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Re: robust software



Having been the "Director of Computing" at my institution a number of
years ago, and continuing to have input to the present director, I
realize there are good reasons why an organization would want to have
uniformity in the software products employees use.

I do not consider it draconian if an organization wants to control the
software on an employee's computer. But I consider 100% control as
unnecessary as long as we agree on a few assumptions.

(1) The company cannot support everyone's whims for specific software,
but can tolerate choice as long as it doesn't cause problems. For
example, I happen to prefer WordPerfect even though my college is a Word
shop. The college allows me to purchase WordPerfect with my own money
and install it on my office computer. If it doesn't install properly or
if it causes glitches within itself or other applications, the tech
people cannot assure me they will be able to fix the problem at all, let
alone on a timely basis. I accept this as a condition of my freedom to
install whatever software I want.

(2) The company can insist you use standard software for inter-office
work. When I write documents that have to be distributed in electronic
form, I have to get them into Word format either by drafting them in
Word or by drafting them in WordPerfect and converting them to Word.
There are sufficient glitches in the conversion that I cannot distribute
WordPerfect documents and expect others to open them with Word and have
them appear okay. Therefore I accept the responsibility of sometimes
working with Word as part of the conditions of my freedom to install
WordPerfect on my computer.

Likewise, Microsoft Outlook is the "company e-mail system." I am free
to use Eudora or anything else if I acquire it, install it, and support
it on my own. However, I cannot eliminate Outlook entirely because the
campus uses it to schedule meetings and a few other things that are
possible in the integrated office environment that the Microsoft Office
Suite provides.

Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Bluffton College
Bluffton, OH 45817
(419)-358-3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu