Funny almost everything you mentioned were reasons for the fork of LibraOffice, since both Sun and Oracle lacked a definite strategy. 1) LibraOffice is better documented and focused then OpenOffice 2) It is consistent with normal GUI conventions, unlike MS Office's new "Ribbon" feature that was un-needed and not asked for both OpenOffice and LibraOffice function like MS Office 2000 3) Where as I think this is now more true for Propitiatory Software, It has taken the Open Document Group almost a year to polish up LibraOffice to the point where it's an acceptable release.
If there is a missing function or feature, then join me supporting LibraOffice and help make the feature that is needed ( aka scratching your own itch ). But don't expect or bad mouth LibraOffice for lack of some feature that you desire, it's now more of a truly open project with methods to advocate new features. Why I have gone out of my way to recommend LibraOffice is that it delivers something for everyone: 1) For GNU/Freedom nuts like Chris and myself it's more "free" and "open" then before or any Office suite out there 2) It's has more fixes and polish then OpenOffice, it's installer and Help files have gotten there needed overhaul and polish 3) For any platform, I have found it the best "Office" suite out there, again MS's new ribbon is unnecessary, when I use a tool to accomplish work, I don't need fancy, just easy, good, and dependable, With that said, this "horse" is dead! Let's move on.... GNu Joe Joseph Apuzzo Malian, Italy On Sun, Jan 30, 2011 at 3:21 AM, Phil M Perry <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 1/25/2011 11:34 AM, Joseph Apuzzo wrote: > >> LibraOffice is free as in beer (aka Libra) and Open as it allows the >> contributions of the community to be accepted without corporate oversight of >> Oracle. >> The reason why OpenOffice is not progressing is mainly do to the fact that >> Oracle is gate-keeping every new feature. >> Also Oracle is looking to monitise parts of OpenOffice when used in a >> business and or school situation. >> >> Well... a "heavy corporate hand" is not always a bad thing. One of my > gripes about OO, at least in older versions, was the lack of finish and > polish on the product. This seems to be common in informal/semiformal open > source projects. There is no one at the corporate helm to make sure several > things happen: > > 1. well written, properly edited, and consistent documentation (including > Help and other online documentation). Most developers are not good at > writing and editing, and lack funds to hire real Technical Writers. > 2. prevent inconsistent interfaces across different functions, and > interfaces that don't obey well established GUI rules (such as, "never > rearrange a given pulldown menu when in different modes -- either just > disable (gray out) actions that shouldn't be used, or restructure your menu > architecture"). Too many developers just do what they feel like doing, and > no one is devoted to making things consistent. > 3. ride herd on developers who just work on the "fun" stuff, and neglect > important but un-sexy functionality. Someone has to do backup functions, and > someone has to do proper install/uninstall, and someone has to come up with > full test coverage, and someone... Sometimes you need a corporate directive > to make sure that someone actually gets assigned to do these things. > > If Oracle is willing to address such issues while keeping OO free for most > users (say, free for all with no support, or charge in order to get > support), I won't be quick to condemn them. > > > _______________________________________________ > Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org > http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug > > Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium > Feb 2 - Zimbra > Mar 2 - MHVLUG 8th Anniversary - Show and Tell > Apr 6 - Introduction to IPv6 >
_______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Feb 2 - Zimbra Mar 2 - MHVLUG 8th Anniversary - Show and Tell Apr 6 - Introduction to IPv6
