Outlook and Linux

[Derek Broughton]

Eric S. Johansson wrote:

> Brian Walker wrote:
>> Just a thought - spreadheets being shared? I use both M$ and Open Office
>> .... I find complete compatibility using OO 2.0. Even quite complex
>> multisheet analyses are well transferrable.
>> 
>> Not a solution to your question, just an observation
> 
> thank you.  Like I said, it's going to take a bit of forgetting before
> they will try migrating to open office 2.0.  if your suggestion on the
> Outlook integration works, that may make it possible for them to try
> again with open office. I wish they were open to experimentation and

Sounds like they're a bit _too_ open to experimentation.  For pretty well
any application, there are people who can use the OSS alternatives and
there are people who rely too much on the proprietary options to be able to
change easily.  Your customer really needed to test real-world spreadsheets
in OO more thoroughly before trying to make the transition.  If they'd
known from the start that certain spreadsheets didn't work, they could have
known whether the project would fly before upsetting people.

One fellow I know sold a client on Linux & MySQL for a database system that
involved GPS reports from numerous locations every 10 seconds or so.  It
worked fine for a few months, then broke miserably because MySQL couldn't
(at the time) handle a 4 terabyte database.  He looked bad, the customer no
longer had an application, and worse (imo) he now blames Linux for
everything and won't touch it because _he_ didn't do his research up front!

The good news is that your customer is now doing the research!
-- 
derek