Ian Lynch wrote:
Linux, OOo, etc. is supposed to be "good enough"
It is for many people, it certainly is for me and a growing number of
others. I'm going to Spain for the second time in a couple of months
because they seem to think its good enough for them. It'll never be good
enough for die-hard Windowsphiles.
OOo is certainly good enough for me; I don't use half the features
already. How Linux works out for you depends entirely on what hardware
you have and what software you need to use.
So your 5 year old MSO2000 can do pdf export then?
No, but I can get a free program for Windows that gives me pdf export
from the print dialog. Much the same as sending a document by fax.
Your 5 year old
MSO2000 has an XML file format?
If I'm not actively concerned about cross-platform and/or
cross-application compatibility, then XML is mostly meaningless to me.
You can selectively choose features to
prove just about anything, What matters is whether or not the "upper
tier" people adopt the software. With each improvement more do but
improvement takes time. If you want to go and do the work or pay someone
to do it fine, otherwise like the rest of us you are going to have to be
patient.
I'm not so much concerned that the upper-tier software isn't here now.
What concerns me is the attitude that certain features of upper-tier
software shouldn't even be on the radar for the future.
So what's the strategy? Is there one?
That is a good question, and it would have been a better focus to start
with. My personal preference would be to make the code more efficient,
and capable of running on PDAs etc. before starting on major projects
like an E-mail client that others are already working on. Better to
contribute to those projects if you think they are the key.
Not if they aren't going in the right direction.
Let me give you an example of what I mean: Gnucash. Gnucash is
supposedly the leading personal finance software for Linux.
I despise that program, and I'm not real crazy about the developer team,
either. Why? The program is advertised as being targeted to Windows
refugees needing a replacement for Quicken or MSMoney. But the interface
is something only an accountant could love and totally foreign to anyone
familiar with those other programs. There's zero interest in making a
Windows port. Important features are broken or non-existent. So maybe
it's not really meant for personal use; perhaps it's more intended for
business? Not really; important features for that market are also missing.
And it's not just that the features are missing or don't work right now;
what's worse is that they have no intention of adding or fixing them.
Compare that to KMyMoney. That program is shaping up very nicely. If
they only had a Windows port, it would be perfect.
Being cross-platform is incredibly important for open-source migration.
That's the beauty of OOo, Mozilla, Gimp, etc. If, over time, one-by-one,
you adopt these open-source apps on Windows, eventually you can get to
the point where you realize you don't really need Windows. I'm not at
that point yet; so I dual-boot to get the best of both worlds.
--
Rod
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