On 11/10/11 5:00 PM, Alexander Thurgood wrote:
Le 10/11/11 16:16, Pedro Giffuni a écrit :
Hi Pedro, Ariel,
Oh I understand perfectly well why it is being done in this way, I make
my living out of intellectual property so I would be the first one to
say "IP clearance takes precedence" in line with the rules that Apache has.
I also understand that it could still continue to be built separately,
for those who have the time, energy and will to correct the inevitable
bitrot build errors that will creep in over time because code has
changed elsewhere, but no one thought to bother about adapting those
code changes to keep this module buildable. In other words, it will
become harder to build and maintain over time because it has been dropped.
Nonetheless, even if one looks on the optimistic side, there still
remain a few questions :
(1) who in all honesty will do it ?
- if any of the Linux distribs are interested, they will package it
with their own build of AOOo (assuming that some of them switch from
LibreOffice to AOOo or just continue to provide both)
it always a question of who will do it. That's open source, if somebody
feels it is important, takes the responsibility for it and just do it
then it's fine for all if the work is contributed back. But you need
always somebody who take care of it.
Wishes alone doesn't help here. And more general especially companies
who simply use open source software and never contribute anything back
should think about it.
- what about distrib independent versions - obviously, there will be
none from within AOOo itself, since it can not, so quo vadis ?
are you sure? Everybody can take the Apache source code and can provide
a binary and can bundle some further stuff with this package and call it
"MyPersonalRequirementsSatisfying Office". I think that is perfectly
fine as long as the bugs for the additional code are filtered correctly.
I am sure we will see a binary version of a pure Apache OpenOffice and
this will grow over time and will contain useful features that are more
important or more useful for many users than for example a lost filter
because of the license. And even dropped features can be put back if
somebody takes care of it and provide it as an extension. But again it's
always the same somebody have to take care of it.
- what about Mac ?
- what about Windows ?
mmh, i think that is on the plan. On Windows are probably more than 80%
of our users.
I think that realistically, resources are spread too thinly on the
ground for this to happen at present.
help is always welcome
(2) what kind of message does this convey to Joe Public ?
- AOOo (aka OOo) is destined only for those who know how to build and code ?
no, but we have to do some work at the beginning and the plan is to
provide replacements for all critical temporary dropped features.
Somehow, I don't think that you'll hit your target audience with such an
approach - a binary version that misses bits of what has become
essential functionality for many will not sway people to switch from OOo
to AOOo - in fact, it might well even make them switch to competing
products.
i agree in some points but as i mentioned earlier our goal is to replace
all important missing pieces over time. Most of the temporary dropped
features are probably not important for many people. But sure some users
will miss something.
Juergen
Perhaps someone will find a way of furthering the development of the
original report designer instead, because that at least does form part
of the SGA (it was already in the initial release of the OOo code all
those years ago). I hope so, I really do.
Alex
