Hi Jurgen. > ok, lets assume that OOo Calc would become viable, the issues would be fixed > and the missing features would be implemented. What do you think would > people really think about a shift from Excel to Calc or is it more > hypothetical. I mean is there really interest to move to an open source > solution with all the pro and cons to save money, to become standard based, > to become open etc.? > > It would be really helpful to get some more insight and it helps also to > prioritize our efforts correct. > > Juergen
The short answer is: No, I don't see concrete moves towards open source products in the financial markets at this moment but it's good to be prepared. The long answer is: In the financial markets the issue is the same you find in other industries, namely, culture and inertia. People are used to some products and systems and are very reluctant to change. The argument "I already know it" seems to be much more powerful than all the much more reasonable ones you have cited: cost savings, quality, openness, standardization, ... However, there are a few positive signs that are worth knowing. 1. Take a look at https://www.openadaptor.org/ scroll down and, at the bottom of the page, see the copyright holder. This open-source project was started by Dresdner Kleinwort and is still maintained by Commerzbank (which acquired Dresdner Bank about a year ago). In the very top of the page, click on "adopters" to see two other important financial institutions listed: Abbey and Deutsche Bank. 2. Another one from Deutsche Bank (DB). It Head of IT recently gave a web-talk about Collabnet. He praised some open source projects for the high quality software they deliver. He said to have implemented some open source practices in DB. I mean, their code is still proprietary for the outside world but open inside DB. He was really satisfied with the results (If you wish, I can try to find the web-link again.) 3. I heard once a radio interview where Red Hat's CEO said that Morgan Stanley is one of his major clients. I don't believe all their systems are open source, though. 4. I have the impression that in Brazil (my country of origin) open source is much more popular than in the UK (where I live). The Brazilian government decided to use open source products in state offices. Once, in a visit to my local branch of Banco do Brasil (the Brazilian state bank), I saw OOo Writer being used. The latest economic analysis about Brazil are strongly positive. If Brazil achieves the predictions and becomes a major economic player then the open source culture already present there might expand as well. (That's simply guess and hope of mine.) Therefore, despite we have positive signs, I think there is nothing concrete to make you change your priorities right now. Let me tell you where I'm. I'm a quantitative analyst, as I said, in a major German bank but my interest in open source is much older than my current job. To be very clear, all what I'm saying is my personal opinion. My employer has no liability, intention or whatsoever in this matter and I have no influence or power to decide to use OOo in our offices. Since I joint the company 3 years ago, I started working with pricing of financial products. My team runs sophisticated mathematical models which often requires costly computations. Our final product is a collection of Excel add-ins and spreadsheets. Other quantitative analytic teams inside the bank and in other institutions develop similar products. In particular, the add-ins share many design features. About 2 years ago, for research purposes, I wanted to do the same kind of development at home. From the first moment my thought was to replace Excel by OOo Calc (now I'm using both). As soon as my project started to take form I was faced with the issues covered in my previous messages. I totally agree with you that they are minor bugs and simple enhancements. However, I stress, without having them fixed I can't do what I do with Excel. Addressing this issues will not garantee to OOo a better share in the market, but not addressing them would make OOo fail in any assessment made by a quantitative analyst regarding the possibility to replace Excel in the daily basis job. I thought that it would be helpful to share my experience with you guys. Then I wrote my first message. I've reported some of the issues I'm concerned with. I do understand that Calc developers are busy and I don't have time to address all the issues in the bug tracker. Hence, I've decided to hack the code to see if I could fix the issues myself. I'm very happy with that. So far, I worked on one issue only. I'm amazed that in a so huge project I could rapidly spot the point where I should make the change. The merit is rather on the clean design and well written code than on my programming skills. By the way, talking about skills, I forgot to properly introduce myself appart from saying few words about my job. I've got a PhD in Applied Mathematics in France. I'm a self-taught C and C++ programmer (no formal education in Computer Science) having read some of the classics: Eckel, Meyers, Sutter and Alexandrescu. I want to colaborate with OOo but, for the time being, my intention is to focus on the mentioned issues (if you don't mind) and then go back to my own project. Regards/Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Cassio. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
