Office

Monday morning is a good time to open the office. At least in a software sense :-)

As a pre-requisite, I hope we have all moved to using the following set: Firefox/IE, JZip, Thunderbird & Lightning, VLC and Infra Recorder... and Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player. And de-installed all of the other software for these areas.
( Take a back-up before you remove something.)

Exception: Need to keep any specific software for some reason? Please let Richa know what and why today EOD.
Done: Moved to all of these, and removed the others? Please let Richa know: send her an email with the subject line: "Office-ready".

Now, install Open Office (2.4/2.3), either from the local access (Dhiraj/Rakesh ; Richa; Nitin Kale/Vineet Jolly) ... or from www.OpenOffice.org

Installation Steps:

1. Run the setup for the application.
2. After reading the licensing of the application, accept.
3. Enter your information (User name: Your full name; Organisation: IBEXI, installation for anyone who uses the computer); then select the “Complete” tab for the setup type for installing all the features included in the application.
4. Select all the file types for making open office as our default application. This will help in migrating any MS doc to open office. But you will still be able to open the documents with MS-Office with a right-click on Windows Explorer.
5. Install.
   

When running the application for the first time, select the second option to register later; go ahead and run open office.

Important comments

1. Try using Open Office; you do not have to do everything it - yet. Use it as a reader and for simple documents. Aim to get familiar with its usage.
2. There are some differences in features & ways to do things; we will explain these to you. Got a question? Leave it on ibexi.wikispaces.com.
   
3. We will send you notes on settings that will help usage.
4. We will also send you templates that will simplify and standardise documents.
5. Do NOT send documents to others as Open Document formats; always save as .doc, .xls, .ppt before sending to anyone in IBEXI or elsewhere.

And a big thanks to the many people who helped and are helping on Open Office migration:

• Dhiraj
• Vinod
• Anirban
• Ashish Gupta
• Rakesh Kumar
• Pashupati ... yes, he's a convert!
  

Regards,
Surajit Basu

www.ibexi.com
Reflecting on the future

"Be the change you want to see"
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Surajit Basu wrote: Hi all,

We should all have moved to using the following set:
Firefox/IE, JZip, Thunderbird & Lightning, VLC and Infra Recorder.

Hope you are comfortable with using these by now.
If you are using other software for these areas instead, please stop using them now.
It is time to move out of them, with the following approved exceptions: Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player (not recommended, but you can use for now).

This weekend, you should de-install all of the other software for these areas.
( Check the list you have sent to Richa. Identify the offending software. Take a back-up before you remove the software. Use Add/Remove Progam from the Windows Control Panel to remove the other software).
Need to keep any specific software for some reason? Please let Richa know what and why by tomorrow EOD.

We will set-up a process to verify that there is "No IBEXIAN left behind" :-) on these.

Then, we will take the next step ( common personal computing: email, documents and media.).
I hope there will be nobody missing so far, and we will go ahead with the next step: documents

So, get ready for a new look in the office...

--
Regards,
Surajit Basu

www.ibexi.com
Reflecting on the future

"Be the change you want to see"
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
 

Review 2

Hi all,

We should all have moved to using the following set:
Firefox/IE, JZip, Thunderbird & Lightning, VLC and Infra Recorder.

Hope you are comfortable with using these by now.
If you are using other software for these areas instead, please stop using them now.
It is time to move out of them, with the following approved exceptions: Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player (not recommended, but you can use for now).

This weekend, you should de-install all of the other software for these areas.
( Check the list you have sent to Richa. Identify the offending software. Take a back-up before you remove the software. Use Add/Remove Progam from the Windows Control Panel to remove the other software).
Need to keep any specific software for some reason? Please let Richa know what and why by tomorrow EOD.

We will set-up a process to verify that there is "No IBEXIAN left behind" :-) on these.

Then, we will take the next step ( common personal computing: email, documents and media.).
I hope there will be nobody missing so far, and we will go ahead with the next step: documents

So, get ready for a new look in the office...

--
Regards,
Surajit Basu

www.ibexi.com
Reflecting on the future

"Be the change you want to see"
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

It's time to ...

Hi !

Hope most of you have now moved to using Firefox, JZip, Thunderbird & Lightning, RSS subscriptions for the Open Source blog, and the Wiki.
( Not yet? Don't be the last to move.)

But all this is largely text, and there is much more. Audio and Video, of course.

After all, it's the weekend, time to party, time to move to a Open Source media player and a burner.

• The chosen media player is VLC Media player. It can play MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 / DivX , DVDs, VCDs, and Audio CDs, and several types of network stream: RTP/UDP Unicast, RTP/UDP, Multicast, HTTP, RTSP, MMS, etc. Get it from the local network (Dhiraj/Rakesh/Richa/Nitin Kale) or from www.videolan.org
• InfraRecorder is a free open-source CD/DVD burning solution for Microsoft Windows. It offers a wide range of powerful features; all through an easy to use application interface and Windows Explorer integration. Get it from the local network (Dhiraj/Rakesh/Richa/Nitin Kale) or from www.infrarecorder.sourceforge.net

Naturally, the change champion for this is the party animal: Sathya!
His read-me is attached: VLC and Infra recorder.doc
Contact him for any help.

So, let's join him and have some fun with Open Source.

--
Regards,
Surajit Basu

www.ibexi.com
Reflecting on the future

"Be the change you want to see"
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Wiki

So you have heard of the Wikipedia.

What is Wiki? A wiki is a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language.Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. The collaborative encyclopedia, Wikipedia, is one of the best-known wikis. Wikis are used in business to provide intranets and Knowledge Management systems.

Like many simple concepts, "open editing" has some profound and subtle effects on Wiki usage. Allowing everyday users to create and edit any page in a Web site is exciting in that it encourages democratic use of the Web and promotes content composition by nontechnical users.

Here is our Wiki on Open source: http://ibexi.wikispaces.com/

Feel free to join in .. and contribute your ideas, suggestions and problems and solutions.

--
Regards,
Surajit Basu

www.ibexi.com
Reflecting on the future

"Be the change you want to see"
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Email-calendar

Okay, so all backed up and ready to move?
Yes, it's time to swoop: Thunderbird.

Mozilla Thunderbird 2 is reloaded and more powerful than ever. It’s now even easier to organize, secure and customize your mail. Read on.

• Your Mail, Your Way: Thunderbird allows you to customize your email to suit your specific needs whether it’s how you search and find messages or listening to music right out of your inbox. Thunderbird 2 allows you to easily set up message templates to save you time. It also offers Advanced Folder Views, a variety of ways for you to organize and display your folders, whether by favorites, recently viewed or folders containing unread messages. You can also set up RSS (remember that?) and newsgroups. It also allows you to maximize your message view pane by opting for a folder drop down menu instead of the traditional sidebar.

• Message Tagging: It allows you to “tag” messages with descriptors such as “To Do” or “Done” or even create your own tags that are specific to your needs. Tags can be combined with saved searches and mail views to make it easier to organize email.

• Improved Search: It features a find as you type pane that speeds up searches within displayed messages. Thunderbird also offers quick search, which starts showing search results as soon as you start typing in search terms. Thunderbird 2 saves you time by allowing you to store common searches as a folder. Rerunning the search is just a matter of clicking on the saved search folder in the folder pane.

• Secure and Protect Your Mail: Mozilla has bolstered Thunderbird’s acclaimed security and privacy measures to ensure that your communications and identity remain safe. With Phishing Protection, Thunderbird protects you from email scams which try to trick users into handing over personal and confidential information by indicating when a message is a potential phishing attempt. As a second line of defence, Thunderbird warns you when you click on a link which appears to be taking you to a different Web site than the one indicated by the URL in the message.

• Cutting Out the Junk: Mozilla has updated Thunderbird’s popular junk mail folders to stay ahead of spam. Each email you receive passes through Thunderbird's leading-edge junk mail filters. Each time you mark messages as spam, Thunderbird “learns” and improves its filtering so you can spend more time reading the mail that matters. Thunderbird can also use your mail provider's spam filters to keep junk mail out of your inbox.

• Open Source, More Secure: At the heart of Thunderbird is an open source development process driven by thousands of passionate, experienced developers and security experts spread all over the world. The openness and active community of experts helps to ensure these products are more secure and updated quickly.

• Automated Update: Thunderbird’s update system checks to see if you’re running the latest version, and notifies you when a security update is available. These security updates are small, giving you only what you need and making the security update quick to download and install.

• Outfit Your Inbox: Thunderbird users can increase Thunderbird’s functionality and appearance using hundreds of add-ons. A Thunderbird add-on can let you manage contacts, place voice over IP calls, listen to music, and keep track of birthdays all from your inbox. You can even change the appearance of Thunderbird to suit your tastes.

And among these outfits, we are choosing - for now:

• The Lightning Calendar extension is tightly integrated with Thunderbird, allowing it to easily perform email-related calendaring tasks. Manage your tasks, appointments, and meetings - irrespective of what email software others use!
  
• The British English dictionary: For those who are fussy about using the Queen's English.

---

So, what are you waiting for?

Where can I download the software?
To download Thunderbird, go to http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/
For Lightning, go to http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/lightning/download.html
For the dictionary, go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/3366
Or contact Rakesh Kumar (Bangalore); Richa ( Mumbai); Nitin Kale (Gurgaon). They can share their downloaded copy of the software.

Important settings:

You name, email_id, and POP & SMTP settings.

Incoming: pop.rediffmailpro.com
Out going: smtp.rediffmailpro.com

How do I import e-mail messages from another mail program?
Go to Tools > Import, which will bring up a dialog to guide you through the process.
Note: Thunderbird does not support special characters (e.g. / and #) in mail folders. If you receive the following error: Unable to import mailboxes, cannot create proxy object for destination mailboxes, open Outlook (or Outlook Express) and rename your folders. Then try importing again.

How do I import my address Book from your ibexi mail account?
Instructions are attached. (File: How to add address book.zip)

Need more help?
Install: http://learn.pcc.com/thunderbird/tbinstall.html
Import from Outlook: http://support.real-time.com/tbird/outlook_import.html
Thunderbird configuration: http://learn.pcc.com/thunderbird/tbconfig.html
FAQ: http://www.mozilla.org/support/thunderbird/faq

And of course, the change champs, who can help you out, if you really need help.
Rakesh Kumar, Dhiraj Tiwary, Anirban Rakshit

Let's go. Reclaim our inbox, and our calendar.

--
Regards,
Surajit Basu

www.ibexi.com
Reflecting on the future

"Be the change you want to see"
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Back-up the data before the move

Hi !

We are now ready to start with the next major step: email.
The solution is Thunderbird 2.0, a product from Mozilla. There are also a couple of extensions that we will use : a British English dictionary and a Calendaring application - Lightning. I have been using these for months.

But before we do this move, the first thing - to minimise risk - is to take a back-up of all your data on the laptop/PC.

Use a USB drive/external hard drive/ network space, but please back-up the following:
a) Emails-all folders
b) Documents - Text, spreadsheets, presentation.

As I explained earlier, our first major stop will be common personal computing: browser, email, documents - text, spreadsheet, presentation, and media. We have a phased plan to move to these, with support for migration.
But some of you want to move faster than the group to the identified applications. Why not? Go ahead, try them out!
You do not need to remove your current applications.

Here are some of the software chosen for standardisation:
Browser: Firefox 3.0, IE 7.0
Zip: Jzip
Media: VLC Media Player, InfraRecorder
Email: Thunderbird 2.0
Documents: OpenOffice 2.0

But please do take a back-up first.

Secondly, to minimise the potential download problems, we will have for each site, 1 named person, who will have all the approved application software available at a common site on the network. So people need not download all the applications, they can just copy the software from the named locations.

Those of you who are not in an IBEXI office, and have no/very slow web access, and cannot easily do the downloads, please send Richa an email; we will find a way to help you.

--
Regards,
Surajit Basu

www.ibexi.com
Reflecting on the future

"Be the change you want to see"
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Review 1

Hi !

I am happy that this project has generated quite a bit of excitement, among young and old, in less than 10 days.
We have some new volunteers:

• Dhiraj Tiwari
• Rakesh Kumar

Thanks! More help is always welcome. We will need more soon.

At this point, I want to reiterate a few points so that we do not have confusion. Please read carefully.

Our goal is not just to move to "an office computing environment largely run on open-source solutions" but also standardised solutions.
That means we should all use the same set of solutions across the company, minimising risk.

As Richa can testify, we currently have a zoo of solutions. "We will have to manage the change carefully across the company with minimal disruption and maximum continuity."
I had said, "we will select some specific areas and move - as a group - to the identified software. First, each area's software will be selected, and tested by the volunteers in parallel with other software." "We will announce a close-down of the current applications as we go. "
There is no need to jump the gun. There will be risks/ issues, let's not add to this.
Hence, from now on, except for the required install/ removals, and volunteers who are asked to test specific software, please DO NOT install/remove any other software. For any exceptions where you need to install some software, please contact Richa.

Our immediate plan is to establish a software baseline, which Richa is conducting. We are running behind schedule on this. Most of you have sent the relevant information over; there are a few laggards. Please catch up by end of day TODAY, when Richa will publish her list of laggards.

We had said "we need to be sure we are all moving forward - in lock-step, as a group." So far, we have made two moves - browser and zip.
By end of the week, please ensure that you have installed approved applications (IE, Firefox and Jzip)...
and removed all non-approved solutions in this area (e.g. Opera, Safari, Winzip, 7-zip etc.).
Check the list you have sent to Richa. Identify the offending software. (Use Add/Remove Progam from the Windows Control Panel to remove the other software).

Once we are comfortable that we have a good process for managing change, we will take the next step towards our first major stop ( common personal computing: email, documents and media.). We will have an approach of "No IBEXIAN left behind": if there are people missing at any step, we will halt till they are on-board. I hope there will be nobody missing on the first step, and we will go ahead quickly with the next step: email.

So, ready for the swoop?

--
Regards,
Surajit Basu

www.ibexi.com
Reflecting on the future

"Be the change you want to see"
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi