> Its almost vapourware except that people can actually see how much
> progress we are making by checking out the cvs repository. I'd expect
> we'd be on target for release around then.
I think that we should drop that. We don't know when the development
version will be stable enough for a release, and we won't know for a long
time.
Maybe it will happen in two months (JMarc ;-), maybe in two years. We
don't have a detailed project plan, and we will never have one.
I think we should avoid hype like this.
> Actually if you read any significant press release such as that about
the
> new ARM-10 series at the end they carry a disclaimer saying that there
is
> no promise that they will provide what they say in the press release or
> that any dates mentioned are fixed. They also say that the company can
> change its mind at anytime and if that upsets your plans to develop
using
> their tools or product then too bad.
We don't want to do that.
Constructive criticism? Nah, I can do that when I get old.
Oh, one other thing: Regarding the use of the open letter from the French
Microsoft man:
He is right. Word processors are at the Microsoft Write level when it
comes to connectivity with other applications. This is what he is touting
his horn about: Microsoft Word is well integrated with a large body of
external programs, which include spreadsheets, graphics and anything else
you can imagine that runs on the Microsoft Windows platform. Practically
all mayor applications can be included in a Microsoft Word document. We
can't deny that, and we can't deny that this effectively Microsoft Word
far superior to LyX in this area.
The problem with his statement is that Microsoft Word is far behind in
other areas, such as quality of the print. It's up to the user to decide
what is preferred, but we should not say that the Microsoft guy is wrong
when he isn't. Of the three things he mentioned, we don't have any. We
sort of have "Graphic data entry of tables", but not near the sense that
Microsoft Word has it. In Word, you can use your mouse to draw the table
lines.
We have to find something else to market ourselves upon. A comparision
with Word on the premises of Word will fall short by large. We have to
make our own premises, and the main advantages of LyX are the quality of
the print, and in the area of scientific writing. Let's hype that for
starters. Later we'll have world domination.
Greets,
Asger
