On Fri, Oct 28, 2005 08:14:10 AM +0000, Andrew Brown
([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
> The mere existence of OOo means that I don't have to trust microsoft
> with my data. I can set up a process to copy all my files to .sxw
> format or even .odt oce a week. Then I have copies that will still
> be legible in fifty years time.
Oh, man... You are so appreciated in the community for your macro
knowledge, and then pop up with such absurd statements? Unbelievable.
What if those files contained MS Office macros (**)?
In any case, please just ignore your (or my) own files. Nobody else
cares about them. This is about millions of public and corporate
documents which is essential to keep COMPLETELY legible in fifty years
time. WHATEVER they contain. Be it macros (**), complex tables and
equations, formulas....
> while the .doc originals are also -- and this is useful -- legible
> today by all the people with whom I do business.
Obviously you've never reviewed with OpenOffice a patent application
written with Word. And your business, whatever it is, does not need
any really complex document layout.
In any case, let's accept for simplicity that the current situation is
exactly as you describe it. OK. It remains unbearable for the reasons
above and a ton more already repeated to death here. So *if* you care
about getting *out* of this, for the medium/long term there is no
feasible alternative than OpenDocument. Even *if* (and that's one BIG
if), it were completely useless *today*.
> Do linux zealots care whether anyone can use MS products?
Does it matter? Intelligent people should care first of all if *all*
their *own* documents (including those of their company and public
administrations) are guaranteed to remain COMPLETELY readable in the
future. Not just those not more complex than a shopping list.
Ciao,
Marco
** yes, I do know they're not in the OD standard, nor I think they
should: http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/09/09/1640253
but it doesn't make your initial position less flawed.
--
Marco Fioretti OpenDocument Fellowship Committee Member
http://opendocumentfellowship.org
Everybody's Guide to OpenDocument:
www.linuxjournal.com/article/8616
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
