I help support OpenOffice.org (OOo) in the [EMAIL PROTECTED] mail list. We discovered recently that the whole scheme for installing dictionaries in OOo will change rather dramatically with the advent of v3 and that existing dictionaries will no longer work.
I and others believe that this is a huge mistake: 1. It will give new users the impression that OOo cannot spell check. Or that spell checking is, by definition, an afterthought implemented by an "extension" i.e. something *not* in the original software. 2. Many of the dictionaries are provided and maintained by third parties who do not have the resources or the skills to convert their dictionaries to the new format. They may not even be aware of the upcoming change. And I don't believe you have any way of finding them to let them know. 3. It's regressive in that it kills cooperation with software like Thunderbird which, today, can use the same dictionaries as are used by OOo. There has recently been much discussion in different "forums" (in the *English*, as opposed to computerese, sense of that word) about closer cooperation and/or integration between OOo and Thunderbird/Seamonkey. See, for example, the thread at http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/BrowseList?listName=users&from=2052695&to=2052695&count=30&by=thread&first=1&windowSize=1000 Apparently the reason given for the change is that the existing method requires re-installation of dictionaries after an upgrade to the software. If this is even half true then it seems to several of us that you have solved the wrong problem. Instead of changing the format of the dictionaries, why not just change the place where they are stored to one that is unaffected by an upgrade to the software: a user specific directory similar to the one used already to store user specific options which *don't* change after an upgrade? I don't know but on the face of it it seems that this "dictionary directory" could even be the same as the one used already for user-specific options. In any case, please reconsider this decision which I and others strongly believe will severely damage OOo both technically and cosmetically. -- Harold Fuchs London, England Please reply *only* to [email protected]
