RE: Diverse Tools (was HTML editors)

["Dick Margulis" <margulis -at- mail -dot- fiam -dot- net>]

"Douglas S. Bailey (AL)" wrote:


>Which leads me to ask:  has anyone on this list refused to use a tool
>required by the employer?  

There's a middle ground between using the tool the client/employer "requires" you to use and refusing to do so (at risk of employment).

In many cases that I've encountered, the reason I am being brought in is that I know more about producing documents than the client or employer knows (rather than just filling a recently emptied slot). "MS Office is our company's desktop standard" (or the equivalent) is a neutral statement of fact, not a challenge to my ego. Often the person saying it has no idea how little it actually means. I find that by suggesting that a more specialized publishing tool might produce better results for less money, I usually get a fair hearing. If I can show that it will not disrupt anyone else's workflow or cause compatibility issues down the road, I generally get what I want. And if I don't, I go ahead and use the "required" tool, reciting the contractor's mantra, "I get paid by the hour."

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