TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Re: Spinoff: Using Linux for work? was RE: Why Tech-Writers Should Know About Open Source Technologies
Subject:Re: Spinoff: Using Linux for work? was RE: Why Tech-Writers Should Know About Open Source Technologies From:Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axion -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Thu, 15 Sep 2005 13:12:55 -0700
On Thu, 2005-09-15 at 11:56 -0700, Gene Kim-Eng wrote:
> >From my point of view, this is the big issue. The tools we use
> to create documents are just that, tools.
True, to an extent. But there's a lot to be said about knowing your
tools as well as possible.
There's also the question of where those tools come from. Just as a
responsible consumer might not want to buy a product from a company that
operates sweat shops in Asia, so a lot of people in the open source
community don't want to deal with companies that are near-monopolies and
don't meet their ethical standards.
> I've yet to see a "free"
> tool that did anything complicated that didn't end up costing more
> in employee puttering hours than it saved in price (including several
> that our IT group have implemented to "save money" because there
> wasn't budget to buy commercial ones). I'm not saying it can't be
> done. Just that so far, I haven't seen it done.
But that same cost is going to be there for a proprietary tool, too.
I should also add that neutral studies (that is, ones funded by neither
pro-proprietary or pro-open source people) suggest otherwise.
"When a person has a poor ear for music he will flat and sharp
right along without knowing it. He keeps near the tune, but is
not the tune. When a person has a poor ear for words, the result
is a literary flatting and sharping; you perceive what he is intending
to say, but you also perceive that he does not say it.'
- Mark Twain
Now Shipping -- WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word! Easily create online
Help. And online anything else. Redesigned interface with a new
project-based workflow. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Doc-To-Help 2005 converts RoboHelp files with one click. Author with Word or any HTML editor. Visit our site to see a conversion demo movie and learn more. http://www.componentone.com/TECHWRL/DocToHelp2005
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
