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

[wanda <wanda -dot- jane -at- gmail -dot- com>]

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



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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


---
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.