Dear Sun Microsystems I sometimes do linear programming optimisation models, for which I have to use M$ Excel and its Solver and Solver Table add-ins. Another useful M$ Excel add-in is Decision Tree (www.treeplan.com). Are there equivalents for these in OOo?
For linear programming / operational research the goal seek functionality is just not enough. I believe that many engineers, scientists and business professionals are forced to use M$ Excel due to the absence of these add-ins in OOo. If you could develop these add-ins for OOo (or somehow make OOo compatible with M$ Excel add-ins) you would include these groups of people in your user base. It would be especially good to include business professionals (i.e. managers) in your user base because they are most often also the decision makers who influence company policies i.t.o which office suites to use in their corporations. The add-ins I've mentioned here are IMO the minimum requirements OOo need to fulfill in order to gain the respect of serious business users. One of the reasons that Mozilla Firefox is so successful i.t.o. market growth is the availability of its plug-ins. Win one business manager and you win hundreds of corporate users. Regards. Lourens Janse van Rensburg Engineer Cape Town South Africa
