Quoting Bruce D'Arcus <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > On Jun 14, 2006, at 2:49 AM, David Wilson wrote:
> > Given this situation I propose that a fifth dot point be added to this > > list- > > [...] > > > In terms of the higher Education market bibliographic support is not > > 'feature', it is a strategic requirement. If we do not have it we are > > not in > > it. > > I have to say, I've about lost all faith in OOo. The community (ahem, > let's be specific: Sun) seems really not to understand or care about > what we are trying to do, and even the generic requirements we have to > make it technically easier for developers to implement seems not to be > a priority. Even worse, I have no sense of a community process that > actually sets these priorities. > > The reality is Word is a better word processor than Writer, it is used > by 99% of the people in my field (I have literally never heard of > anyone who uses OpenOffice, but simply assume there are one or two out > there), and it will now have really good built-in citation support. So > why would even I or anyone else in higher ed bother with OOo? > I'm afraid I have to echo this point, perhaps not quite so harshly as Bruce (I haven't noticed any otheri mportant deficiencies in OO Writer, while Bruce I guess sees some). As a scholar in the humanities, I have been hoping for years that OOo would introduce some kind of decent bibliographic support. For the second year in a row, the OOo core team has set the priority of the biblio project so low that no one is even willing to supervise a Google SoC student to do the necessary work. I think OOo needs to understand two things that David has already mentioned: (a) scholars CAN'T use OOo in its present state, and thus will never recommend it to their students; (b) it is precisely in the higher-education learning environment that people set their software-using habits for their adult lives. That is, if people don't start using OOo at University or other post-secondary institutions, they are highly unlikely to ever pick it up later, or to incorporate it into their small/medium/large businesses. So while higher education may seem like a niche market, it's actually very important (which is why MS products are handed out cheap at universities). I'm embarking on a new research project now, and for the first time in 5 years I've kept the windows partition on my new computer; I'm going to install MS Office and EndNote. I hate to do it, but I feel I really have no other choice. Matt --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
