Re: Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered?

Subject: Re: Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered?
From: wanda <wanda -dot- jane -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 06:38:53 -0700


In reading some of the answers to this, I realize I could answer from two different positions: personal and employee. I answered as an employee (which tells me a LOT about where my head is at these days!).

On a personal level, since I don't really have room to experiment, or even really practice my craft, at work, any experimentation would be done at home, in my unpaid hours. Frankly, these days, given a choice between experimenting with a new tech tool or process and, let's say, walking my dog.... oh, yeah, walking the dog wins! Can I take my camera? Wow! Computer is at home, cooling in the office.

I'm a bit burned out on it all. When I started in this field, I kept up on software development, hardware development, technical writing tools and methods, and my audience domains (mostly data management tools and methods). Now I leave the hardware stuff to others, concentrate on the software that I NEED, and as for my audience domain, it's daunting, I'm trying to teach myself to be a sonographer. There are no free online classes!

I have some projects that I've taken on. So, Bruce, I considered your question with those projects in mind.

Given the choice between figuring out new software and just writing my novel, I'll use the software I know, even if all I have available is notepad. Seriously.

For my personal projects, I can code content in notepad faster than I can learn new software packages. I can set up an XML document, a transformation, and pump it all out to a format that I find pleasing. I'm being lazy, in an odd sort of way, by using the tools and skills I already have rather than learning new ones.

When I learn new things, I want to evangelize, and I've nowhere to do that.

But, while I spin out the end of my visa, perhaps I SHOULD be looking at all these alternatives, learning to use them so that I can be a sharpie next spring when I'm job hunting. Frankly, that's the only thing I can come up with as a motivation for delving into the open source world (except for Thunderbird and Firefox which made it incredibly easy for me to get started).

All that said, I should heed my own sig! LOL

wanda

--
The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121 AD - 180 AD), Meditations



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References:
What about Subversion? was: Re: SharePoint Team Services for Doc Management?: From: David Neeley
Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered?: From: Bruce Byfield

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