I'm pretty sure that most of you would refuse an email correspondence based on proprietary formats, e.g. MS-Word attachments. Some would even go to the point of deleting or bouncing such messages or reply in tune with RMS's 'We Can Put an End to Word Attachments' campaign : http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html.
But what if your professional career, and eventually your life, should depend on it? What if you are going to apply for a wonderful job, a job dealing with installing and maintaining Linux boxes, and the potential employer demand that the whole correspondence be managed in stupid word files?
What if you are desperate and willing to compromise, you fire your shiny FOSS word processor and the file won't even load properly?
So? What to do? Borrowing somebody's PC? Dual boot? Give up?
I have started asking questions.
On Mon, 08 May 2006 20:23:50 +0200, "Ottavio Caruso" said:
Dears Sirs,
I am interested in applying for your vacancy COMPUTER TECHNICIAN/REF.[blah...]. You require that I download a document in ms-word format, then manipulate it and send it back to you by email. Unfortunately I have problems opening this document on my computer that runs a version of Linux.
In Abiword, it looks all messed up and garbled. I'm sure I can find some trick to reformat it but then most likely it won't display properly on your computers.
The only solution would be for me to borrow somebody else's PC, however I feel this is a diminution of my Linux skills, which are one of the requisites you ask for this job.
A better solution would have been rich text format or html, which are more portable than MS-Word.
I'd be glad if I had your opinion about it, so that I know if there is a work around or if I had better give up.
Yours sincerely
Ottavio Caruso
No answers expected, none received
Ottavio Caruso
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Hi all, (my first post @discussion)
Ottavio Caruso ha scritto:
I'm pretty sure that most of you would refuse an email correspondence based on proprietary formats, e.g. MS-Word attachments. Some would even go to the point of deleting or bouncing such messages or reply in tune with RMS's 'We Can Put an End to Word Attachments' campaign : http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html.
But what if your professional career, and eventually your life, should depend on it?
It sounds a little bit too extreme to me
What if you are going to apply for a wonderful job, a job dealing with installing and maintaining Linux boxes, and the potential employer demand that the whole correspondence be managed in stupid word files?
BTW, i would say this is not a good job offer: would you accept to enter a company/organization/whatever which pretends to heal lung cancer and at the same time asks to the employees to promote cigarettes/tabacco? (i guess that to same extent this could also could make sense...but this would be another discussion ;) )
What if you are desperate and willing to compromise, you fire your shiny FOSS word processor and the file won't even load properly?
So? What to do? Borrowing somebody's PC? Dual boot? Give up?
mhmh if you really really realize this is the chanche you have been waiting for all of your life, then the answer will come by itself (or maybe you won't even see that there's a question). If you think this job-opportunity has some strange/dark side then the answer will come by itself either.
On Mon, 08 May 2006 20:23:50 +0200, "Ottavio Caruso" said:
Dears Sirs,
I am interested in applying for your vacancy COMPUTER TECHNICIAN/REF.[blah...]. You require that I download a document in ms-word format, then manipulate it and send it back to you by email. Unfortunately I have problems opening this document on my computer that runs a version of Linux.
In Abiword, it looks all messed up and garbled. I'm sure I can find some trick to reformat it but then most likely it won't display properly on your computers.
The only solution would be for me to borrow somebody else's PC, however I feel this is a diminution of my Linux skills, which are one of the requisites you ask for this job.
A better solution would have been rich text format or html, which are more portable than MS-Word.
I'd be glad if I had your opinion about it, so that I know if there is a work around or if I had better give up.
Yours sincerely
Ottavio Caruso
No answers expected, none received
mhmh just one day it seems to me to be a too little time for saying that. Of course keep trying asking them information and explanation (i got answer from a University office, after 3 weeks spent sending mails to them every forth day)
Ottavio Caruso
greetings, Giacomo
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At Tue, 09 May 2006 20:33:40 +0200, Ottavio Caruso wrote:
I'm pretty sure that most of you would refuse an email correspondence based on proprietary formats, e.g. MS-Word attachments. Some would even go to the point of deleting or bouncing such messages or reply in tune with RMS's 'We Can Put an End to Word Attachments' campaign : http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html.
But what if your professional career, and eventually your life, should depend on it? What if you are going to apply for a wonderful job, a job dealing with installing and maintaining Linux boxes, and the potential employer demand that the whole correspondence be managed in stupid word files?
What if you are desperate and willing to compromise, you fire your shiny FOSS word processor and the file won't even load properly?
It depends a lot on the situation. It's a personal question you've to answer. What I usually do it add the good and the bad things, and see whether it's a net positive or negative. E.g. if your current job is administrating shitty windows machines and you could get this job administrating GNU/Linux machines, how does it make the world a better place when you refuse to open that word document?
Remember that RMS also developed GNU on a proprietary Unix system. That's because the goal of creating a Free operating system was more important for him than avoiding the temporary use of non-free software. You've to decide what your own goals and trade-offs are.
By the way, did you try to open it with OpenOffice.org? I think its import filters are a bit better than that of Abiword. Also ODF got accepted as ISO standard last week, so if you recommend people to change to other formats, than tell them to change to ODF and explain that's an international open standard etc.
Jeroen Dekkers
"Ottavio Caruso" pr0f3ss0r1492@yahoo.com asked:
But what if your professional career, and eventually your life, should depend on it?
Firstly, I'm not just a professional. I do not work with GNU/Linux only because I am paid to do so. I would do (and have done) so unpaid. I hope to be an artisan more than a professional. I'd rather give up a job than do it badly. If you are only a professional, your answer may be different.
Secondly, my life wouldn't depend on it. I can do (and have done) other things to get money.
So, bearing those in mind: I'd see if they're willing to stop being silly and run the recruitment process appropriately for the job that they're trying to fill.
What if you are going to apply for a wonderful job, a job dealing with installing and maintaining Linux boxes, and the potential employer demand that the whole correspondence be managed in stupid word files?
If the employer insists on that, it's probably not a wonderful job.
Hope that helps,