Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 12:05 pm Post subject: OOo Donation Time!
Like other fairly recent college/grad school graduates, my alma mater(s) are constantly sending me letters asking for money! Somewhat frustrating, since I'll be paying the loans for years to come.
Instead of donating cash, I want to donate copies of OpenOffice or NeoOffice to my college. Vassar has about 2400 students, and since I know many of the IT people, I want to arrange a deal with them where I'll donate the time and effort, and they'll pay to cover material costs, for an OOo CD for every student coming onto campus in the fall of 2004. (Discmakers.com can do it for a total cost of just over $2,000.)
The campus is half Mac, half Wintel, maybe a few Linux boxes. Am I remembering correctly an anticipated 1.0 release of NeoOffice/J was planned for January?
I can advertise the software has an equivalent value* of $360,000, which should grab major attention. (* What it would cost to purchase software of roughly equivalent capability from the default vendor, aka Microsoft Office at the Student Price of $150 per copy.)
Please help me to refine this concept and make a big splash next fall!
Joined: May 25, 2003 Posts: 4752 Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 9:19 pm Post subject:
Dude, I hear you on the loans I remember when I was entering college we had both an "orientation" packet of booklets of course listings and such. I also remember having some form of network installation package when I activated the Ethernet in my dorm room that would download and install recommended software from a central server (I remember I opted not to use it since I'm a dork and had most of it anyway). I'm wondering if either of those might be viable options for where to inject the software.
Another good question is...does Vassar already have a deal on MS Office? I know some universities have a thing where they only charge students & faculty $5 or something.
heh. my school had that. well the entire confederation had that (state school) except !!! the flagship campus, which is where i went to. so my friends on one side of the state could get any M$ product for $10, and i had to pay full price.
i think that is when it all started...
as for the original post, i think it is a great idea...
i know a girl who goes to vassar. don't worry, i won't hold that against you. =)
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2003 3:25 pm Post subject: Re: OOo Donation Time!
shogun wrote:
Am I remembering correctly an anticipated 1.0 release of NeoOffice/J was planned for January?
I don't know if I will call it a "1.0" release, but I expect that I will finish the one big missing feature in NeoOffice/J in time for MacWorld: copy and paste.
The reason that I probably won't call it a "1.0" release (maybe 0.8 or 0.9) is because there is only a handful of people testing the app and only one developer (me) so and it is probably a good idea to have the release numbers err on the conservative side.
Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2003 12:11 pm Post subject: Comdex, OOo Donation, Developers
pluby,
I am going to Comdex next week, where I am actually going to be the on-site manager of the OpenOffice.org booth! I am also bringing a Powerbook G3 (OSX 10.3) on which to demonstrate your latest work. With luck, this will bring in a few new developers to help you guys out. Please send me any information that you'd like shared at Comdex.
And for my donation to Vassar - by about August, 2004, where do you expect the Mac versions of OOo to be? Based on my use of Neo/J 0.7 right now, I expect great things that even "mere mortal" users will find totally comfortable!
I am working with IT people at Vassar, and am going to talk with a Development officer I know to handle my *huge* donation. Getting IT and Development to reinforce each other should help my cause. Development can't turn away a $360,000 donation, even if IT has to do a little extra work (and give me $3,000 to get started).
If more discs are purchased, say 10,000, the cost per disc continues to drop. Who, from another college or university, would like to get in on this idea? We'll order the discs together, then divide them up and ship them off to our schools. Get IT or a donor to cover our material costs, grab good press and look like 25 year old philanthropists. But most importantly, we'll switch an entire college's student body to OOo!
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I remember when I was entering college we had both an "orientation" packet of booklets of course listings and such. I also remember having some form of network installation package when I activated the Ethernet in my dorm room that would download and install recommended software from a central server (I remember I opted not to use it since I'm a dork and had most of it anyway). I'm wondering if either of those might be viable options for where to inject the software.
donation. Getting IT and Development to reinforce each other should help my cause. Development can't turn away a $360,000 donation, even if IT has to do a little extra work (and give me $3,000 to get started).