On 06/03/2012, at 4:30, Larry Gusaas <[email protected]> wrote:

> On 2012-03-05 12:08 PM  Rob Weir wrote:
>> On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 12:29 PM, Dennis E. Hamilton
>> <[email protected]>  wrote:
>>> If there is no solution for extensions, Apache OpenOffice 3.4 early 
>>> incubator releases should not overload prior versions of OO.o.  I recommend 
>>> that AOO 3.4 install in its own locations and not do anything that would 
>>> prevent side-by-side functioning.  (My recommendation would be that it do 
>>> that anyhow.  But with known breaking of an important down-level feature, 
>>> that becomes imperative.)
>>> 
>> In general, it is important for OOo 3.3 and earlier installs on
>> desktops to go away. Old releases increasingly become security
>> hazards, especially if they are no longer being actively maintained.
>> We do a great service to the community in general if we overwrite them
>> with the AOO 3.4.  This is true even given the inconvenience the user
>> experiences from the need to reinstall extensions.
> 
> Users need to be informed that they will need to reinstall extensions if AOO 
> 3.4 overwrites OOo3.x.x
> 
> One option would be to not use the same user profile as OOo 3.x.x and create 
> a new profile for AOO 3.4. Or do as LibreOffice did when it came out and 
> import the data that can be used from the OOo user profile into a new profile.
> 
>> In any case, I think the overwrite is fine.  It is what OOo 3.3 and
>> OOo 3.2 did as well by default.  We can document in the install
>> intructions how this can be overridden.
> 
> The warning would have to be on the download page before the download link. 
> How many current users of OOo actually read the install instructions before 
> installing a new version?
> 
>>> I think there should be OOo-dev releases only until this is handled as 
>>> well.  It is now clear that integration has problems and there is no reason 
>>> to provoke more of it.
> Agree
> 

Rob, 

When an installation wipes out some or all of the user's extensions or other 
customisations of a previous version, that is a sure way to alienate a LOT of 
people and create a lot of very bad publicity, in addition to the inconvenience 
to users. I agree with Dennis and Larry that this is unacceptable. Indeed, I am 
very dismayed that anyone would seriously consider doing that. And documenting 
the issue, while necessary, is far from sufficient. Most people don't read the 
instructions, as you should know. 

Jean

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