On Sat, 2003-03-22 at 02:05, RAJARSHI GUHA wrote: > On Sat, 22 Mar 2003 01:26:02 +0530, Tathagata Banerjee wrote: > > > i'm sure linux zealots wouldn't do that (you are one of them, surely?), > > Luckily I'm not a Linux zealot or a OSS zealot. ealotry for any thing stinks :( > OSS is a very nice thing and it has its place - but I'd prefer to use whatever > the job requires. If my job is done easier by using some closed source s/w I'll > use that. If I can get the job done with open s/w then all the better. > > > though GNU/Linux zealots might. and if you thought for a moment about > > people who devoted their life's work to realising their dreams, perhaps > > you'd think twice before ridiculing their ideals. > > I dont think I ridiculed it - all I said, is that ideals and idealism is very > nice, noble and some thing to be admired. But in the end you're going to have > to translate that ideal into practical terms at one point.
To translate an idea into practical terms one needs to make some sacrifices and adjustments initially. > It might mean a compromise; in such a case Idont think a person is betraying his > ideals - I dont beleive in sudden changes. Things involving sudden changes > present too much stress to a system - I think it makes more sense to have a > step by step progression to ones ideal situation. Having free slide formats fall into step by step progression. Arko > > Frankly, IMO if a persons dream is to see that the only type of s/w is OSS, then > I'm sorry, but I will giggle a bit :) > > > "OSS", as you call > > it, is not a particular brand of software. the OOo file specifications > > are there for everyone to study and use. that makes them not OOo file > > formats specifically, but a freely available and well-documented file > > format specification that can be used by any program. it is incidental > > that only OOo is using it at present. > > So for simplicities sake lets call this format the OO format - once other peices > of s/w start implementing it then we can decide what it should be termed as. > Thus if I dont have OO I cant read it - but since its open all I have to do is > to just write up some parsing code and display the slide. Hmmm....sorry, dont > have the talent or the time. Thus I'm, back to where I started - either I get > OO and view the slides or just skip them. > > > i'm certain many free programs in > > the future will adopt it rather than re-invent the wheel. so it is > > Abosolutely true. > > > the only way to force them to do so will be not to come to any > > compromise with them, while continuing to develop and disseminate > > quality free software. > > Nice. Sounds like an 'ideal case'. But in the end what you're doing is just > sticking to your format, just as the propriety companies are sticking to > theirs. OK, so your format is open and free - but if only one program reads it, > I need that program. Sure, one day maybe everybody will have an OO filter - but > right now your stand is simply the equivilant of what Microsoft says - to read > our format use Powerpoint. > > > > But this comment stinks of zealotry! > > ^^^^^^ > > are you sure that's the word you wanted to use? let us do this in a > > civilised manner, shall we? > > Hmm...I did'nt know that things were so sensitive out here, but my comments are > not to be taken personally. If you're statement is arrogant I'll say that. And > in this case, the original statement was very much so and the word to 'stink' > was a nice way to describe it :) > > Regarding the original statement, consider this. Say you and I are the only > people who know Swahili out here. And I publish stuff in Bengali. And you seem > interested in Bengali and would like to know more- you come to me and ask me > something in Swahili. > > So according to your statement in the previous mail I would say - > > 'Oh you dont understand Bengali? Well grab some books learn it and then come to > me. I'm not going to explain it all in Swahili to you. When you know bengali > come and talk again'. > > Now is this arrogant or not? Its also very unhelpful and it would certainly > decrease my audience for my Bengali publications. > > > right. and we aren't saying that people *have* to see our slides, or > > *have* to use OOo, but merely that if they want to see them they can > > > use any program that reads free formats. > > But right now since OO is the only program that does read OO format slides, > we're back again - use OO or get lost!! > > > as i explained earlier, there ain't no such animal as an OOo format. > > See above - until we have 'MyOffice' or 'YourOffice' which can read OO slides > the OO format is more or less OO's format. (Hmm...sounds circular :) > > > > > -- > To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the body > "unsubscribe ilug-cal" and an empty subject line. > FAQ: http://www.ilug-cal.org/node.php?id=3 -- To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the body "unsubscribe ilug-cal" and an empty subject line. FAQ: http://www.ilug-cal.org/node.php?id=3
