ubuntu-ngo team mailing list archive

[Laura Czajkowski <laura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Aloha, 

I talked to  Mark A. Hershberger during the NGO interview series and he has
coe back with some good thoughts which I thought would be good to share
here, perhaps working on them as a group, or at UDS. 

Laura 
--
http://www.lczajkowski.com
http://wiki.ubuntu.com/czajkowski
skype: lauraczajkowski


--------- Original Message --------
From: Mark A. Hershberger <>
To: Laura Czajkowski <laura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: dinda
Subject: Re: Ubuntu NGO
Date: 26/10/09 17:12

> Laura Czajkowski &lt;laura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&gt; writes:
> 
> &gt; Just thought I'd drop you all a line. Sorry it's taken me some time
I'm on
> &gt; holidays this week and taking some time away from blogs and emails.  
Rather
> &gt; than having a conversation over comments on a blog,I think it might
be more
> &gt; helpful; for you to talk talk to one another so this email is your
start.
> 
> It has taken me way too long to reply, but here I am.  I've trimmed Jeff
> from the responses
> 
> Here are the main points that I think Canonical (or any other
&amp;ldquo;Linux on
> the desktop&amp;rdquo; vendor) really needs to address:
> 
>  * Collaboration with MS Office users.
>    As much as possible Linux/Ubuntu users need to have a way that they
>    can collaborate on .doc, .xls and .ppt files with MS Office users
>    such that both will be able to make changes in the document without
>    being aware they they are using different tools.
> 
>    This is a deep problem that involves man different parts of the
>    Office stack and may be intractable.  I'd like to see an OO.org
>    effort like the &amp;ldquo;100 Paper Cuts&amp;rdquo; project.  The big
initial goal &amp;mdash;
>    provide users with an Office stack that they can use on Linux
&amp;mdash; has
>    been accomplished.  Now we need to solve all the bugs related to
>    interoperability.
> 
>    Key point: If seamless collaboration with third parties is available,
>    an organisation is more likely to adopt Ubuntu than if seamless
>    collaboration simply doesn't exist (as is the case now).
> 
>  * Management of desktops and servers.
>    Landscape seems to be an effort in this direction, but it does not
>    appear to be fully open source.  Further, anything that relies on a
>    hosted service is going to be untenable for many organisations.
> 
>    Instead, probably the first step is to provide a way to manage Ubuntu
>    Desktops via Microsoft services.  Make it easy for an admin to set
>    up user authentication off of the company's Active Directory server.
>    Make it easy for a computer to join a domain.
> 
>    All this can already be done.  Sometimes proprietary bits are needed,
>    so again, this isn't a fully open sorce solution.  A completely GPLed
>    solution would be ideal.
> 
>    Next, take a directory project like Sun's OpenDS or Fedora's 389
>    project or Apache's Directory and make it possible to use something
>    like this to replace or work with Microsoft's AD.  Integration is
>    key.
> 
>    Provide a central console running locally (not a hosted solution)
>    that will allow administrators to manage networks across the
>    corporation and across the world.
> 
>    Key point: The important thing here is to allow adminstrators (who
>    tend to be extremly conservative in their approach to technology:
&amp;ldquo;if
>    it ain't broke, don't fix it&amp;rdquo;) to easily try and adopt new
tools..  If
>    the tools have 80-90% of the capability of their old tools but also
>    add some compelling new feature (e.g. manage Ubuntu/Fedora/OS X
>    desktops as well as Windows desktops) the administrator is far more
>    likely to use them.  If this tool is available at no cost no matter
>    the size of the organisation (i.e. it is GPLed), it that much more
>    likely to be used since it won't have to go through a requisition
>    process.
> 
> I am fully aware that Canonical needs to make money to survive long
> term.  I think that producing a completely GPLed tool set does not stand
> in the way of profit.  Some organizations (e.g. small businesses, small
> NGOs) will be interested in hosted administration tools.  Others will be
> interested in consulting help.
> 
> I'm interested in any feedback you guys have &amp;mdash; especially if
there are
> efforts that I'm not aware of that would take care of the concerns I've
> raised.
> 
> -- 
> Mark A. Hershberger
> Open Source Developer
> IntraHealth International, Inc.
> mhershberger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> 

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