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

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

Zip, zap, zoom?

We are constantly sending/receiving large files. Many of the software solutions for OpenWorld will be downloaded as zip files.

jZip is an open-source compression utility for Windows. jZip supports multiple popular archive formats such as Zip, RAR, 7z, ISO, TAR and GZip. It is fully compatible with archives created by other utilities such as WinZip, WinRar and 7-Zip. jZip is built on proven and reliable 7-Zip technology. 7-Zip technology is fast and achieves compression ratios that are higher or equivalent to other leading compression programs. jZip sports an elegant, easy to use yet powerful user interface.

Download jzip from: http://www.jzip.com/
and get rid of all other Zip solutions from your PC/laptop by the end of this week. (Use Add/Remove Progam from the Windows Control Panel to remove the other software).

Please find attached the readme.zip .

Thanks to Rakesh Kumar and Amit Dasgupta for their support.

Need any help? Ask Amit Dasgupta.

--
Regards,
Surajit Basu

www.ibexi.com
Reflecting on the future

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