City of Munich Struggling With Basic Linux Functionality 394
jones_supa writes: Just like the city planned a year ago, Munich is still calling for a switch back to Windows from LiMux, their Ubuntu derivative. The councilors from Munich's conservative CSU party have called the operating system installed on their laptops "cumbersome to use" and "of very limited use." The letter from the two senior members of the city's IT committee (PDF in German) asks the mayor to consider removing the Linux-based OS and to install Windows and Office. "There are no programs for text editing, Skype, Office etc. installed and that prevents normal use," the letter argues. Another complaint from councilors is that "the lack of user permissions makes them of limited use." These kind of arguments raise eyebrows, as all that functionality is certainly found on Linux.
Idiocy. (Score:5, Insightful)
This is computer neophytes telling IT how things work.
Like the pigs running the farm. Like the inmates running the asylum.
Like councillors up to their ears in that Microsoft bribe money.
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Because the purpose of the end users is to serve the needs of the I.T. department, and not the other way around.
Re:Idiocy. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Idiocy. (Score:5, Insightful)
There is no way to met the requirement when they change all the time because some porn/gabling/toy software/site will not install/work properly.
All the 'basic functionally' they claim to need are will know to be found in ubuntu and other distributions. These peoples are lazy liars, or corrupted liars that want microsoft money.
Re:Idiocy. (Score:5, Insightful)
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No, it's good security. Users do not need to have admin privileges so they can install every piece of crapware on a machine which isn't theirs or, if it is, poses a security risk to everyone else on the network.
Locking users down is good IT policy and fortunately, where I work, it is followed. You need something installed, put in a ticket with a justification. You don't need War and Peace, just a blurb on how the software relates to your job.
If you can't do that, you don't need it and most certainly do no
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You need something installed, put in a ticket with a justification. You don't need War and Peace, just a blurb on how the software relates to your job.
If you can't do that, you don't need it and most certainly do not need to be able software at will.
Wow. That sounds great. But... how do you reconcile that with an IT dept (in the story) that apparently doesn't know how to install a text editor in Linux?
I mean, forget running Windows-only shit in a VM, a fucking text editor. In Linux.
(Or a place I used to do training, which locked training machines (Windows) to a saved state... but with all the autoupdates left on. Every time you booted up the training machines, they started trying to install hundreds of updates for every single piece of software. Which
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And after you've wasted enough time writing those tickets and waiting for answers, you just say "screw it" and use whatever tools are at hand, whether they're a good fit or not. Because if you don't get your job done, you'll get fired. And so we end up with Exc
Re: Idiocy. (Score:5, Informative)
Have you ever in your life met an actual end user? What you're asking for is beyond the vast majority of end users. Further, most of them if told explicitly, "You will be responsible for bad things that happen on your computer as a result of your actions," will balk and refuse to accept that claiming that's IT's job (which is true: It is.)
They want all the power and none of the responsibility. Indeed, the user is the problem, but the user is not capable of understanding the problem they cause. It's far more complex than any of them have any interest in learning. They rely on IT to manage systems and keep them running. The way that IT does that is by configuring a platform that meets their needs and locking it down so they can't screw it up.
Re: Idiocy. (Score:3)
because the end users are incapable of understanding that the consequences of their poor decisions extended to much further than the own tools and software that they installed. Security violations of their own personal phone or device, because of a BYOD policy, can impact the entire environment. There are both security and legal consequences of this type of negligence.
one self-important executive who doesn't think the rules do not apply to them, or that they are somehow smarter than security, can bring dow
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A friend once told me about a place where they decided it would be the user's responsibility if bad things happened, like viruses and malware. The company provided anti-virus software, but of course it wasn't bullet proof and they told their staff to be careful.
One day my friend tried to send someone working there a PDF as an attachment via email. A while later she got an email back saying that the staff there don't open attachments any more (too risky) so please fax it through. They faxed her an annotated
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Are you saying that you don't use a standard set of tools to do your job? That everytime you go to a new site you have to install something new, that will never ever be used again and then uninstall it at the end of the job?
Honestly I find that really hard to understand. I get it that it may be the first time you go to a job you don't have a particular thing installed, but the 2nd, 3rd, 4th time? Or are you never going to repeat customers?
Finally if it is the case that your machine requires admin access
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Re:Idiocy. (Score:5, Insightful)
This has been a process that has been ongoing since the earliest days of general use computers.
I recall when my office moved from Wordperfect 5 to the first Windows version pf MS-Word. It was a fucking nightmare. Despite the obvious advantages WYSIWYG, there were months worth of bitching and moaning, and a few people who pretty much convinced management to let them keep using Wordperfect in a DOS window.
What it turns out people needed was training. Even a two or three sessions to familiarize people with the interface, and they had at least the rudiments down. I think some of the older staff never got it fully, but as Wordperfect faded into oblivion, they either made do as best they could.
The complaints being reported here suggest that where Munich has fallen down is in training. People literally have no idea how to use their computers.
Re: Idiocy. (Score:2)
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The complaints being reported here suggest that where Munich has fallen down is in training. People literally have no idea how to use their computers.
The people writing this complaint are from the CSU. That is our equivalent of the worst part of the republican party. In ideology and stupidity. They don't want to understand how to use their computers, because computers are witchcraft.
Re:Idiocy. (Score:5, Insightful)
Years ago in a previous life I built/reinstalled some computers for customers. We used to install Open Office because most people thought it was part of Windows and couldn't comprehend that Microsoft wanted charge them hundreds of pounds for software that their work/school/mate's dodgy warez copy provided on every other PC they had ever used.
People were still confused and complained, until we started renaming the program shortcuts to Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Just the icons on the start menu, nothing else.
Re: Idiocy. (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem in Munich is the same I have seen everywhere I have seen Linux introduced
The workers use their laptops for personal stuff besides work.
Often employees get Admin rights as part of their work requirements and installing games and other personal stuff like GPS software or specific hardware drivers is common.
All of that is fine and dandy on Windows because people is mostly familiar with Windows and any one can click next-next-next.
Often the IT department has to deal with their system cock-ups and continuous malware infestations. "Uuuh I dunno it broke"
When you give a Linux computer to people 99% of the time it is a work tool, and obviously the workers are not happy that they can not use their new flashy free laptop paid by the council with public money for personal use.
And that is all there is to the story.
Re:Idiocy. (Score:5, Insightful)
I just wanted to toss this in here, my wife doesn't know the difference between the words "internet" and "web browser," but she has no trouble at all using Skype on linux. If you don't know what is under the hood, it is all the same; you click the icon, the application opens, and then the buttons are from the application not the OS.
She knows we're not using windows, but she doesn't know what that means; but she can still use it exactly the same. And if she plugs in a USB drive from work, opens LibreOffice, works on a spreadsheet... and calls it "excel," it doesn't matter and it still works!
This is how it is supposed to be. Users who are not blacksmiths should not worry about the metal used for their plow, but instead they should worry if it can indeed plow the fields they have.
Re:Idiocy. (Score:4, Interesting)
My office is completely based on Linux and all the people working there use their machines for basic word processing and internet type activities. When someone new starts they get a little shocked by the login screen not being windows, and after asking where the internet button is and being shown the firefox button they are pretty much away.
None of them have any idea what is happening under the hood and they simply don't care. After a few weeks someone will show them virtual desktops and it will be a whole round of amazement. I've even given linux to my mother in law and she has been happy (as much as it is physically possible for her to be happy of course :P)
Re:Idiocy. (Score:5, Insightful)
If the IT department for Munich either failed to train users how to use their equipment (like how to find a simple GUI text editor like Mousepad) or failed to install such software it's not the users' faults that they're upset. I use vi, but I don't expect Bärbel to get escape-shift-colon-w-filename-enter to save her file, or to understand the differences between CR-LF and UNIX-style file structures.
I also wonder how good of a job they did keeping the users' workstations up-to-date. That's a huge problem in IT even on systems that were designed from the outset for it.
Re:Idiocy. (Score:4, Informative)
Computer neophytes are the reason that the IT department exists in the first place. IT's sole role is support.
Wrong. IT's role is to make things work. Support is part of that, but it's not the whole job. Congratulations, you don't understand IT. You must be ready to be a CEO!
I don't care if it's a $200 netbook or a $200,000 iSeries financial server, computers are a means, not an end.
That's right. Very good. But the users are not absolved of responsibility.
IT's job is to enable work. It's not to hold hands, except where necessary. But workers who need their hands held can be replaced... except in government where it's difficult to fire even those people who clearly deserve it.
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'cause where I work, technology isn't the end, it's merely a means. A very important, very expensive, very prominent means, but if another better means beyond technology-as-we-know-it came along they'd drop the IT department like a bad penny.
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So, what about making things work isn't support, at least in the context of making things work for a company whose primary mission isn't itself doing IT work for the rest of the world?
What we're really talking about here is training. I'll bet all that equivilent stuff of what they want is installed on the computers, but that's easy. Even putting icons on the desktop and telling the users which icon corresponds to what use they want. However, actual training in how to use those programs beyond open, save, close, is usually batted around from department to department as it requires trainers with specialized knowledge, lots of time to hand hold users, and usually at odd hours as the users s
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But workers who need their hands held can be replaced... except in government where it's difficult to fire even those people who clearly deserve it.
Wrong. But like in any other workplace, workers can only be fired by their boss, not by mere coworkers. And the boss, in this case, is the citizens of Munich, and they make their hiring & firing decision on election day. Make sure these 2 councilmembers' ineptitude (or worse: bribability) is well-known so that the "boss" can make an informed decision the next time he is called to make one.
In the meantime, if these councilmembers let their laptop "age there unused", maybe they can be put to better use e
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No. IT needs to make sure the end users have the technology resources available to do their jobs, and to some degree, help users resolve unusual events in their computing environment. When the same user calls every single morning asking for a password reset, you don't blame IT - Their manager has a "Come to Jesus" chat, that they need to either catch on or move on.
IT doesn't exist to teach people basic computer skills,
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Re:Idiocy. + Kickbacks (Score:2)
Who got the kickbacks for recommending this?
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This is computer neophytes telling IT how things work.
Like the pigs running the farm. Like the inmates running the asylum.
Like councillors up to their ears in that Microsoft bribe money.
I really doubt you need to bribe "conservatives" for them to know to hate that lefty "free public infrastructure" software and support The Established For-Profit Company.
Re:Idiocy. (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, keep insulting the people telling you that Linux just might have a problem or two. That'll surely convince them of the error of their ways.
Re: Idiocy. (Score:4, Insightful)
The summary is a bit off. They are complaining that users cannot install these applications on their own, not that they do not exist.
Which would also be puzzling, as in any normal corporate setup users can't install software on their own Windows machines either.
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They can buy their own machines, software, and add-ins if they need it. Not one of them is too poor to do so. Instead, this is all about politicking because there's not a shred of fact in the letter sent.
Takes all of about two minutes to show how to use the Linux payload. And if Skype isn't on the approved software payload.... maybe there's a reason for that.
My opinion of the Munich complainers reverses what I thought about the project overall; someone didn't take the time to see this one coming, and that's
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No environment I've ever been in gives the general users access to install software.
Everywhere I've worked I have been an admin of my computer. At most of the jobs, I could install the OS myself if I chose to do so. No, I'm not on the desktop or server teams. Yes, one of the companies was very big - 100 billion dollars big.
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No where I've worked (till I became IT) let me install software on my computer, or be an admin. I could use the software provided in very specific ways, or I would get it trouble.
It's far more common from what I've read on the net to have Windows locked down in a managed deployment at midsize and larger companies. Most companies don't have the allocated resources to have IT be the inside equivalent of the Geek Squad. Maybe where you've worked did.
What's more interesting to me is that most Linux software (if
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It depends on the environment. If it's a company that primarily has expert users by definition (for instance, a software development house), then users typically have admin rights. I'm in videogame development, and typically *every* user in the company has full admin rights - that means programmers, artists, game designers, sound designers, writers, QA, management, etc. A whitelist policy simply wouldn't be practical, because tools change all the time.
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You must work for the same company I do. We have a huge group known as Engineering that does not fall under IT that absolutely does need to use such tools. Typical IT arrogance.
No, it's not IT arrogance, it's a generalization... Generalizations by their nature have exceptions to the rule.
The vast majority of users in a company that are not in IT do not need Wireshark or network analysis tools. However, there are companies that produce, engineer, and /or support electronics, software, etc. where these tools might come in handy to verify that the product is working correctly. Obviously, those users would be an exception to the rule.
With the move towards corporate web based applic
Re: Idiocy. (Score:5, Interesting)
Right, because if the company is an exception (makes electronics, is an engineering firm, has a real engineering department, etc) then the employee who needs that access isn't an exception, and those tools are already allowed.
There seems to be a lot of handwaving asserting that "IT" is exclusively synonymous with BOFH, but it just isn't so. The BOFH is the exception, and most companies have people with rather complete knowledge of the business' practices creating the list of what software is needed.
And anything actually needed that is mistakenly excluded will quickly get approved, because a project manager is allowed to talk directly to an IT manager. The reason that it requires "good luck" to "claim you're an exception" is that in this scenario, you're asking for something your own supervisor already looked at and reminded you that you don't need it, and you're trying to get special approval. Or, you asked your supervisor and they decided to smack you with the general policy and deny that they could get an approval in order to passive-aggressively get you to stop asking for things.
My experience as an admin tells me, workers outside of software development needs a special thing installed. Developers have unrestricted workstations, but will require constant admin attention to set up servers, and having dev-ops specialists will really improve this. Generally, even trained developers will not ask for the combination of technologies that meets the existing security requirements; they will ask for whatever the default (or personal preference) setup is, instead of the slightly harder way of doing things that is more secure.
Outside of developers, if the project managers aren't asking for it to be approved for the whole team, then it isn't needed by any of them and somebody just wants to Be Exceptional. And if they're asking for controls to be removed, they should probably be audited to see if they're actually working at work, or gambling/watching pr0n.
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I work for a large-ish state.gov. Somebody asks for a piece of software and makes a reasonable case as to why they need it to do work (or at least how it would help them work more effectively), and they get the exception. That's assuming the software isn't malware, privacy violating, pirated, etc. Default policy with exceptions granted on a per-case basis works just fine.
That's not to say there aren't complaints. No, your fish screensaver (that chews CPU all day long and may or may not actually be minin
Re:Idiocy. (Score:4, Funny)
Tell the old dogs (Score:3, Insightful)
that they simply have to learn a new trick. Switching back to Windows because some old geezer can't find the right icon is ridiculous.
Or a few well-labeled icons on the desktop (Score:2)
It sounds like the problems they are having could have been avoided with a few well-labeled icons on the desktop.
If you expect people to hunt through a menu and find Chrome, some will have trouble. I've found that more often than not, of you give people a a few clear options, such as desktop icons for "Internet" and "Documents", most people can handle that. MOST of the time when people have trouble using a system, the UI can be improved to make it much more intuitive.
Re:Tell the old dogs (Score:5, Insightful)
My wife has no idea she is using Arch Linux and KDE in the main on her laptop. It just works. She browses the web, Facebook and dodgy Flash games, YouTube etc etc, emails via our corp Exchange (I own the company), and so on. Printing just works as does the webcam, bluetooth, touchpad and all the rest.
I replaced the laptop with another in about 60 mins after cloning the old HD to the new one, most of that was spent getting the discs out into a cloner. I had to fiddle with one driver (Broadcom WiFi bollocks).
I update it via ssh every now and then and suggest a reboot eventually when she fancies it. I have locked the widgets and embiggened some of them so they are always where they should be and easy to find.
No computer OS is just plain sailing, Windows, Linux, *BSD, OSX or whatever. They all have sharp edges somewhere.
Re:Tell the old dogs (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Tell the old dogs (Score:4, Informative)
Absolute horseshit!
Linux is not difficult to use; especially if someone else - like an administrator - installs and configures it for you.
People are not born with knowledge of any OS; whether it be Windows, IOS, OS/2, or whatever. Point and click is how we use most modern operating systems, and learning the program menu and what icons to click on is trivial. Most people can be taught this in under an hour. (left click =action; right click=options. Double-click to run. It isn't exactly rocket science.) One must assume that employees were given a training session before/during/after the migration.
If a user wants to run a program such as Skype, for example, and still does not know how to use the mouse to double-click on the little Skype icon (exactly the same as in Windows), then they have no business even using a computer in the first place.
"...is so difficult to use its market share is a mere rounding error."
Really? You have proof, I assume. Do tell.
Re:Tell the old dogs (Score:4, Informative)
>> Linux market share is a mere rounding error
It's at 1.7% as of last year. Compared to Windows' 85.5% share (about 50x more), the author's quip about Linux market share being a rounding error is correct.
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.... [phoronix.com]
(Several other similar studies are also mentioned.)
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Not as ridiculous as switching an entire government entity to a hobbyist OS that is so difficult to use its market share is a mere rounding error.
Yeah, they should have given them Window 8. They'd have been totally used to using that, and wouldn't have had any problems.
Ha-ha-ha.
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That's correct. You'll need to install additional packages for that functionality
We don't no stinkin' planning department... (Score:5, Insightful)
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It is for us \. geeks. That's the fun of it.
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Slackware rocks! Cheers!
Translations (Score:5, Insightful)
The councilors from Munich's conservative CSU party have called the operating system installed on their laptops "cumbersome to use" and "of very limited use.
Translation: We don't want to be bothered learning anything new and it doesn't have solitaire on it.
"There are no programs for text editing, Skype, Office etc. installed and that prevents normal use,"
Translation: We have no idea what we are talking about, can't be bothered to ask any questions and only want to use what we are already familiar with.
Another complaint from councilors is that "the lack of user permissions makes them of limited use."
Translation: We want to be able to download whatever malware infested screensaver or porn we feel like.
Re:Translations (Score:5, Insightful)
"There are no programs for text editing, Skype, Office etc. installed and that prevents normal use,"
Translation: We have no idea what we are talking about, can't be bothered to ask any questions and only want to use what we are already familiar with.
Wrong translation. This should be: "those that install the systems have no idea what they're doing", as such software should be pre-installed on any system and be ready for use. Of course I'm taking the complaint at face value here, and the complaint is that standard productivity software has not been pre-installed. To ease transition, they may even consider using the default Windows icon for Word on the OpenOffice/LibreOffice launcher and so. Skype has a Linux version so that's even more of a no-brainer, it should be pre-installed or made dead easy to install if licensing prevents pre-installing it.
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Re: Translations (Score:5, Insightful)
As far as I remember, their transition strategy started with deploying OpenOffice and Firefox on all Windows machines and making them the default, then removing MS Office a few months later, then switching the OS a year later while keeping most applications the same.
IOW it is almost impossible that the users didn't have a word processor available or know how to use it, or even if it was the case, thus wasn't as a result of the OS change.
Not having Skype may be due to policy (which would apply regardless of OS), in favour of other privacy-respecting IM platform.
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Not having Skype may be due to policy (which would apply regardless of OS), in favour of other privacy-respecting IM platform.
On one hand the German government is very angry about all the NSA spying on their officials. Microsoft is *very* clear that Skype has hooks for the NSA (thank you, fellows). And yet the German officials can't get enough of their Skype.
Blame the Germans for electing these idiots.
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The software probably is pre-installed and they don't know it because they skipped the training sessions that were offered and didn't even read the memo that listed the linux equivalent and showed which icons to click.
If I had a dollar for every time someone emailed me to tell me that email wasn't working, I could have retired even sooner.
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Of course I'm taking the complaint at face value here, and the complaint is that standard productivity software has not been pre-installed.
From googling, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] is about the software they have. Down around Linux-Client section, it said that the OS is actually Ubuntu 12.04 which has OpenOffice, gedit (text editor with GUI), Firefox (Internet Browser), etc., installed by DEFAULT (these software come with the OS). However Skype must be installed manually.
To ease transition, they may even consider using the default Windows icon for Word on the OpenOffice/LibreOffice launcher and so. ...
Are you kidding me? Anyway, I am not sure if they (OpenOffice) could actual use MS Office icon in their software. It could easily be an IP issue. Besides would you want
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Translation: "Linux is free" often does not factor in real-world retraining and retooling costs.
Want to push OpenOffice / Linux as cheaper alternatives? Wonderful. Just dont pretend that theyre actually free when it comes to use in a business, especially with folks used to a different system.
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All systems require support.
No one is saying that installing Linux means that you do not have to pay for any of the standard costs associated with a system.
And remember that the opposition NEEDS to find a cause to champion that is contrary to the current system. Otherwise they aren't the opposition.
Whether or not their complaints are valid is irrelevant. That's how politics works.
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Translation: "Linux is free" often does not factor in real-world retraining and retooling costs.
Want to push OpenOffice / Linux as cheaper alternatives? Wonderful. Just dont pretend that theyre actually free when it comes to use in a business, especially with folks used to a different system.
Sure, it costs a bit to train somebody to use Unix and LibreOffice. Of course, that training is basically permanent, because the IT administration can keep them on the same user interfaces forever. Contrast this to MSOffice and Windows, whose shitty and random UI rollercoasters (Ribbon & Metro being the prime offenders) have probably cost the world tens of millions of dollars in retraining.
Normal people have no way to know that (Score:5, Insightful)
Normal people don't know what applications are or how to install them. They click blindly, like newborn infants, until Microsoft Word appears, and then they express whatever it is in them that drove them to this extreme. Outlook is a gateway into a magical world of 576,442 unread emails and 500,333 unsent drafts. The "fix it" button on the front of the machine usually works, but sometimes doesn't. Their grandson tells them to stop hitting that button, but he's into voodoo and something called Mimecraft, so what does he know?
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I am sad to say my coworkers outlook boxes are just like that. They are amazed I have zero unread emails and like 4 emails in my inbox. Then I expand the folders to reveal hundreds of folders with 500 MB from just the last six months.
The thing is I just file things when I am done with them for future referencing. I can find things quickly just by knowing where to look. The seem arch box only helps if you have lots of details and time to go through the false positives.
How are the configured? (Score:3, Insightful)
Beautiful Theory (Score:2, Insightful)
The people of Munich are obviously wrong, and need to be replaced.
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That's *GNU/Munich*, you insensitive clod!
Are they running Windows 8? (Score:5, Funny)
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"Windows Key" then begin typing the name of the application you are looking for. Seems pretty straightforward to me.
Re:Are they running Windows 8? (Score:5, Insightful)
because hitting the windows key and typing out what you want to do is just so cumbersome.
Hint: there's a reason it's called a GRAPHICAL User Interface. If I wanted to have to type commands, I'd use a real shell.
Microsoft added that crap when Search was the New Shiny, and everything had to have Search to compete with Google.
Then they added a tablet interface when the iPad was the New Shiny, and everything had to support touchscreens to compete with Apple.
Maybe they should just try building a good desktop OS with a GRAPHICAL User Interface.
Easy solution: (Score:2)
Every public servant are free to BUY and INSTALL himself Windows, Office and whatever program he will think it better suits his needs. :-)
(Software privacy will be punished)
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Where I wrote "privacy", please read "piracy".
But given the present status quo on Windows 10, the present phrase will fits too. =P
Dear Slashdot editors (Score:4, Insightful)
Examine the headline: "City of Munich Struggling With Basic Linux Functionality". Without any sort of clarifying modifier to "City of Munich", one is liable to take this to mean a significant portion of the populace (millions of people), when in fact the subject aforementioned is really a small group of sabre-rattlers.
"There are no programs for text editing" (Score:5, Funny)
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Don't forget Pico. I know it is an abomination, but it is a text editor.
what!? (Score:2)
"There are no programs for text editing, Skype, Office etc. installed and that prevents normal use,"
LibreOffice is available from the Ubuntu package manager. Skype is also available for Linux. There're also a plethora of text editors available for Linux, including but not limited to emacs, vi, nano and Sublime Sheeeesh!!!!
Maybe they should hire qualified Linux experts (Score:2)
instead of trying to do it on the cheap.
Yes, that's exactly what I said.
You save the money on the license fees, not the support cost.
Re:Maybe they should hire qualified Linux experts (Score:4, Insightful)
wtf? (Score:5, Insightful)
Unter anderem können keinerlei Programme
(Textbearbeitungsprogramme, Skype, Office, etc.) selbst nach installiert werden, welches
einen normalen Gebrauch verhindert
no text processing? no skype? wtf? LiMux must be the worst distro ever.
or it could be that this is the worst fud ever.
Re:wtf? (Score:4, Interesting)
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Mod parent up, this is about having the system locked-down so that the end user cannot configure the system as they would like to.
They complain about usability, incompatibility and that the system is locked down.
They then ask to install Windows, Office and increase the user privileges.
Note that these complaints are not from normal employees but elected city representatives (don't know the right translation for Stadträt). These are probably new users that have to get used to the new environment.
There is some Background ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Going to Linux was a big politcal thing (pushed by a social democratic administration) in Munich, being thoroughly planned project for over 10 years. Goal: reduce license costs, increase independence. Losing Munich to a self hosting project did cost Microsoft a lot, including prestige. They are very committed to see it fail. ...
Now, they recently moved their German HQ from rural Munich into the center (read: into central Munichs tax borders). And they have unleashed all lobbying power they could get hold on.
These two Politicians from the letter are from the CSU, that is Bavarias quasi-monarchistic conservative big-industry corruption-laden redneck shithead party, that is in lead of whole Bavaria - except Munich, which means, they are in opposition.
Now, review that case again
The real problem (Score:2)
The main problem those conservative (CSU) guys have are the security precautions. They asked for admin access. With Windows, they won't get that either. Secondly, they are in the pocket of MS.
Microsoft Shills At Work (Score:2, Insightful)
This is originating from Microsoft shills or inept IT admins. Either way, It's bullshit.
Linux is great! (Score:2)
Re:ORLY? (Score:4, Informative)
I was curious...
If you open the PDF and to to properties it says:
Producer: OpenOffice.org 3.2
Creator: Writer
Now that is a very old version of OpenOffice... and most linux distros have switched to LibreOffice at this point. Does seem like they could use an update...
Re: Don't light your torches just yet... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Why would anyone roll out any technology... (Score:4, Insightful)
They didn't.
This is users complaining about change, not about poorly planned / executed change.
You always get these types, regardless of the type of change ( upgrade, change of vendors etc.), because they don't care about business objectives or anyone /anything besides "what they are used to", regardless of the effort that was put in to prepare them for the change.
Re: (Score:3)