Linux At My Workplace.

[MindoverMaster]

You have to learn Photoshop, you have to learn Gimp. It is just a different type of interface, with multiple windows instead of one.

You'd be amazed by how much Libre is very much similar. It has some of the same functionality.

It is your choice. Linux is choice.

 

[Jayce]

I will go ahead and play the devils advocate here.

Personally gimp vs Photoshop is the perfect example of you get what you pay for. Yes gimp has a lot of functionality for being free but it also may have the worst UI of any application I have ever used. It took me far longer to learn how to use it than Photoshop and even after all that time I still was not nearly as productive with it. That's not an issue for a home user but in a business environment time is money which can make the cost of Photoshop seem trivial compared to the lost productivity without it.

Libre office is a more viable alternative but I still don't think it has caught up to Microsoft office. One I bought a copy of Office 2010 I have had zero desire to go back to Libre office.

I guess that's where you and I are different, as I did not find Gimp difficult to use really at all. Sure, a little more cumbersome, but enough that I couldn't use it? Hardly. Especially when you factor in the Photoshop price, it's still (to me) a no brainer.

You paid a license for Microsoft Office. A license in which you were able to afford because it was... well... one license. Could you justify to the board that we need to invest 100,000 dollars of tax payer money in Microsoft licensing (including the MS educational discount) when we have a VERY viable free alternative? I wouldn't want to be in those shoes...

Like I said before, I'm not saying Libre Office is 100% to MS Office, or Gimp is 100% to Photoshop. There are pros. There are cons. To both scenarios in fact. You need to pick your battles accordingly to what works for you.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

You have to learn Photoshop, you have to learn Gimp. It is just a different type of interface, with multiple windows instead of one.

You'd be amazed by how much Libre is very much similar. It has some of the same functionality.

It is your choice. Linux is choice.

Gimp is practically the textbook example for poor interface design. In fact one of my professors did use it as an example of how you should not make an interface.

I used Libre office and open office for years before buying Microsoft office and I am well aware of what it can do. Writer is a decent enough replacement for word for general usage however I found both excel and powerpoint superior to their free alternatives.

I will go ahead and play the devils advocate here.

Personally gimp vs Photoshop is the perfect example of you get what you pay for. Yes gimp has a lot of functionality for being free but it also may have the worst UI of any application I have ever used. It took me far longer to learn how to use it than Photoshop and even after all that time I still was not nearly as productive with it. That's not an issue for a home user but in a business environment time is money which can make the cost of Photoshop seem trivial compared to the lost productivity without it.

Libre office is a more viable alternative but I still don't think it has caught up to Microsoft office. One I bought a copy of Office 2010 I have had zero desire to go back to Libre office.

I guess that's where you and I are different, as I did not find Gimp difficult to use really at all. Sure, a little more cumbersome, but enough that I couldn't use it? Hardly. Especially when you factor in the Photoshop price, it's still (to me) a no brainer.

You paid a license for Microsoft Office. A license in which you were able to afford because it was... well... one license. Could you justify to the board that we need to invest 100,000 dollars of tax payer money in Microsoft licensing (including the MS educational discount) when we have a VERY viable free alternative? I wouldn't want to be in those shoes...

Like I said before, I'm not saying Libre Office is 100% to MS Office, or Gimp is 100% to Photoshop. There are pros. There are cons. To both scenarios in fact. You need to pick your battles accordingly to what works for you.

There are more costs to switching platforms than just the license. It takes a lot of time and effort just to train all of the employees at a large organization on a single piece of new software, a new OS takes far longer. Plus the transition will force you to train them on a lot of new software while they are still trying to learn the OS. On top of that you will have to make sure all of your techs are prepared to support Linux in place of windows. Then there is always the fact that while that training is taking place no other work is getting done.

When you take all of those things into account the Linux option isn't really free either.

 

[Jayce]

You are absolutely correct. Time is money, and if time is being wasted in comparison to putting it on the desktop of users and running with it, suddenly the free option is not so free.

At my last job, we were presented with a high amount of frustration with the few people we demo'd Windows 7 with. That's when I made my argument, clean, clear, and simple. Whatever we move to, there will be change. Change is unavoidable at this point, whether it be 7, Ubuntu, whatever. Change is coming. So if change is coming... why can't we take this chance to switch?

Personally, with what our district has saved with going to Linux, there's no contest. I mean, yeah, there were bugs and a lot of research was done prior, and all of that requires time to set up and implement. But when it came down to the students grabbing these Lenovos and running with them... there really was no training. I mean, a lot of this happened before I started, but the way it was presented to me was they just took them and ran with them and used them just fine. The teachers had some crash courses so they knew what to expect, but it was no different than anything before.

That said, there's two sides of the argument when it comes down to things like that. If you're a graphic designer, every minute in the studio counts. Yeah, Gimp is going to cut you at your knees. In that scenario, probably a bad idea unless you want to spend a good chunk of your personal time at home learning Gimp so you can make the sting at work less noticeable. But that doesn't apply to all people. As I said several times before, Gimp and Libre Office as alternatives are not 100%. But they're close enough to at least consider.

I guess the bottom line is this. The situation at the district I work at will not apply to everybody. Will it apply to you? It sure may. It also might not. Time and time again I have heard the argument from Microsoft Inc. saying that Linux costs more money to use because of the training involved. Every scenario is going to be different. All I know is, this district did it and proved that is not always true. Tons of money was saved and a bright future is ahead.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

You are absolutely correct. Time is money, and if time is being wasted in comparison to putting it on the desktop of users and running with it, suddenly the free option is not so free.

At my last job, we were presented with a high amount of frustration with the few people we demo'd Windows 7 with. That's when I made my argument, clean, clear, and simple. Whatever we move to, there will be change. Change is unavoidable at this point, whether it be 7, Ubuntu, whatever. Change is coming. So if change is coming... why can't we take this chance to switch?

Personally, with what our district has saved with going to Linux, there's no contest. I mean, yeah, there were bugs and a lot of research was done prior, and all of that requires time to set up and implement. But when it came down to the students grabbing these Lenovos and running with them... there really was no training. I mean, a lot of this happened before I started, but the way it was presented to me was they just took them and ran with them and used them just fine. The teachers had some crash courses so they knew what to expect, but it was no different than anything before.

That said, there's two sides of the argument when it comes down to things like that. If you're a graphic designer, every minute in the studio counts. Yeah, Gimp is going to cut you at your knees. In that scenario, probably a bad idea unless you want to spend a good chunk of your personal time at home learning Gimp so you can make the sting at work less noticeable. But that doesn't apply to all people. As I said several times before, Gimp and Libre Office as alternatives are not 100%. But they're close enough to at least consider.

I guess the bottom line is this. The situation at the district I work at will not apply to everybody. Will it apply to you? It sure may. It also might not. Time and time again I have heard the argument from Microsoft Inc. saying that Linux costs more money to use because of the training involved. Every scenario is going to be different. All I know is, this district did it and proved that is not always true. Tons of money was saved and a bright future is ahead.

I agree what works one place will not be the right choice for another. We have had the exact opposite experience when it came to Windows 7, we have had a fair number of users actually ask us to upgrade their systems to 7 and Office 2010 ahead of schedule. We have also just started using Microsoft Lync for internal collaboration and meetings and it has been very successful. While we could get those same features through a combination of programs on Linux none of the alternatives offer the same level of integration.

I looked at the X120e and it appears you guys paid roughly the going rate for a Windows model. Does Lenovo offer an os free option for those systems or did you just get Windows models and replace them with Ubuntu?

 

[MindoverMaster]

IIRC, Lenovo does sell non-OS computers.

 

[Jayce]

I hear you about Windows 7 user responses. It can be so back and forth it's unreal. When you're talking about user preference, anything is game. So far, I've been involved in three school districts. So far, all three have one thing in common - users aren't fond of change. That's why it made sense to change things up when change was inevitable. I never quite understood that. I mean, if you were running Windows 7 at home, would you not want to have Windows 7 on your work PC? *shrug* Every user's mileage varies and will have their own opinion. But hey, that's the beauty of IT, right? Choice for all!

I looked at the X120e and it appears you guys paid roughly the going rate for a Windows model. Does Lenovo offer an os free option for those systems or did you just get Windows models and replace them with Ubuntu?

I can't offer any real answer there because these systems were purchased prior to me starting. I'm not sure if they came with Windows on them or not. I THINK there may have been some sort of educational discount (common for schools + bulk orders) but I am unsure to be honest.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Is Linux About Choice?

 

[Jayce]

Is Linux About Choice?

I LOL'd.

 

[MindoverMaster]

I just found that while using stumpleupon one day. Thought you'd like it.