OpenOffice.org 2.2 released [LWN.net]

OpenOffice.org 2.2 released

Posted Mar 29, 2007 22:09 UTC (Thu) by drag (subscriber, #31333)
In reply to: OpenOffice.org 2.2 released by mikov
Parent article: OpenOffice.org 2.2 released

Well if you want to get people to migrate you mentioned one of the big problems was that you couldn't answer people's questions about stuff.

Of course that means if you want to do the migration then just learn how to use the software first.

Then just make it aviable to everybody, and updated. It's getting better as time goes by.

The time will come when you'll have to do major upgrades and buy new machines and such and then people will have to find justifications for the cost of upgrading MS Office and hopefully at that point they just won't have any real justifications.

For other applications like Firefox and Thunderbird it's already pretty easy, they are both superior to IE and Outlook by a wide margin, provided your not stuck with a IE-only intranet or exchange server you have to deal with.

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OpenOffice.org 2.2 released

Posted Mar 29, 2007 23:14 UTC (Thu) by mikov (subscriber, #33179) [Link]

Well if you want to get people to migrate you mentioned one of the big problems was that you couldn't answer people's questions about stuff.
Of course that means if you want to do the migration then just learn how to use the software first.

I hope you are not serious :-) I have exactly zero, strike that, negative interest in learning in detail how to master OpenOffice, not to mentiion MSOffice. I already know how to use them enough for my casual needs, but development is what I do, not office work. I could never, for example, explain to people how to migrate their VisualBasic macros to OpenOffice. I hear it is a task that is far from trivial. I would gladly teach people how to use GCC, though.

I mean, I love free software and all, but it is not my primary mission in life to help other people discover it with the expense of my job.

Let's be realistic here. If moving to OO.o requires the sacrifice of a Linux engineer, who has to become an office application expert, so he can then help and constantly support the other users, it simply ain't gonna happen. And sadly, it didn't.

OTOH, when OO.o gets close to 100% compatibility, I am sure we will be able to switch without much hassle. It is already pretty close.

OpenOffice.org 2.2 released

Posted Mar 30, 2007 6:44 UTC (Fri) by drag (subscriber, #31333) [Link]

_Somebody_ has to know how it works. Be realistic about what your saying here.

It's just about the same thing as going (on a much reduced scale for MS Office to OO.org conversion) to some Windows-only programming shop, ripping out all their Windows servers and Visual basic and replacing it all with Eclipse or Vim or whatever you prefer and walking away.

That's absolutely batshit insane and it would never work.
But I don't feel (and I doubt you feel like this either) that a Linux-based workstation is a much inferior solution for programming/development platform then a Windows desktop.

Generally how this works is that if your going to introduce new applications or desktops into a workplace that you have at least one guy present that knows enough about it that they can perform what duties that application needs to be used for.

Then that one person sets up a training date, maybe a evening or two, were you take the more tech-savy people from a few different departments are trained in how to use it.

Then you send them back and put those people in charge of answering questions on how to deal with that. And if any more advanced questions pop up then you (or whoever) can figure out how to deal with them.

And, seriously, how many folks in your place need help with VB scripts in OO.org?

Also you buy documentation, books, whatever for the application and make sure that people know were to find them.

I've worked in a community college were I had to help out with tech support for a few months. I'd have to wander around and help students (and teachers) out. We'd had to deal with migrating from OS 9 to OS X for a lot of people. Had to deal with going from quark express to indesign. Going from Mac-based desktops for 2d design to show people some about Windows so they can use the 3d workstations. STuff like that.

The biggest problems we faced on a regular basis was that the Windows file servers performed so poorly that the IT people had to keep changing stuff around in a effort to improve performance. And that would cause changes in how the people using the Macs found their network shares and such.

It's quite a bit different in acorporate environment, but I expect the fundamentals are the same.

OO.org tries to keep very closely with MS Office so it's not _that_ different, but I know it's differnet enough to cause some little problems.

So in summary.
1. Get _somebody_ familar enough with the application so that they know how to use it well enough to get the job done.
2. Have a training date were you have select more tech-ish savy people go over the differences and such.
3. Send them back to their workmates so that they have somebody that can intercept easy questions.
4. Do printouts and provide books and other documentation (internet links, for example) so people are able to find out stuff for themselves.

I figure that for a small and medium sized business that isn't terribly well integrated into Windows structure (as in they aren't depending on AD + Office + Exchange + etc etc for business workflow) to migrate successfully to OO.org.

It'd take somebody's weekend, and then a evening's worth of overtime for a half a dozen people for the training session.

Now I bet you can get buy with much less, but this approach I feel will provide a much higher likelihood of success.

OpenOffice.org 2.2 released

Posted Mar 30, 2007 6:49 UTC (Fri) by drag (subscriber, #31333) [Link]

Oh, and a lot of that is psychological. Its setting up a more formal proccess so people are more mentially prepared for chantges.

Also having paticular workmates 'put in charge', means they will make extra effort to make sure that they know what is going on. Ideally you pick people that take pride in having a slightly higher amount of authority. That sort of personality. It's a small thing, but it probably helps.

OpenOffice.org 2.2 released

Posted Mar 30, 2007 16:32 UTC (Fri) by mikov (subscriber, #33179) [Link]

You are right, of course. I agree with everything you said.

The problem is that in our case there is nobody who knows OO.o really well. The people who are using it - developers like me - are not really experts.

For us there is no pressing business or usability need to switch to OO.o at this time, and nobody is really excited about investing time to learn in detail how to use an office product (be it free or not). I foolishly thought that we can just transition without any real effort. Of course it didn't work. Significant real effort will be needed. The trick is to find good justification for it, and so far I am unable to.

I am currently considering another experiment - using Ubuntu desktop with CrossOver office. Not company wide, of course. Hopefully the user can feel comfortable enough with his familiar apps, so that Linux itself will not be so scary. Then, in a while, it will be a small step to transition to OpenOffice.

The motivation for Linux is obvious - security. Plus, most Windows users I know are more or less annoyed with the Windows desktop - e.g. how you can't do anything for several minutes after the desktop has been displayed. I show them how KDE is fully usable once it finishes loading and see the envy in their eyes :-)