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The re-imaging and re-training likely would've been incurred by an upgrade to a new version of office, so those may not actually be differentiators. In my expe

The re-imaging and re-training likely would've been incurred by an upgrade to a new version of office, so those may not actually be differentiators. In my experience, the main cost to adopting F/OSS for office software is interoperability with people sending word and excel files, not support or training. Note, LibreOffice is available in the native language of the users, Valencian, and has spell-check dictionaries for that language. Presumably, the Valencian government puts out most communication in Valencian, so there may actually be savings in not having to develop and maintain their own Valencian dictionary for Office, which Microsoft does not provide, and reduced support as the interface uses terms more familiar to the native Valencian speakers.

at-fates-hands 13y ago
>>>Note, LibreOffice is available in the native language of the users, Valencian, and has spell-check dictionaries for that language. Presumably, the Valencian government puts out most communication in Valencian. TIL people in Valencia speak several different versions of Spanish: http://gospain.about.com/od/learningspanishinspain/p/valencia.htm http://gospain.about.com/od/learningspanishinspain/p/valenci... "In Valencia they speak a form of Catalan (the locals call it 'Valenciano' but this is not officially recognised anywhere outside of Valencia). Everyone in Valencia speaks Castillian Spanish, but many will speak to each other in Catalan in the street. This will be a bit of a hindrance to your learning experience." "You will mainly hear Catalan in the streets of Valencia, not Castillian Spanish. Even road signs and advertisements are in Catalan. You will find newspapers, TV and radio in both languages."
- grimborg 13y ago
  indeed! Valencian (Valencià) is not a version of Spanish, but a different language. It's the same language that is spoken in Catalonia (and which there is called Catalan), and in the Balearic Islands (where it's called Balear). It's amazing the amount of languages that are everywhere...
- kilburn 13y ago
  This website is very wrong. Firstly, there are no such thing as "different versions of Spanish" in Spain. People from different regions speak with (sometimes very) different accents, but it is the same language. Everyone can understand each other while speaking spanish. "Valencià" (Valencian) is the catalan dialect spoken in Valencia. Catalan itself is a whole other language than spanish. They are as different as, say, spanish and portuguese or italian and french (and any combination of those). Secondly, Valencian knowledge and use is being lost in the whole region [1]. By 2008, only 32% of the population claimed to use it as their primary language, whereas 54% said that spanish was their primary language. Moreover, only 76% of the population _understood_ valencian, only 56% was able to speak it, and just 25% claimed to be able to write it correctly. The numbers today are probably even worse. BTW, road signs and advertisements are written in both languages almost everywhere (just like in Catalonia, or any spanish region where there is more than one official language). [1] http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valenci%C3%A0 http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valenci%C3%A0
  - the_gipsy 13y ago
    It is a bold exaggeration to say that catalan is as different from spanish as portuguese or french. It is definitely a language, but extremely similar to spanish, much more than any other. Valencian resembles spanish even more. While you're quick to conclude that valencian is getting extinct, don't forget about all the areas in Valencia where valencian was never, ever spoken, but it was forced into schools, and laws that require an official degree in valencia to work as a government official were set up.
    - kilburn 13y ago
      > It is a bold exaggeration to say that catalan is as different from spanish as portuguese or french. Sources? Being a lazy guy, I turned to wikipedia [1], where it explicitly says: > Despite being mostly situated in the Iberian Peninsula, the Catalan vocabulary exhibits marked lexical differences with Ibero-Romance (Spanish and Portuguese), instead showing general affinity towards the Gallo-Romance group. The Gallo-Romance group includes French and Italian. About regions where valencian was never spoken and forced into schools, what is your point exactly? I just said that valencian usage is becoming less frequent lately, and the numbers support this affirmation. Are you trying to say that, with the current laws, the language can not become extinct? Then I may agree with you, but laws can be (and have been) changed... [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_language (lexical comparison section) Edit: missing link.
stcredzero 13y ago
> In my experience, the main cost to adopting F/OSS for office software is interoperability with people sending word and excel files, not support or training. Couldn't this be handled with WINE or a virtualizer to run Word and Excel? > Note, LibreOffice is available in the native language of the users, Valencian, and has spell-check dictionaries for that language. Presumably, the Valencian government puts out most communication in Valencian, so there may actually be savings in not having to develop and maintain their own Valencian dictionary for Office, which Microsoft does not provide, and reduced support as the interface uses terms more familiar to the native Valencian speakers. If they're already in the position of having specialists do translation, or having an entire office that's somewhat bilingual on the computer, running Word and Excel virtualized might not be such a burden comparatively speaking.

at-fates-hands 13y ago

>>>Note, LibreOffice is available in the native language of the users, Valencian, and has spell-check dictionaries for that language. Presumably, the Valencian government puts out most communication in Valencian. TIL people in Valencia speak several different versions of Spanish: http://gospain.about.com/od/learningspanishinspain/p/valencia.htm http://gospain.about.com/od/learningspanishinspain/p/valenci... "In Valencia they speak a form of Catalan (the locals call it 'Valenciano' but this is not officially recognised anywhere outside of Valencia). Everyone in Valencia speaks Castillian Spanish, but many will speak to each other in Catalan in the street. This will be a bit of a hindrance to your learning experience." "You will mainly hear Catalan in the streets of Valencia, not Castillian Spanish. Even road signs and advertisements are in Catalan. You will find newspapers, TV and radio in both languages."

grimborg 13y ago
indeed! Valencian (Valencià) is not a version of Spanish, but a different language. It's the same language that is spoken in Catalonia (and which there is called Catalan), and in the Balearic Islands (where it's called Balear). It's amazing the amount of languages that are everywhere...
kilburn 13y ago
This website is very wrong. Firstly, there are no such thing as "different versions of Spanish" in Spain. People from different regions speak with (sometimes very) different accents, but it is the same language. Everyone can understand each other while speaking spanish. "Valencià" (Valencian) is the catalan dialect spoken in Valencia. Catalan itself is a whole other language than spanish. They are as different as, say, spanish and portuguese or italian and french (and any combination of those). Secondly, Valencian knowledge and use is being lost in the whole region [1]. By 2008, only 32% of the population claimed to use it as their primary language, whereas 54% said that spanish was their primary language. Moreover, only 76% of the population _understood_ valencian, only 56% was able to speak it, and just 25% claimed to be able to write it correctly. The numbers today are probably even worse. BTW, road signs and advertisements are written in both languages almost everywhere (just like in Catalonia, or any spanish region where there is more than one official language). [1] http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valenci%C3%A0 http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valenci%C3%A0
- the_gipsy 13y ago
  It is a bold exaggeration to say that catalan is as different from spanish as portuguese or french. It is definitely a language, but extremely similar to spanish, much more than any other. Valencian resembles spanish even more. While you're quick to conclude that valencian is getting extinct, don't forget about all the areas in Valencia where valencian was never, ever spoken, but it was forced into schools, and laws that require an official degree in valencia to work as a government official were set up.
  - kilburn 13y ago
    > It is a bold exaggeration to say that catalan is as different from spanish as portuguese or french. Sources? Being a lazy guy, I turned to wikipedia [1], where it explicitly says: > Despite being mostly situated in the Iberian Peninsula, the Catalan vocabulary exhibits marked lexical differences with Ibero-Romance (Spanish and Portuguese), instead showing general affinity towards the Gallo-Romance group. The Gallo-Romance group includes French and Italian. About regions where valencian was never spoken and forced into schools, what is your point exactly? I just said that valencian usage is becoming less frequent lately, and the numbers support this affirmation. Are you trying to say that, with the current laws, the language can not become extinct? Then I may agree with you, but laws can be (and have been) changed... [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_language (lexical comparison section) Edit: missing link.

stcredzero 13y ago

> In my experience, the main cost to adopting F/OSS for office software is interoperability with people sending word and excel files, not support or training. Couldn't this be handled with WINE or a virtualizer to run Word and Excel? > Note, LibreOffice is available in the native language of the users, Valencian, and has spell-check dictionaries for that language. Presumably, the Valencian government puts out most communication in Valencian, so there may actually be savings in not having to develop and maintain their own Valencian dictionary for Office, which Microsoft does not provide, and reduced support as the interface uses terms more familiar to the native Valencian speakers. If they're already in the position of having specialists do translation, or having an entire office that's somewhat bilingual on the computer, running Word and Excel virtualized might not be such a burden comparatively speaking.