Here is some commentary that others can use as they wish, I'm not into blogging. MS' campaign of saturate, diffuse and confuse has been reducing the visibility of OOo in the media --
-Lars OpenOffice.org macros and scripting have supported both Javascript and Python for a long time. That information is something I wish to add to the excellent preview[1] of OpenOffice.org 3.0 published recently. Both javascript and python are already used in web development and in XML tools which handle OpenOffice's main format, the OpenDocument Format. Python is also used, among other places, in system administration. Thus there is less need for disparate skill sets and much less overhead in integrating document management and web apps. The result is that you don't need to maintain a separate language just for macros. Even better, you have a larger pool of people to hire from. Best of all, that pool is not just larger but also of higher quality. It is not limited to the self-selecting One Microsoft Way crowd that VBA use brings with it. We're talking about the tools described in the preview [ibid], OpenOffice.org 3.0, not other products and that does not use VBA. So why would you need VBA programmers? You don't. Why would you need javascript or python programmers? Odds are you already have them. Now you can finally say goodbye to those awful VBA scripts and the "programmers" that follow them as baggage. Specifically, that means you don't have to waste money on a bag of shit just to do macros, but can instead hire real programmers who have the capacity to work with other staff and to contribute to other activities. With OpenOffice.org, you get javascript and python macros. You can have macro programmers with a computer science background. And you can have them participate in web development and other projects. OpenOffice.org thereby takes care of two problems at once: First, you are less likely to hire MS boosters who will run their little anti-technology jihad [2] against you from inside your own office, work is so much easier without them around. Second, you get programmers that can participate in more than one area. That's an all-around win-win situation. [1] "OpenOffice.org 3.0's new features, an early look" http://www.oooninja.com/2008/03/openofficeorg-30-new-features.html [2] Warning: link below may be blocked / banned in some EU countries: http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20071023002351958 --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
