On 9/21/05, Sweet Coffee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Well here is where I disagree with you Chad. I do not think the > opendocuments format is "geeky". The problem I see with OOo relates to where > it is used and who it is exposed to.
By definition, anyone who understands what an file format really is, and why it may or may not matter (beyond, can I open this thing), would be a geek. End users think that when the file associations are changed (like when OOo is installed with the Office file associations turned on) that you somehow changed the actual file itself. For evidence of this fact, simply read the thread that pops up daily on the users mailing list about "OPEN OFFICE ATE MY HOMEWORK" or "YOUR STUPID SOFTWARE TOOK OVER MY FILES!" or some other ignorance. You tell me that an "open standard file format" means *anything* to ignorant end users like that. (Ignorance meaning lack on knowledge, not stupidity.) File formats are a geek thing. Nobody with a Dell cares about file formats. I feel that once the Biblio thing is straigned out that OOo will get more > exposure in academia and takeoff with academisians and professionals. They > will become use to using it in school and probably continue to use it after > graduation. The folks promoting the "OpenDocument" format [I do believe it > is a worthy cause] need to somehow get the concept out to the general > population. They need to do some PR that goes past the so called "geeks" so > the average "non-geek" person can see the value and economics of the issue. OpenDocuments is a useless thing as far as I am concerned. There is already a standard file format in place - it's called DOC. Every office suite on the planet can open and edit these things. You don't need to give penny one to Microsoft to use it. And you don't need to steal from Microsoft to use it. Get you a free (both meanings) distro of Linux with a free (both ways) word processor, and boom, there you go. GnomeOffice (AbiWord), KOffice, and OpenOffice.org *ALL* read, create, and edit Word DOCs. If anyone in the world with a PC can open and read your files, what possible motivation is there to switch? I will always *ALWAYS* have access to all of my Word Docs. Nothing Microsoft can do to change that. Nothing anyone can do will change that. OpenDocuments is a geek-only, free-as-in-speech-software-java-is-satan-freak-only, conspiracy-theorist-only issue. And no, Massachusetts doesn't convince me otherwise - it's just a ploy to get cheap/free copies of MS Office/Windows. -Chad Smith
