Silly Technical Issues

[Ed Hurst]

For those of you interested in what I'm doing with computer technology, I note that using a VPN (a virtual "tunnel") to escape the snooping by Cox accommodating unknown government agencies, it causes a lot of hassle with using Microsoft services, along with a few others. MS does not like me logging in via VPN. They seem to understand that an iPad is a mobile device, so they aren't suspicious of varying IP addresses for it, but for an actual computer, it raises alarms if your login comes from a different location. A VPN means appearing to be connected in another state.

At any rate, it remains a hassle and MS has zero interest in accommodating this. And I'm not going to change my connection.

Google, on the other hand, focuses on the devices, not the location. When I connect to Google services, it works just fine, once they recognize the machine as "me". This means that I will have a tendency to switch to Google for document handling and sharing.

To complicate matters further, MS does not get along too well with iPads in the first place. It's very tricky handling files stored in OneDrive compared to Google Drive. Google never balks; MS gets cranky and changes the file names, adding some kind of time/date coding. My Outlook email account works just fine; iPad is superior at email and communications in general, just not so good at document handling. Still, I was already preferring Google for documents shared between my devices.

So, I'm leaning toward keeping the Outlook email account on the iPad, but in general avoiding MS Office online. I'll stick with Google for documents in the cloud, particularly for sharing with others. I'm going to de-emphasize MS Office in general, using Google Docs much more. Don't look for Word documents from me any more. Look for more of my stuff to be shared in PDF format, since that's the best way to get you something you might want to print for yourself. If it requires a team approach for anything, be ready to deal with Google Docs.

This, despite my underlying distrust for Google. As long as it works, I'll go with it.

[jaybreak]

Yes, give credit where it's due: Google is much more agile with its services, probably because they are meant for 100% online/portable use. Microsoft is a very large legacy vendor, so they'd have a different aim.

I'm all for Google Docs...good service.

[Ed Hurst]

I'll add that, for my own use, I'm switching totally to Libre Office. Whatever advantage I once gained from MS Office is pretty much gone. Google Docs is simply how I'll handle shared materials; it can import Libre Office stuff just fine.

[davew9804]

I have used Libre Office for the past few years and find it works fine. Took a bit of adjusting at first but now it works fine.

[Ed Hurst]

I have used Libre Office for the past few years and find it works fine.  Took a bit of adjusting at first but now it works fine.

Of course. After all these years of advocating Open Source software, I've always promoted Libre Office, and its predecessors. But for a while, I ran into a lot of resistance, particularly in my tech support ministry. Such advocacy struck them as annoying hucksterism. It became a necessity to meet people where they were, and it was all about standardized business-class software -- Windows and Office. If I didn't work with them, I had no work at all.

Now, here I am facing a different kind of hassle altogether: I'm at risk of being silenced by the government for one reason, and censored by MS and other Big Tech providers for other reasons. I have few choices left. If I am going to be faithful to my primary calling, it won't matter what is mainstream. Mainstream becomes the primary path of vulnerability to that censorship. I'm no longer any kind of Open Source advocate; I'm a security advocate.

[jaybreak]

Of course. After all these years of advocating Open Source software, I've always promoted Libre Office, and its predecessors. But for a while, I ran into a lot of resistance, particularly in my tech support ministry. Such advocacy struck them as annoying hucksterism.

Were you encountering this resistance from the folks you were helping?

[Ed Hurst]

Yep. I didn't have any way of promoting Open Source except to clients.