Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!lll-crg!nike!cit-vax!elroy!smeagol!usc-oberon!sdcrdcf!psivax!nrcvax!terry From: terry@nrcvax.UUCP (Terry Grevstad) Newsgroups: net.text,net.unix Subject: Re: Use of ``vi'' for business office word-processing Message-ID: <699@nrcvax.UUCP> Date: Tue, 9-Sep-86 11:46:41 EDT Article-I.D.: nrcvax.699 Posted: Tue Sep 9 11:46:41 1986 Date-Received: Thu, 11-Sep-86 08:50:19 EDT References: <1246@kitty.UUCP> <709@cbmvax.cbmvax.cbm.UUCP> Reply-To: terry@nrcvax.UUCP (Terry Grevstad) Organization: Network Research Corp. Oxnard,CA Lines: 52 Keywords: ``vi'' word-processing non-programmers Xref: mnetor net.text:957 net.unix:5443 >In article <1246@kitty.UUCP> larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) writes: >... >> So my question is: Am I WRONG in advising people to stay with ``vi'' >>and not spend money for "word-processing software" in the BUSINESS APPLICATION >>environment? >... >higgin@cbmvax.UUCP (Paul Higginbottom) says: >Yes, I think you're wrong. Secretaries don't have time, nor do they usually >want to learn something like Unix. They will prefer EVERY TIME something >which works as similarly as possible to their typewriter. Well, I think Larry is right. I would stay with vi and nroff and troff. I started out at my current job trying to teach everyone who needed to know how to use nroff-troff, and what I wound up doing was this: 1. I set up a group of macros for creating letters and memos which was extremely simple to use. If all they wanted to do was letters and memos all they had to learn was about 20 macro calls and how to use them. This is much simpler than most of the word-processing software I've seen, and everything comes out uniform because everyone is using the same thing. 2. I made myself available on a one-to-one basis to anyone who had some major project to do that went beyond the letter/memo macros. I now have 3-4 people in the office who can usually manage to do just about anything with nroff/troff/tbl (we don't have much use for eqn) and I have very few questions to answer any more. Considering that there are now 8 people in the office using nroff/troff and getting everything they want out of it, I've been very happy with the results. I'd go for vi/nroff/troff again whenever possible. One little disclaimer: I do think that there needs to be at least one person who already knows nroff/troff and is readily available to the others who are learning. I picked this stuff up on my own with only the UNIX nroff/troff manual (phfew :-{) and it took me at least a month of solid 8-hours-a-day work to begin to feel like I knew what I was doing. -- \"\t\f1A\h'+1m'\f4\(mo\h'+1m'\f1the\h'+1m'\f4\(es\t\f1\c _______________________________________________________________________ Terry Grevstad Network Research Corporation ihnp4!nrcvax!terry {sdcsvax,hplabs}!sdcrdcf!psivax!nrcvax!terry ucbvax!calma!nrcvax!terry