[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Hello there :)

[Jason Etheridge]

On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 2:17 PM, Anoop Atre <anoop.atre at mnsu.edu> wrote:
> I wonder how often folks on the Koha list suggest Evergreen to people asking
> questions about Koha. Not that there is anything wrong with Koha, I've
> actually 'somewhat' helped install it on occasion, but if we want Evergreen
> to grow it's user base we better focus on helping new users/answering their
> questions and not direct them to other options. This is just a personal
> opinion and like I said not intended to start any flame-war with Koha people
> who of course are awesome!

I like that folks from both communities intermingle; I think we just
need to be careful about stereotyping the different softwares (for
example, by assuming that Koha is for small libraries or that
Evergreen is for big libraries).  I think both Koha and Evergreen can
be overkill for certain uses.  For personal libraries, the whole
culture of MARC cataloging is not something I would recommend, but
some people do it.  It really depends on the details, and I do think
we should ferret out those details more instead of making hasty
recommendations (however well-intentioned).

I wouldn't want to bar discussion of any software unless it came to
dominate the entire forum, since we can always learn something and
better Evergreen with what we learn.  Also, even if Evergreen doesn't
meet a certain need today, that doesn't mean it can't or won't, so I
agree that we should embrace all who stop by.  If they like us, they
may stick around even if something else would also work.  Evergreen is
new, and like with start-up companies, there are folks who like to get
in early and make a difference.  This is a great time to be getting
into Evergreen.

-- 
Jason Etheridge
 | Equinox Software, Inc. / The Open Source Experts
 | phone:  1-877-OPEN-ILS (673-6457)
 | email:  jason at esilibrary.com
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