch >event in a city close to you! > > Plus, choose two of the following topics: > New Features Of Microsoft Office 2000 > Customizing Your Microsoft Office 2000 Installation > Licensing Solutions: Choosing The Right Business Solution > > -Microsoft Partner Pavilion showcasing key Microsoft Partners! > -FREE Office 2000 t-shirts as well as a goodie bag with exciting items for every >attendee! > -Chance for attendees to win other valuable software! > -See demonstrations of Microsoft Office 2000 and meet the local Microsoft staff! I see us as presenting only the 1st and 3rd paragraphs in our demo. 1) We should engage in real-world discussion about the virtues of Linux (it is NOT for everyone ... let's be candid about that when it is evident.). 2) We should give informed tours of the software packages we are most familiar with. Hopefully this would include a good variety of programs. If you think you might be a demonstrator, it would be a good idea to make certain your repetoire is fairly broad by learning a couple programs over the summer that you would not normally bother learning. Fer instance ... if you normally use Linux primarily for database work, perhaps you could spend some time learning Quake III (my understanding is that the beta was released FIRST to Linux) and a game. Gamers might want to add a wordprocessor or check-book app to their repetoire ... and so on. That way, if two or three LUG members are at a demo site it is likely that, between them, they have a pretty broad foundation for answering questions. The biggest thing we have to offer is evidence that there ARE plenty of knowledgeable people who ARE willing to assist a new person get familiar with Linux. Beyond that, showing them that Linux will do everything they need done faster (and cheaper than competing products) and with less ultimate hassle on their parts is 90% of "the show". Although others are compiling lists of recommended software to demo, I will be compiling the most exhaustive list I can of the available software. I will present it for printing in late August and those LUGs who wish can print a copy to respond to "Yeah it's fast ... but is there any good software that will run on it yet?" questions. I suspect the English language list will run a couple of thousand entries. I would appreciate it if someone from countries where English is not dominant would compile similar lists for their local language. (ie ... if Enlightenment has been ported to Klingon, then we need a list of programs written in Klingon). I would also appreciate any links to ANY pages that 1) list Linux / posix 1 programs 2) actual manufacturers web sites. Also ... if anyone has had experiences with programs under the various emulation programs, whether a program worked there or not, I would appreciate hearing about this. For instance, if you got the AOL client running under WABI or WINE, it would be good to let others know of this. I think it is worthwhile to point out to people that they do NOT have to leave all their favorite programs behind ... that a goodly number of them "travel well". Well, this is long. Please email responses to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put "software list" in the subject line. I will keep in contact with the list on this. BTW ... I have no intention of setting up a website with this list ... I think several folks are already doing pretty good jobs with that. I just want to get it *all in one spot* so it can be printed. And so I will have the biggest bookmark file on the planet :))
begin:vcard n:Canedigh;Bill tel;home:313 387 8384 -http://www.userfriendly.org/cartoons/archives/99may/19990506.html x-mozilla-html:TRUE adr:;;;;;; version:2.1 email;internet:[EMAIL PROTECTED] note;quoted-printable:The less I know, the smaller my ulcer.=0D=0A= fn:Bill Canedigh end:vcard
