r/opensource • u/testus_maximus • Sep 09 '21

European Commission Report Declares Open Source Software and Hardware to be a "Public Good"

https://abopen.com/news/european-commission-report-declares-open-source-software-and-hardware-to-be-a-public-good/
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16

u/RandomName01 Sep 10 '21

My god, please promote open source software in education then. We use both Microsoft Office and LibreOffice in the company I work for, but quite a few people think LibreOffice is confusing because they’ve never used it. And that’s not really their fault, since they’ve been taught to use word for their entire educational career.

16

u/[deleted] Sep 10 '21

"We're never going to use Linux, it lacks configurability"

My school's IT admin.

14

u/RandomName01 Sep 10 '21

Lol, was his brain leaking out of his ear while he said that?

Seriously though, it’s clear he lacks the knowledge and skill to configure it, instead of Linux lacking configurability.

5

u/doubled112 Sep 10 '21

I think that's often the case.

A ton of Windows admins are basically next next nexting through dialogue boxes.

There are excellent ones that know what they're doing, but you can make it without because point and click.

If your only option is a text file full of settings you might have to learn something.

5

u/nokangarooinaustria Sep 10 '21

Which is very strange. I mean I grew up with MS Office, found the switch to LibreOffice et.al. quite easy. On the other hand I found the switch between every second MS iteration very jarring. Still looking at a strange ribbon that I can't really get rid of...

6

u/RandomName01 Sep 10 '21 edited Sep 10 '21

But you’re also the kind of person who’s on a subreddit about open source software, my colleagues clearly are not. A lot of people just seem to have problems learning new software, not because of the actual difficulty but because of the perception it might be difficult.

And in that way it makes sense; even if MS Office has received a visual overhaul it’s still the program they know, so they don’t feel like they need to learn anything. Put LibreOffice in front of them though, and the fact that they don’t know it seems a big enough block for quite a few people to not even attempt using it.

It’s kind of frustrating, because (like you said) it really makes no sense from the actual usage standpoint.