I would like to make a point about the Crossover/Win4Lin etc.

It should not go unsaid...
Better to break the windows umbilical cord as soon as possible. Saw the
leg off at the ankle rather than risk losing the whole leg. 

There are some who will make every attempt to hang on to Windows stuff
and they will be disgruntled / frustrated and people will waste their
time and money trying to make Windows work on Linux.

I would prefer to think of it as make the break, soon as possible and as
cleanly as possible and move on to spending your resources on Linux and
not making Windows run on Linux.

Here's the way I handled it. I bought a Shuttle G40S and installed RH 8
on it and created a bunch of users and set it up so that each user had a
VNC Server. Then I set up Samba (or netatalk for Mac users) so that each
user could copy some files to their home directory and installed VNC
Viewer on their normal computer. I showed them how to connect to their
remote workspace using VNC viewer. This allowed them to connect to the
computer, access their same email via imap, use mozilla, use OO to open
their Word/Excel/PowerPoint documents, etc. I also installed Flash
Player & Acrobat Reader (shame on me for these two non-open source
installs) and let them use it. (I gave them each 1024x768x16M colors)

They were all impressed, found their documents and things generally
worked well. Show them the 4 desktops (how to put their word processing
in one desktop, email in another, spreadsheets in another, etc.) and
show them the 3 buttons (especially the 3rd button / auto-paste)

Craig

On Fri, 2003-01-31 at 12:10, Derek Neighbors wrote:
> I am about as ardent supporter of Free Software as there is, but I believe
> we can only overcome with full disclosure.  I think there are some
> half-truths below that may need debunking.
> 
> > OpenOffice Calc (spread sheet) reads and writes Excel spread sheets 100
> > percent. (per Others I know and respect highly)  (No doubt the Excel
> > Version Next will change this for a time till OpenOffice catches up)
> 
> The problem is that while OO has macros they are a different language than
> what Excel has, many power Excel users have existing workbooks with
> macro's and making them redo all their work is well frowned upon.
> 
> Currently the biggest drawback to OO is it doesnt support Lotus123
> commands and Microsoft does.  Almost every accountant started with 123 and
> continues to use its notation (which M$ happily accepts).
> 
> Example:
> 
> +A1+A2 is valid in Excel it is not in OO you must do
> =A1+A2
> 
> Retraining users is expensive.  Not overcomable, but expensive.  To tell
> them all their spreadsheets come over, but not inform them they have to
> relearn a product can cause problems.
> 
> > OpenOffice Writer (word processor) reads and writes MS Word (latest and
> > greatest) documents with the exception of a very few (seldom used by
> > anyone) macros. (per Others and somewhat my experience)  (No doubt the
> > MS Version Next will change this for a time till OpenOffice catches up)
> 
> It totally chokes and misalign's almost any Word document that has tables,
> borders etc... Which is a big deal as most corporations use these things
> in mass when developing forms.  (As our own Michelle can attest to) ;)
> 
> > OpenOffice Impress (presentation) reads and writes all MS Power Point
> > files. (per Others)  (No doubt the MS Version Next will change this for
> > a time till OpenOffice catches up)
> 
> As far as I can tell Impress is Impressive, it has features M$ lacks, like
> custom slideshow setups and such.  I can't speak to its import/export to
> powerpoint however.
> 
> > RedHat 8.0 Evolution (email) works well with MS Exchange. (per my
> > experience)
> 
> It is dog slow at IMAP folder reads/writes, but it pretty comparable to
> Outlook.
> 
> > There is a commercial (not free but much less $$$ than MS) equivalent
> > (Linux) to MS Exchange.  (per others)
> 
> OpenMail shows promise.
> 
> > CrossXover (Per my experience) or WINE (per others) runs the MS Office
> > Suite (4 package version, Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook) under the
> > Linux operating system very well.  If they want only these MS
> > applications, CrossXover will serve well.  MS Access is not quite there
> > yet.
> 
> Crossover and win4lin are both good ways to get people on Linux and slowly
> eliminate windows only applications.
> 
> > rDeskTop presents a Linux workstation to MS Terminal Server as if it
> > (the Linux workstation) were a MS Terminal Server Client.  (per my
> > experience) MS Terminal Server will run all MS applications (I think,
> > haven't tried them all)  If they want unrestricted access to all the MS
> > applications, rDeskTop running through MS Terminal Server should serve
> > them well tempered with what Craig mentioned (Citrix v. MS Terminal
> > Server).
> 
> Good point.  rDeskTop is very impressive in my usage with it.
> 
> > LTSP (Linux Terminal Server Project) is to the Linux OS (Terminal
> > server) what MS Terminal Client is to MS Terminal Server.  Thinclient.
> > LTSP can run OpenOffice just as MS Terminal Server Client can run Ms
> > Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint ...) via MS Terminal Server.  Haven't
> > tried CrossXover running under LTSP.
> 
> I have someone trying this now and liking it.  Server version of CrossOver
> with LTSP so accountants can use Excel.
> 
> > My current project is to see if rDeskTop will work with MS Terminal
> > Server under LSTP.  If so, there is just one more dent in the MS armor.
> 
> FWIW.  I think all your points are good and valid, but I think we must
> admit that import/export between MS Office and Open Office still has a
> ways to go.  If someone has neither, Open Office is a NO Brainer.  If
> someone has MS Office already, I would have to tell them depending on
> their current document base and interaction with other organizations, Open
> Office might be a painful transition for them, but one they really should
> make.
> 
> -Derek