Re: General advice beyond Org

[Alan E. Davis]

I failed to mention in my previous message that the powers that be in the
underfunded district where I worked were fully on board with the
proprietary tools that they had been given in colleges and high schools.
After a few years, I held a workshop and several teachers were able to
install Ubuntu, some of whom may be working with GNU/Linux today.

Alan

On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 9:19 AM, Alan E. Davis <lngndvs@gmail.com> wrote:

> I worked as a teacher in a school in a third world context, where the
> district was severely underfunded.  I held out as much as I could.  I had
> to use proprietary systems, eventually, to report attendance and grades, so
> I installed Virtual Box.  It was a long and hard battle: printer drivers
> were not up to snuff; networking was difficult compared to the M$
> approach.  Back in the day---I started using GNU/Linux in the pre-1.0
> kernel days---many things did not work smoothly, but the Linux
> Documentation Project was a breath of fresh air, and a beam of light
> enlightened the scene.  (As an aside, I note with misgivings that the LDP
> is not well maintained---but I am partially responsible for this, because I
> didn't work on documentation as perhaps I ought to have.  Then again, the
> state of the "Linux Desktop" is such that other supports are available and
> many of the hands on configuration and administration tasks are either
> automatic or much simpler and more intuitive.).
>
> I would suggest, in your context, that you do not have to abandon free
> software, nor, I sense, are you advised to refuse to use the infrastructure
> that has been given.  I use emacs for much, I really like org-mode a lot
> and even thought I am not able to take advantage of many of the more
> sophisticated tools of org-mode.  You may find, like many before you, that
> the tools of free and open source software many streamline your workflow,
> and give you an edge, even while you are using the ordained tools for your
> specific disciplinary work.  When people see that the free and open tools
> work for you, gradually you may make inroads, and not at the expense of
> your career.
>
> I believe this approach has been behind much of the achieved success of
> Free and Open Source software and operating systems.
>
> I am rooting for you.
>
> Alan Davis
>
>
> On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 8:31 AM, <tomas@tuxteam.de> wrote:
>
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>> On Fri, May 18, 2018 at 08:50:32AM -0500, Kevin Buchs wrote:
>> > As a student, you simply need to go along with your supervisor's
>> > recommendations. You are not in a position to dictate the terms.
>>
>> Nobody talks about dictating anything. Some supervisors are more
>> enlightened than other, so trying to talk to them doesn't seem
>> wrong.
>>
>> >                                                            Using the
>> > proprietary tools will not hurt you, unless you need to buy your own.
>>
>> With that I disagree strongly: free is not primarily about price
>> (more so in the OP's case, as he stated clearly). Reducing "free"
>> to price totally misses the point, IMO.
>>
>> [...]
>>
>> > So, you need to adjust your attitude. It may be that you are presenting
>> the
>> > issue of principles - I prefer free, you prefer proprietary, but that is
>> > not really the true issue. Maybe you don't know the proprietary tools
>> and
>> > don't want to learn them or feel you can't learn them. Choice of tools
>> you
>> > use is no reason to switch graduate programs.
>>
>> This whole paragraph comes across as somewhat... condescending.
>>
>> > This is entirely a matter of getting along with other people, not being
>> > selfish, etc. These are life skills we are talking about.
>>
>> Definitely. And part of this getting along is trying to negotiate
>> what matters to oneself and to others. I do agree that an intransigent
>> attitude isn't helpful, but Edgar didn't show something like that.
>>
>> Fostering free software is exactly about "not being selfish".
>>
>> Cheers
>> - -- tomás
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>
>
> --
> [Fill in the blanks]
>
> The use of corrupt manipulations and blatant rhetorical ploys ...---
> outright lying, flagwaving, personal attacks, setting up phony
> alternatives, misdirection, jargon-mongering, evading key issues, feigning
> disinterested objectivity, willful misunderstanding of other points of
> view---suggests that ... lacks both credibility and evidence.
>
>              ---- Edward Tufte (in context of making presentations)
>
>
>



-- 
[Fill in the blanks]

The use of corrupt manipulations and blatant rhetorical ploys ...---
outright lying, flagwaving, personal attacks, setting up phony
alternatives, misdirection, jargon-mongering, evading key issues, feigning
disinterested objectivity, willful misunderstanding of other points of
view---suggests that ... lacks both credibility and evidence.

             ---- Edward Tufte (in context of making presentations)