Re: office apps
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2010 18:44:17 -0600 From: Chad Perrin per...@apotheon.com Subject: Re: office apps To: FreeBSD Questions freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Message-ID: 20100609004417.gc37...@guilt.hydra Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I don't really like Oo.org either. It is a little better than MS-Office, be seems to follow the same general design philosophy. I wish I'd find a foolproof, simple, transparent way for me to see and edit well-formatted plain text no matter what nonsense bloated featuritis infected office suite anyone else wanted to use. Well, I heard RTF is useful for interoperability between MS word versions, but I am not sure how well interoperability between different vendors works in practice. The Wikipedia page says RTF is a proprietary standard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Text_Format You may also want to use an SGML variant like HTML or XML, but those can be tedious to manually edit. For quick messages, Plain ASCII text is much better unless you need a different character set. In that case, Unicode text will probably work. Regards, James Phillips -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
in message 20100609005847.gf37...@guilt.hydra, wrote Chad Perrin thusly... On Tue, Jun 08, 2010 at 04:43:42AM -1000, p...@pair.com wrote: ... It took about 15 seconds of manual count to see an empty window after typing openoffice.org-3.0.0 -nologo. ... I'm not sure what you mean by this. Empty window? Sorry, by empty window I meant the open office swriter window showing an empty, spanking new document (to start writing in). - parv -- ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Tue, 8 Jun 2010 18:58:47 -0600, Chad Perrin per...@apotheon.com wrote: With my old OO.o install (from package, not port), I haven't had any problems. The thing even exports to PDF without Java. Same here - I still have a v2 installation on another system that has been installed by package, and it just works. It was the last OpenOffice I could install via packages (localized, with dictio- naries included, without unneeded stuff like KDE, Gnome, CUPS and Java). Since then, however, I haven't been able to find a working OO.o binary package for FreeBSD, so I haven't upgraded my OO.o version. I have found packages, but they don't work for me. I do always get ** (soffice:579): WARNING **: unable to get gail version number, but well, other things like Java in Firefox, or Acrobat Reader, also don't work, so I put those aside and will try again in some weeks. :-) It took about 15 seconds of manual count to see an empty window after typing openoffice.org-3.0.0 -nologo. Hardware is ... I'm not sure what you mean by this. Empty window? It doesn't show the splash screen. After 27 seconds, I get an empty word processing document window (Intel P4 2 GHz, 768 MB). If you need information about command line options, they can be obtained this way: % /usr/local/bin/openoffice.org-3.0.0-swriter -help The -nologo option is explained as don't show startup screen. In the usual unpolite way, there doesn't seem to be a man page. Documentation is stored arbitrarily on the Web. :-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 22:28:04 -0600, Chad Perrin per...@apotheon.com wrote: I've never had a client who wouldn't take either PDF or plain text. And five minutes later, they call you by phone and ask how they can edit the PDF file... :-) Just a friendly sidenote: On the other hand, clients who prefer Word DOC(X) but will take plain text if they must have a tendency to immediately open it in Word, save as DOC(X), then send the friggin' thing back to me in that format after making some changes. You are aware that there is not the DOC format? The many various Word programs use slightly different formats, and rendering a document heavily depends on the current environment Word is running in, e. g. which fonts are installed, even which printer is installed - all this can have influence on how the document is opened. Furthermore, the DOCX format isn't really an open format. It *claims* to be standardized, but it's not; even MICROS~1 didn't implement it properly, and there are still blobs inside the XML, which can lead to problems. There are many problems you can encounter in import/export settings. So the only way to be sure is to use a standardized format. I've worked in a setting where interoperability was the main goal, because there were BSD, Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X and even Windows machines, and our choice was OpenOffice, which worked excellently across the platforms. It wouldn't have been possible with MICROS~1 binary garbage in between. :-) I keep hoping the day will come when people who prefer MS Word are the rarity, rather than me being the odd man out. It *will* happen, just consider the costs and the growing uncomfortability of those programs (not counting those who regularly use pirated copies to have the same pictures at home as they know them from work). :-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
in message aanlktil2gpibf2n2bir_eewmbqxru5l8wln0ebqru...@mail.gmail.com, wrote Alejandro Imass thusly... On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 12:40 PM, Chip Camden sterl...@camdensoftware.com wrote: On Jun 07 2010 11:21, Anh Ky Huynh wrote: On Sun, 6 Jun 2010 13:34:16 -0700 Chip Camden sterl...@camdensoftware.com wrote: ... Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. There are some tips to speed up your Ooo. But if your Ooo took minute to start, I guess that your system has a low hardware? I wouldn't have thought that an Intel Core i3 M350 (2.27Ghz) with 4GB would be considered lo (sic) hardware. Everything else runs very quickly, even Windows 7 in VirtualBox. OOo is the only time I find myself waiting impatiently. ... Anyway, chack to see if you may have a broken Java implementation, and check to see if it's possible to get OO to work with Sun's JRE 6, and give that a go and see. I have a gut feeling your problem is related to a broken Java VM somewhere in your machine. Am I the only one who has (force) installed open office from package without java dependency and has yet to see a problem with MS Word simple Excel files? It took about 15 seconds of manual count to see an empty window after typing openoffice.org-3.0.0 -nologo. Hardware is ... Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7100 @ 1.80GHz (1795.52-MHz 686-class CPU) ... avail memory = 3119153152 (2974 MB) ... ad4: 305245MB Hitachi HTS545032B9A300 PB3OC60G at ata2-master UDMA100 SATA 1.5Gb/s (5400 rpm) pkg_info -rx openoffice | sort -fu shows ... Dependency: atk-1.28.0 Dependency: bitstream-vera-1.10_4 Dependency: cairo-1.8.8_1,1 Dependency: compositeproto-0.4 Dependency: damageproto-1.1.0_2 Dependency: desktop-file-utils-0.15_1 Dependency: encodings-1.0.2,1 Dependency: expat-2.0.1_1 Dependency: fixesproto-4.0 Dependency: font-bh-ttf-1.0.0 Dependency: font-misc-ethiopic-1.0.0 Dependency: font-misc-meltho-1.0.0_1 Dependency: font-util-1.0.1 Dependency: fontconfig-2.8.0,1 Dependency: freetype2-2.3.11 Dependency: gamin-0.1.10_3 Dependency: gdbm-1.8.3_3 Dependency: gettext-0.17_1 Dependency: gio-fam-backend-2.22.4 Dependency: glib-2.22.4 Dependency: gnome-mime-data-2.18.0_3 Dependency: gnome_subr-1.0 Dependency: gtk-2.18.7_1 Dependency: hicolor-icon-theme-0.12 Dependency: icu-3.8.1_3 Dependency: inputproto-1.5.0 Dependency: jpeg-8_1 Dependency: kbproto-1.0.3 Dependency: libart_lgpl-2.3.20,1 Dependency: libfontenc-1.0.4 Dependency: libICE-1.0.4_1,1 Dependency: libiconv-1.13.1_1 Dependency: libpthread-stubs-0.3_3 Dependency: libSM-1.1.0_1,1 Dependency: libX11-1.2.1_1,1 Dependency: libXau-1.0.4 Dependency: libXaw-1.0.5_1,1 Dependency: libxcb-1.5 Dependency: libXcomposite-0.4.0,1 Dependency: libXcursor-1.1.9_1 Dependency: libXdamage-1.1.1 Dependency: libXdmcp-1.0.2_1 Dependency: libXext-1.0.5,1 Dependency: libXfixes-4.0.3_1 Dependency: libXft-2.1.14 Dependency: libXi-1.2.1,1 Dependency: libXinerama-1.0.3,1 Dependency: libxml2-2.7.6_2 Dependency: libXmu-1.0.4,1 Dependency: libXp-1.0.0,1 Dependency: libXpm-3.5.7 Dependency: libXrandr-1.3.0 Dependency: libXrender-0.9.4_1 Dependency: libXt-1.0.5_1 Dependency: mkfontdir-1.0.4 Dependency: mkfontscale-1.0.6 Dependency: pango-1.26.2_2 Dependency: pcre-8.00 Dependency: pixman-0.16.6 Dependency: pkg-config-0.23_1 Dependency: png-1.4.1_1 Dependency: printproto-1.0.4 Dependency: randrproto-1.3.0 Dependency: renderproto-0.9.3 Dependency: shared-mime-info-0.71 Dependency: tiff-3.9.2_1 Dependency: xcb-util-0.3.6_1 Dependency: xextproto-7.0.5 Dependency: xf86vidmodeproto-2.2.2 Dependency: xineramaproto-1.1.2 Dependency: xorg-fonts-truetype-7.4 Dependency: xproto-7.0.15 Depends on: Information for en-openoffice.org-US-3.0.0: - parv -- ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Jun 07 2010 22:12, Chris Hill wrote: On Mon, 7 Jun 2010, Chip Camden wrote: [...] I do have clients who send me Word docs, and one who requires that I send them specs in Word format. For that, I guess I'm stuck using some behemoth office tool, if only for converting from a different format. I'm currently doing that work on a Windows workstation, but I'd like to limit my involvement with Windows to only developing for it when I must. I have clients like that too. What I've done - only once or twice, and really just to be a dick - is to do my writeup in ASCII text, then `mv foo foo.doc`. There, it's in word format! And Word really can open the file, so... That's great -- I'll have to remember that one. -- Sterling (Chip) Camden | camdensoftware.com | chipstips.com | chipsquips.com ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On 08/06/2010 15:43:42, p...@pair.com wrote: Am I the only one who has (force) installed open office from package without java dependency and has yet to see a problem with MS Word simple Excel files? It took about 15 seconds of manual count to see an empty window after typing openoffice.org-3.0.0 -nologo. Hardware is ... Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7100 @ 1.80GHz (1795.52-MHz 686-class CPU) ... avail memory = 3119153152 (2974 MB) ... ad4: 305245MB Hitachi HTS545032B9A300 PB3OC60G at ata2-master UDMA100 SATA 1.5Gb/s (5400 rpm) I wonder about that. I'm sure there are quite a few pkgs where some of the registered dependencies are really optional, and the same pkg would work either with or without them. I know that databases/phpMyAdmin, which I maintain is like that. I did spend some time reading up on 'pkg_add -M' and 'pkg_add -S' -- in theory it should be possible to use pkg_add -M to extract the pkg contents, feed that into the stdin of a script, which pops up a dialogue allowing you to make those choices, edits the pkg on the way past and then feeds it to 'pkg_add -S' for final installation. Can't see how to force something like that to happen from a normal invocation of pkg_add(1) though. Would be a nice addition -- you could also emulate NOPORTDOCS and NOPORTEXAMPLES, except entirely with pkgs that way. Cheers, Matthew - -- Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 7 Priory Courtyard Flat 3 PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Ramsgate JID: matt...@infracaninophile.co.uk Kent, CT11 9PW -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG/MacGPG2 v2.0.14 (Darwin) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ iEYEARECAAYFAkwOZC0ACgkQ8Mjk52CukIxSRQCfV1yFrs2zzeI2RRC6qg4EJdzT BYAAnRbLFM6VWVb6dhY4G6NAWAvoFn2G =Oms2 -END PGP SIGNATURE- ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Tue, Jun 08, 2010 at 03:55:40PM +0200, Polytropon wrote: On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 22:28:04 -0600, Chad Perrin per...@apotheon.com wrote: I've never had a client who wouldn't take either PDF or plain text. And five minutes later, they call you by phone and ask how they can edit the PDF file... :-) Hah. Good point. . . . though in cases where they'll take PDF, it's usually for something like an invoice, so this doesn't come up much in practice. Just a friendly sidenote: On the other hand, clients who prefer Word DOC(X) but will take plain text if they must have a tendency to immediately open it in Word, save as DOC(X), then send the friggin' thing back to me in that format after making some changes. You are aware that there is not the DOC format? The many various Word programs use slightly different formats, and rendering a document heavily depends on the current environment Word is running in, e. g. which fonts are installed, even which printer is installed - all this can have influence on how the document is opened. Yeah, I'm fully aware. That's why I said DOC(X) -- because it's DOC (any version) or DOCX. It's easier to say DOC(X) than some variation of DOC or DOCX. Furthermore, the DOCX format isn't really an open format. It *claims* to be standardized, but it's not; even MICROS~1 didn't implement it properly, and there are still blobs inside the XML, which can lead to problems. I think Microsoft's mis-implementation (according to the standard) was quite intentional. There are many problems you can encounter in import/export settings. So the only way to be sure is to use a standardized format. My preference is plaintext. It doesn't get much more standard than that. I've worked in a setting where interoperability was the main goal, because there were BSD, Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X and even Windows machines, and our choice was OpenOffice, which worked excellently across the platforms. It wouldn't have been possible with MICROS~1 binary garbage in between. :-) OpenOffice.org is a heinous snarl of cat hair and feces, from my perspective. It's little better than MS Office, frankly. Your mileage obviously varies. I keep hoping the day will come when people who prefer MS Word are the rarity, rather than me being the odd man out. It *will* happen, just consider the costs and the growing uncomfortability of those programs (not counting those who regularly use pirated copies to have the same pictures at home as they know them from work). :-) Actually, pirating is one of the main reasons MS Office is the dominant office suite in general use -- just as it is with MS Windows, too. There's not as much reason to switch to something free when the Microsoft option is free too. This might seem like kind of a foreign concept to many users of open source software, but I've discovered that even when they don't *respect* copyright law, open source software users and developers tend to *follow* copyright law a lot more diligently than the general run of computer-using humanity. From what I've seen, people who use nothing but Microsoft, Adobe, and similar relentlessly closed-source consumer software are much more likely to think *nothing* of downloading cracked versions of commercial software than open source software users. That includes people like me, who simply don't use pirated software and believe that copyright law as a whole is a suppurating pustule on the face of modern civilization. Then, of course, if I get into a discussion of the ethicality of copyright law with one of those hypocrites, he almost invariably ends up accusing me of rejecting the ethicality of copyright law for no deeper reason other than trying to justify stealing. Ironic -- don't you think? I'm a bit off-topic. Here's the on-topic: I wish I'd find a foolproof, simple, transparent way for me to see and edit well-formatted plain text no matter what nonsense bloated featuritis infected office suite anyone else wanted to use. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] pgp8wDeyLMArT.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: office apps
On Tue, Jun 08, 2010 at 08:16:03AM -0700, Chip Camden wrote: On Jun 07 2010 22:12, Chris Hill wrote: On Mon, 7 Jun 2010, Chip Camden wrote: [...] I do have clients who send me Word docs, and one who requires that I send them specs in Word format. For that, I guess I'm stuck using some behemoth office tool, if only for converting from a different format. I'm currently doing that work on a Windows workstation, but I'd like to limit my involvement with Windows to only developing for it when I must. I have clients like that too. What I've done - only once or twice, and really just to be a dick - is to do my writeup in ASCII text, then `mv foo foo.doc`. There, it's in word format! And Word really can open the file, so... That's great -- I'll have to remember that one. I sorta did that once. I sent someone a plaintext file. He double clicked the file, causing it to automatically open in Notepad, which puked on my Unix-style linebreaks. He asked me to give it to him in DOC format. I said he should just open it in another application, at which point he gave me his pathetic sob story about how he always double clicked a file to open it and if it doesn't work that way he can't open the file et cetera, et alii, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. To make a long story short (too late), I changed the filename from filename.txt to filename.doc and sent it to him again. He double-clicked, and it automatically opened the file in Word. I still find the gall of the man kind of surprising, demanding that I find some way to save the file in DOC format and re-email it to him when he could just open MS Word and use File Open to browse to the file. I seem to recall he didn't want to be bothered figuring out how to Save As to change it into DOC format himself, either, even if he did get it open in MS Word, which makes the whole situation even more bizarre and aggravating for me. It was just the once that I did that, though. Aside from 1) requests for resumes and 2) files that I originally got from someone else in MS Office file formats, I haven't really had any need to deal with the DOC(X) and other MS Office formats. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] pgpe9RB87YOA8.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: office apps
On Tue, Jun 08, 2010 at 04:43:42AM -1000, p...@pair.com wrote: in message aanlktil2gpibf2n2bir_eewmbqxru5l8wln0ebqru...@mail.gmail.com, wrote Alejandro Imass thusly... Anyway, chack to see if you may have a broken Java implementation, and check to see if it's possible to get OO to work with Sun's JRE 6, and give that a go and see. I have a gut feeling your problem is related to a broken Java VM somewhere in your machine. Am I the only one who has (force) installed open office from package without java dependency and has yet to see a problem with MS Word simple Excel files? With my old OO.o install (from package, not port), I haven't had any problems. The thing even exports to PDF without Java. Since then, however, I haven't been able to find a working OO.o binary package for FreeBSD, so I haven't upgraded my OO.o version. It took about 15 seconds of manual count to see an empty window after typing openoffice.org-3.0.0 -nologo. Hardware is ... I'm not sure what you mean by this. Empty window? -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] pgpTnuiBSPWfD.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: office apps
Charlie Kester corky1...@comcast.net wrote: Can PowerPoint save to PDF, which is what almost everyone else seems to be using for presentations? Just about any app, including PPT, can print to PDF if Acrobat is installed. Without Acrobat, print-to-file specifying a PostScript printer (e.g. an Apple LaserWriter) will produce a PostScript file, which you can make into a PDF using ps2pdf. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Sun, 6 Jun 2010 13:34:16 -0700 Chip Camden sterl...@camdensoftware.com wrote: This might not be the right list for this question -- if so, please slap me over to the right one. Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. Short of the full suite, how about just a spreadsheet program that supports complex formulas and charting? If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. You can use Softmaker products. They are not free but are MS-OO compatible, fast and linux version works fine under FreeBSD. Demo version works for a month. http://www.softmaker.com/english/ (Note that i'm not a Softmaker worker, only a user) HTH ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 1:56 AM, Mike Jeays mike.je...@rogers.com wrote: Short of the full suite, how about just a spreadsheet program that supports complex formulas and charting? If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. Gnumeric provides a good spreadsheet, although it does need X11. It supports charting, with a good variety of options. It installed very quickly on a Linux system, seems much lighter than OpenOffice Calc, and it starts much more quickly than Calc. math/sc is a text-only (ncurses-based) version of VisiCalc. It could use some improvements though, but it's fine for small quick-n-dirty jobs. pkg_add -r gnumeric should install it for you. -cpghost. -- Cordula's Web. http://www.cordula.ws/ ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Jun 06 2010 21:56, Chad Perrin wrote: On Sun, Jun 06, 2010 at 01:34:16PM -0700, Chip Camden wrote: Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. Short of the full suite, how about just a spreadsheet program that supports complex formulas and charting? If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. It may be a little late to ask -- but I notice nobody else addressed the matter: Does your OO.o replacement have to be somewhat compatible with MS Office? If so . . . does it have to be two-way compatible? There are options for one-way compatibility (e.g., catdoc for turning MS Word files into plain text), but for being able to interoperate to roughly arbitrary degrees with users of MS Office I'm not aware of anything other than OO.o, KOffice, and whatever GNOME's using, that would work for the purposes you described. Maybe someone else can comment on the suitability of recent versions of Abiword and Gnumeric (for instance). Ever since it essentially stopped being possible to install OO.o from a binary package on FreeBSD for me (at least without also installing Java), I've dreaded the day I will no longer have the venerable OO.o install from way back when and some jackass expects me to talk back and forth via MS Excel. I loathe applications written in VBA, to put it mildly, and only my loathing for MS Windows and MS Office has kept that ancient OO.o install on one of my computers for so long. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] That's a very good point. For most of what I need to do, it's not an issue. But I do have clients who send me Word docs, and one who requires that I send them specs in Word format. For that, I guess I'm stuck using some behemoth office tool, if only for converting from a different format. I'm currently doing that work on a Windows workstation, but I'd like to limit my involvement with Windows to only developing for it when I must. -- Sterling (Chip) Camden | camdensoftware.com | chipstips.com | chipsquips.com ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Jun 07 2010 11:21, Anh Ky Huynh wrote: On Sun, 6 Jun 2010 13:34:16 -0700 Chip Camden sterl...@camdensoftware.com wrote: This might not be the right list for this question -- if so, please slap me over to the right one. Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. There are some tips to speed up your Ooo. But if your Ooo took minute to start, I guess that your system has a low hardware? I wouldn't have thought that an Intel Core i3 M350 (2.27Ghz) with 4GB would be considered lo (sic) hardware. Everything else runs very quickly, even Windows 7 in VirtualBox. OOo is the only time I find myself waiting impatiently. For short/unstructure documents, I suggest you to use Ooo (it slows but you can type the document quickly:D) For long/structure documents, LaTeX is a good choice. It is said that ConTeXt is good replacement of LaTeX but I have never tried it. Short of the full suite, how about just a spreadsheet program that supports complex formulas and charting? If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. Have you ever tried Google Spreadsheet or something like that? I'm not quite ready to hand all my confidential documents over to Google's servers. -- Sterling (Chip) Camden | camdensoftware.com | chipstips.com | chipsquips.com ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 12:40 PM, Chip Camden sterl...@camdensoftware.com wrote: On Jun 07 2010 11:21, Anh Ky Huynh wrote: On Sun, 6 Jun 2010 13:34:16 -0700 Chip Camden sterl...@camdensoftware.com wrote: This might not be the right list for this question -- if so, please slap me over to the right one. Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. There are some tips to speed up your Ooo. But if your Ooo took minute to start, I guess that your system has a low hardware? I wouldn't have thought that an Intel Core i3 M350 (2.27Ghz) with 4GB would be considered lo (sic) hardware. Everything else runs very quickly, even Windows 7 in VirtualBox. OOo is the only time I find myself waiting impatiently. Well, now that I recall I had a similar issue with the Android SDK under Linux, and it's related to your problem because OO uses gjc (the GNU Java implementation) as a pre-requisite and Eclipse was using _that_ instead of the Sun jdk I had installed. Well the issue is that Eclipse _took FOREVER_ to start, much like what you are describiong right now with OO (albeit I use FBSD with OO in older hw w/ no problems). Anyway, chack to see if you may have a broken Java implementation, and check to see if it's possible to get OO to work with Sun's JRE 6, and give that a go and see. I have a gut feeling your problem is related to a broken Java VM somewhere in your machine. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On 07/06/2010 17:34:56, Chip Camden wrote: For most of what I need to do, it's not an issue. But I do have clients who send me Word docs, and one who requires that I send them specs in Word format. For that, I guess I'm stuck using some behemoth office tool, if only for converting from a different format. I'm currently doing that work on a Windows workstation, but I'd like to limit my involvement with Windows to only developing for it when I must. Heh. Do you always remember to save your MS Office documents in such a way that it clears the history before you e-mail them out? Many times taking a document and hitting 'Undo' a few times can reveal all sorts of stuff that you probably wouldn't have wanted to be made public. Lots of places refuse to permit sending out MS Office documents for that specific reason: PDF is generally acceptable even to the most unenlightened Windows users. Ideally though it should be possible to use an open standard, like XHTML or SVG, so the recipients could edit it themselves if needed. Cheers, Matthew - -- Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 7 Priory Courtyard Flat 3 PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Ramsgate JID: matt...@infracaninophile.co.uk Kent, CT11 9PW -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG/MacGPG2 v2.0.14 (Darwin) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ iEYEARECAAYFAkwNKX8ACgkQ8Mjk52CukIxuSACeNhy17dld4767KDvjkNMfvgYz S80Aniw8Qzy6PN2tVRlQ1e0VHlDILsHs =ewPz -END PGP SIGNATURE- ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Jun 07 2010 12:54, Alejandro Imass wrote: On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 12:40 PM, Chip Camden sterl...@camdensoftware.com wrote: On Jun 07 2010 11:21, Anh Ky Huynh wrote: On Sun, 6 Jun 2010 13:34:16 -0700 Chip Camden sterl...@camdensoftware.com wrote: This might not be the right list for this question -- if so, please slap me over to the right one. Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. There are some tips to speed up your Ooo. But if your Ooo took minute to start, I guess that your system has a low hardware? I wouldn't have thought that an Intel Core i3 M350 (2.27Ghz) with 4GB would be considered lo (sic) hardware. Everything else runs very quickly, even Windows 7 in VirtualBox. OOo is the only time I find myself waiting impatiently. Well, now that I recall I had a similar issue with the Android SDK under Linux, and it's related to your problem because OO uses gjc (the GNU Java implementation) as a pre-requisite and Eclipse was using _that_ instead of the Sun jdk I had installed. Well the issue is that Eclipse _took FOREVER_ to start, much like what you are describiong right now with OO (albeit I use FBSD with OO in older hw w/ no problems). Anyway, chack to see if you may have a broken Java implementation, and check to see if it's possible to get OO to work with Sun's JRE 6, and give that a go and see. I have a gut feeling your problem is related to a broken Java VM somewhere in your machine. That's a good clue -- I'll let you know what I find out. -- Sterling (Chip) Camden | camdensoftware.com | chipstips.com | chipsquips.com ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Jun 07 2010 18:16, Matthew Seaman wrote: -BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On 07/06/2010 17:34:56, Chip Camden wrote: For most of what I need to do, it's not an issue. But I do have clients who send me Word docs, and one who requires that I send them specs in Word format. For that, I guess I'm stuck using some behemoth office tool, if only for converting from a different format. I'm currently doing that work on a Windows workstation, but I'd like to limit my involvement with Windows to only developing for it when I must. Heh. Do you always remember to save your MS Office documents in such a way that it clears the history before you e-mail them out? Many times taking a document and hitting 'Undo' a few times can reveal all sorts of stuff that you probably wouldn't have wanted to be made public. Lots of places refuse to permit sending out MS Office documents for that specific reason: PDF is generally acceptable even to the most unenlightened Windows users. Ideally though it should be possible to use an open standard, like XHTML or SVG, so the recipients could edit it themselves if needed. I'm not fond of Word format in the least. I've mentioned these kinds of vulnerabilities and others, but some clients are stubbornly clinging to old ways. That said, one of the clients I'm thinking about is exploring the idea of using a wiki instead of trading documents -- a move that I am encouraging vehemently. -- Sterling (Chip) Camden | camdensoftware.com | chipstips.com | chipsquips.com ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Mon, 7 Jun 2010, Chip Camden wrote: For most of what I need to do, it's not an issue. But I do have clients who send me Word docs, and one who requires that I send them specs in Word format. For that, I guess I'm stuck using some behemoth office tool, if only for converting from a different format. I'm currently doing that work on a Windows workstation, but I'd like to limit my involvement with Windows to only developing for it when I must. The genuine Office runs in most of its appalling glory on Wine. Starts up far quicker than OO.o, too. -Warren Block * Rapid City, South Dakota USA ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Sun, 6 Jun 2010 21:56:50 -0600, Chad Perrin per...@apotheon.com wrote: There are options for one-way compatibility (e.g., catdoc for turning MS Word files into plain text), but for being able to interoperate to roughly arbitrary degrees with users of MS Office I'm not aware of anything other than OO.o, KOffice, and whatever GNOME's using, that would work for the purposes you described. And don't forget there's also StarOffice, the program it all began with. :-) Ever since it essentially stopped being possible to install OO.o from a binary package on FreeBSD for me (at least without also installing Java), I've dreaded the day I will no longer have the venerable OO.o install from way back when and some jackass expects me to talk back and forth via MS Excel. In the past, OpenOffice provided localized binary packages, and you could e. g. pkg_add -r de-openoffice to install the german version of OpenOffice, including dictionary. Thanks to today's modern software this isn't possible anymore, simply due to the many options you NEED to set at compile-time, and things like a dictionary need to be added afterwards manually. So compiling OpenOffice is your only chance to get it, except there is someone who did compile it for you with the correct options (e. g. regarding the use of Java, CUPS, Gnome, KDE, and so on). -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Jun 07 2010 12:14, Warren Block wrote: On Mon, 7 Jun 2010, Chip Camden wrote: For most of what I need to do, it's not an issue. But I do have clients who send me Word docs, and one who requires that I send them specs in Word format. For that, I guess I'm stuck using some behemoth office tool, if only for converting from a different format. I'm currently doing that work on a Windows workstation, but I'd like to limit my involvement with Windows to only developing for it when I must. The genuine Office runs in most of its appalling glory on Wine. Starts up far quicker than OO.o, too. -Warren Block * Rapid City, South Dakota USA Thanks, but no thanks. I can't type and drive a stake at the same time. Seriously, I'd like to avoid polluting my precious FreeBSD system with Microsoft bits, unless it's within a VM. -- Sterling (Chip) Camden | camdensoftware.com | chipstips.com | chipsquips.com ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 00:44:45 -0400, Alejandro Imass a...@p2ee.org wrote: Latex Beamer rules! In LaTeX, use foils class. Use the final product with % xpdf -fullscreen filename It just works, and additionally rules. :-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
From owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org Sun Jun 6 23:47:34 2010
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2010 00:44:45 -0400
From: Alejandro Imass a...@p2ee.org
To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: office apps
On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 12:38 AM, Charlie Kester corky1...@comcast.net wro=
te:
On Sun 06 Jun 2010 at 20:56:50 PDT Chad Perrin wrote:
[...]
I'm not sure what to do with PPT's. =A0Can PowerPoint save to PDF, which
is what almost everyone else seems to be using for presentations?
Latex Beamer rules!
But, that's such an -upscale- solution!
For the proletariat, how about a good oil-based VolksWriter?
{{ taking bets with my self on (a) how many recognize the pun, and (b) how
many people even -remember- VolksWriter :) }}
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Re: office apps
On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 13:34, Robert Bonomi bon...@mail.r-bonomi.com wrote:
From owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org Sun Jun 6 23:47:34 2010
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2010 00:44:45 -0400
From: Alejandro Imass a...@p2ee.org
To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: office apps
On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 12:38 AM, Charlie Kester corky1...@comcast.net wro=
te:
On Sun 06 Jun 2010 at 20:56:50 PDT Chad Perrin wrote:
[...]
I'm not sure what to do with PPT's. =A0Can PowerPoint save to PDF, which
is what almost everyone else seems to be using for presentations?
Latex Beamer rules!
But, that's such an -upscale- solution!
For the proletariat, how about a good oil-based VolksWriter?
{{ taking bets with my self on (a) how many recognize the pun, and (b) how
many people even -remember- VolksWriter :) }}
Never played with VolksWriter, but recognize the name. Of course, I'm
very unhappy about the pun - because you came up with it a-hood of me!
Heh.
Kurt
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Re: office apps
On Jun 06 2010 19:56, Mike Jeays wrote: On June 6, 2010 04:34:16 pm Chip Camden wrote: This might not be the right list for this question -- if so, please slap me over to the right one. Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. Short of the full suite, how about just a spreadsheet program that supports complex formulas and charting? If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. Gnumeric provides a good spreadsheet, although it does need X11. It supports charting, with a good variety of options. It installed very quickly on a Linux system, seems much lighter than OpenOffice Calc, and it starts much more quickly than Calc. pkg_add -r gnumeric should install it for you. Gnumeric *is* nice and quick. I'll use that for SS until I find something better. Thanks! -- Sterling (Chip) Camden | camdensoftware.com | chipstips.com | chipsquips.com ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 4:34 PM, Robert Bonomi bon...@mail.r-bonomi.com wrote:
From owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org Sun Jun 6 23:47:34 2010
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2010 00:44:45 -0400
From: Alejandro Imass a...@p2ee.org
To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: office apps
On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 12:38 AM, Charlie Kester corky1...@comcast.net wro=
te:
On Sun 06 Jun 2010 at 20:56:50 PDT Chad Perrin wrote:
[...]
I'm not sure what to do with PPT's. =A0Can PowerPoint save to PDF, which
is what almost everyone else seems to be using for presentations?
Latex Beamer rules!
But, that's such an -upscale- solution!
For the proletariat, how about a good oil-based VolksWriter?
Nahh, man. Beamer is easy as 123, once everything is installed. All
you need is a decent text editor and voilá, beatifulk, meaninful,
well-structred presentations! and in PDF, plus it's easy to make
hand-outs and other advanced stuff. The Beamer book is ver extensive,
but I would be happy to post an example beamer presentation here if
you want.
{{ taking bets with my self on (a) how many recognize the pun, and (b) how
many people even -remember- VolksWriter :) }}
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Re: office apps
On Mon, Jun 07, 2010 at 11:49:37AM +0200, Eduardo wrote: You can use Softmaker products. They are not free but are MS-OO compatible, fast and linux version works fine under FreeBSD. Demo version works for a month. http://www.softmaker.com/english/ Interesting. It looks like SoftMaker Office is in the ports tree, at: /usr/ports/editors/softmaker-office I'll have to consider whether it's worth investigating as an alternative to OO.o for my own purposes. I'd rather not spend money on something that I never use except when someone else forces me to do so, against my better judgment and preferences, but it might be worth a few dollars to avoid the annoyance of dealing with OO.o on the rare occasion that I do need something MS Office compatible. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] pgpcI4JtLyvC0.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: office apps
Just an FYI here folks. If one has gmail, we can Preview these Documents via the web browsers :) But I believe that we are ok with the office apps that we have :) koffice(kword,kspread, kpresenter, ...) goffice(abiword, gnumeric, ..., ) OO(openoffice-writer,... ) There is GO OO which is a smaller version of OpenOffice, don't know if it is in the ports or not? Several persons have named TeX/LaTeX , but I *wonder* when TeXLive will replace TeTEX on FreeBSD? NetBSD/OpenBSD already have it, what is taking them too long to include them officially? I know about the builds, and google-code, but it is still not the same :(, like you would get from other systems . Regards, Antonio On 6/8/10, Chad Perrin per...@apotheon.com wrote: On Mon, Jun 07, 2010 at 11:49:37AM +0200, Eduardo wrote: You can use Softmaker products. They are not free but are MS-OO compatible, fast and linux version works fine under FreeBSD. Demo version works for a month. http://www.softmaker.com/english/ Interesting. It looks like SoftMaker Office is in the ports tree, at: /usr/ports/editors/softmaker-office I'll have to consider whether it's worth investigating as an alternative to OO.o for my own purposes. I'd rather not spend money on something that I never use except when someone else forces me to do so, against my better judgment and preferences, but it might be worth a few dollars to avoid the annoyance of dealing with OO.o on the rare occasion that I do need something MS Office compatible. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Mon, 7 Jun 2010, Chip Camden wrote: [...] I do have clients who send me Word docs, and one who requires that I send them specs in Word format. For that, I guess I'm stuck using some behemoth office tool, if only for converting from a different format. I'm currently doing that work on a Windows workstation, but I'd like to limit my involvement with Windows to only developing for it when I must. I have clients like that too. What I've done - only once or twice, and really just to be a dick - is to do my writeup in ASCII text, then `mv foo foo.doc`. There, it's in word format! And Word really can open the file, so... -- Chris Hill ch...@monochrome.org ** [ Busy Expunging | ] ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Tue, Jun 08, 2010 at 12:29:08AM +, Antonio Olivares wrote: But I believe that we are ok with the office apps that we have :) koffice(kword,kspread, kpresenter, ...) goffice(abiword, gnumeric, ..., ) OO(openoffice-writer,... ) There is GO OO which is a smaller version of OpenOffice, don't know if it is in the ports or not? I'm not any kind of fan of OO.o, thanks to its weight, slowness, Java-dependent build process, lack of binary availability, obtuse interface (much like MS Office's), and so on. I don't feel the need to install all of KDE or GNOME just to get a word processor and spreadsheet program I might use a couple times a year. I don't think Go-oo is smaller than OO.o, though it is reportedly a lot faster. Of course, it's not in ports, and I'm not keen on building something roughly the size of OO.o just to find out if it runs a little faster, so I don't know personally whether that's true. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] pgpRCOIiQyafA.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: office apps
On Mon, Jun 07, 2010 at 10:12:44PM -0400, Chris Hill wrote: On Mon, 7 Jun 2010, Chip Camden wrote: [...] I do have clients who send me Word docs, and one who requires that I send them specs in Word format. For that, I guess I'm stuck using some behemoth office tool, if only for converting from a different format. I'm currently doing that work on a Windows workstation, but I'd like to limit my involvement with Windows to only developing for it when I must. I have clients like that too. What I've done - only once or twice, and really just to be a dick - is to do my writeup in ASCII text, then `mv foo foo.doc`. There, it's in word format! And Word really can open the file, so... I've never had a client who wouldn't take either PDF or plain text. On the other hand, clients who prefer Word DOC(X) but will take plain text if they must have a tendency to immediately open it in Word, save as DOC(X), then send the friggin' thing back to me in that format after making some changes. I keep hoping the day will come when people who prefer MS Word are the rarity, rather than me being the odd man out. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] pgpHL7WcOZkFm.pgp Description: PGP signature
office apps
This might not be the right list for this question -- if so, please slap me over to the right one. Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. Short of the full suite, how about just a spreadsheet program that supports complex formulas and charting? If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. -- Sterling (Chip) Camden | camdensoftware.com | chipstips.com | chipsquips.com ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Sun, 6 Jun 2010 13:34:16 -0700, Chip Camden sterl...@camdensoftware.com wrote: This might not be the right list for this question -- if so, please slap me over to the right one. Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. There are office conglomerates both for KDE and Gnome, KOffice and GOffice. If you already have either of them installed, you may try this. An acceptable stand-alone word processor is Abiword. Short of the full suite, how about just a spreadsheet program that supports complex formulas and charting? Gnumeric. If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. CVS for data, C or awk for processing, gnuplot for plotting. :-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
personally i use editors/ted for word processing. it's simple and efficient. if you decide to try it out be sure to comment out the openmotif stuff in the makefile so it gets linked to gtk2. cheers. alex -- Alexander Best ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Sun, Jun 06, 2010 at 10:38:26PM +0200, Polytropon wrote: On Sun, 6 Jun 2010 13:34:16 -0700, Chip Camden sterl...@camdensoftware.com wrote: This might not be the right list for this question -- if so, please slap me over to the right one. Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. Indeed. There are office conglomerates both for KDE and Gnome, KOffice and GOffice. If you already have either of them installed, you may try this. An acceptable stand-alone word processor is Abiword. Don't forget LaTeX! Especially since it is quite easy for scripting languages to generate LaTeX code (automation). Short of the full suite, how about just a spreadsheet program that supports complex formulas and charting? Gnumeric. Second that. Especially for quick dirty jobs. If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. CVS for data, C or awk for processing, gnuplot for plotting. :-) For real data munching, programming languages do a much better job indeed. May I also suggest Perl, Lua and Python al alternatives to C and awk? And 'make' to tie everything together. Unless your machine is severely underpowered or your datasets are _huge_, scripting languages tend to be fast enough for data processing, IMHO. The general weakness of office suites is _automation_, something that programs following the UNIX philosophy excel at. (pardon the pun). Quoting Doug McIlroy: This is the Unix philosophy: Write programs that do one thing and do it well. Write programs to work together. Write programs to handle text streams, because that is a universal interface. Roland -- R.F.Smith http://www.xs4all.nl/~rsmith/ [plain text _non-HTML_ PGP/GnuPG encrypted/signed email much appreciated] pgp: 1A2B 477F 9970 BA3C 2914 B7CE 1277 EFB0 C321 A725 (KeyID: C321A725) pgpha4vcXIfxx.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: office apps
On Sun, 6 Jun 2010 23:03:11 +0200, Roland Smith rsm...@xs4all.nl wrote: Don't forget LaTeX! Especially since it is quite easy for scripting languages to generate LaTeX code (automation). Oh, but *I* didn't forget LaTeX. The OP requested a word processor, not a typesetting system (which is the next evolutionary step). :-) But you are right: LaTeX is excellent because it does all the things right that word processors do get right after you invested several hours configuring them, or don't get it right at all. In this relation, LyX should also be mentioned, a kind of WYSIWYG interface to LaTeX (inaccurately spoken). If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. CVS for data, C or awk for processing, gnuplot for plotting. :-) For real data munching, programming languages do a much better job indeed. Especially if efficiency is a topic (number crunching), nothing beats native binary code. May I also suggest Perl, Lua and Python al alternatives to C and awk? Especially Perl is worth mentioning. And 'make' to tie everything together. Totally agreed; I also (ab)use it for controlling tasks (like making web pages out of statistical data). Unless your machine is severely underpowered or your datasets are _huge_, scripting languages tend to be fast enough for data processing, IMHO. And of course a bit more comfortable to use. The general weakness of office suites is _automation_, something that programs following the UNIX philosophy excel at. (pardon the pun). Quoting Doug McIlroy: This is the Unix philosophy: Write programs that do one thing and do it well. Write programs to work together. Write programs to handle text streams, because that is a universal interface. A nice summary. And true. -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On June 6, 2010 04:34:16 pm Chip Camden wrote: This might not be the right list for this question -- if so, please slap me over to the right one. Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. Short of the full suite, how about just a spreadsheet program that supports complex formulas and charting? If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. Gnumeric provides a good spreadsheet, although it does need X11. It supports charting, with a good variety of options. It installed very quickly on a Linux system, seems much lighter than OpenOffice Calc, and it starts much more quickly than Calc. pkg_add -r gnumeric should install it for you. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Sun, Jun 6, 2010 at 4:34 PM, Chip Camden sterl...@camdensoftware.com wrote: This might not be the right list for this question -- if so, please slap me over to the right one. Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. Short of the full suite, how about just a spreadsheet program that supports complex formulas and charting? If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. Use Abiword wor word processing or Emacs + PSGML + ispell for DocBook ;-) Gnumeric for Spreadsheet Latex Beamer for Presentations I wish there would be a ban on integrated stuff ;-) Best, Alejandro Imass -- Sterling (Chip) Camden | camdensoftware.com | chipstips.com | chipsquips.com ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Sun, Jun 06, 2010 at 01:34:16PM -0700, Chip Camden wrote: Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. Short of the full suite, how about just a spreadsheet program that supports complex formulas and charting? If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. It may be a little late to ask -- but I notice nobody else addressed the matter: Does your OO.o replacement have to be somewhat compatible with MS Office? If so . . . does it have to be two-way compatible? There are options for one-way compatibility (e.g., catdoc for turning MS Word files into plain text), but for being able to interoperate to roughly arbitrary degrees with users of MS Office I'm not aware of anything other than OO.o, KOffice, and whatever GNOME's using, that would work for the purposes you described. Maybe someone else can comment on the suitability of recent versions of Abiword and Gnumeric (for instance). Ever since it essentially stopped being possible to install OO.o from a binary package on FreeBSD for me (at least without also installing Java), I've dreaded the day I will no longer have the venerable OO.o install from way back when and some jackass expects me to talk back and forth via MS Excel. I loathe applications written in VBA, to put it mildly, and only my loathing for MS Windows and MS Office has kept that ancient OO.o install on one of my computers for so long. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] pgphl8gVuRlj3.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: office apps
On Sun, 6 Jun 2010 13:34:16 -0700 Chip Camden sterl...@camdensoftware.com wrote: This might not be the right list for this question -- if so, please slap me over to the right one. Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. There are some tips to speed up your Ooo. But if your Ooo took minute to start, I guess that your system has a low hardware? For short/unstructure documents, I suggest you to use Ooo (it slows but you can type the document quickly:D) For long/structure documents, LaTeX is a good choice. It is said that ConTeXt is good replacement of LaTeX but I have never tried it. Short of the full suite, how about just a spreadsheet program that supports complex formulas and charting? If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. Have you ever tried Google Spreadsheet or something like that? -- Anh Ky Huynh ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Sun 06 Jun 2010 at 20:56:50 PDT Chad Perrin wrote: On Sun, Jun 06, 2010 at 01:34:16PM -0700, Chip Camden wrote: Does anyone have a recommendation for a lighter-weight office suite? OOo is such a pig. It takes a good minute to start it up and open a spreadsheet. Short of the full suite, how about just a spreadsheet program that supports complex formulas and charting? If it could also be used without X11 when charting isn't needed, that would make my day. It may be a little late to ask -- but I notice nobody else addressed the matter: Does your OO.o replacement have to be somewhat compatible with MS Office? If so . . . does it have to be two-way compatible? There are options for one-way compatibility (e.g., catdoc for turning MS Word files into plain text), but for being able to interoperate to roughly arbitrary degrees with users of MS Office I'm not aware of anything other than OO.o, KOffice, and whatever GNOME's using, that would work for the purposes you described. Maybe someone else can comment on the suitability of recent versions of Abiword and Gnumeric (for instance). Ever since it essentially stopped being possible to install OO.o from a binary package on FreeBSD for me (at least without also installing Java), I've dreaded the day I will no longer have the venerable OO.o install from way back when and some jackass expects me to talk back and forth via MS Excel. I loathe applications written in VBA, to put it mildly, and only my loathing for MS Windows and MS Office has kept that ancient OO.o install on one of my computers for so long. Tell the jackasses that if they want to send you one of their Word docs, they should save it as PDF, or RTF if they want you to edit it. If it's an Excel doc, CSV. Sure, it means some of the Microsoft bells and whistles will get lost in the translation. Tough. They're like American tourists overseas, expecting everyone to speak their language and to be familiar with their provincial customs. I'm not sure what to do with PPT's. Can PowerPoint save to PDF, which is what almost everyone else seems to be using for presentations? ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 12:38 AM, Charlie Kester corky1...@comcast.net wrote: On Sun 06 Jun 2010 at 20:56:50 PDT Chad Perrin wrote: [...] I'm not sure what to do with PPT's. Can PowerPoint save to PDF, which is what almost everyone else seems to be using for presentations? Latex Beamer rules! ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: office apps
On Sun 06 Jun 2010 at 21:44:45 PDT Alejandro Imass wrote: On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 12:38 AM, Charlie Kester corky1...@comcast.net wrote: On Sun 06 Jun 2010 at 20:56:50 PDT Chad Perrin wrote: [...] I'm not sure what to do with PPT's. Can PowerPoint save to PDF, which is what almost everyone else seems to be using for presentations? Latex Beamer rules! Maybe so, but can the guy with PowerPoint send you something you work with in Beamer? (I'm not familiar with Beamer myself.) ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: GUI Email Clients || Office Apps
On Mon, 23 Sep 2002, MET wrote: Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 17:32:48 -0400 From: MET [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: GUI Email Clients || Office Apps 1) I'm wondering what people's favorite GUI email clients are that will run under KDE 3.0. Most KDE users I know who require a GUI mail client use KMail or Sylpheed. I'm ok with pine. JB # John Bleichert # http://vonbek.dhs.org/latest.jpg To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe freebsd-questions in the body of the message
Re: GUI Email Clients || Office Apps
On Mon, 23 Sep 2002 17:32:48 -0400 MET [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: 1) I'm wondering what people's favorite GUI email clients are that will run under KDE 3.0. I was pleased with Kmail, which is part of KDE but then switched to Sylpheed (it's in the ports) but both are quite nice. 2) What's the real difference between OpenOffice and StarOffice? I've only used StarOffice. Was even lucky enough to stumble across a bin of old books on clearout at a large department store and bought myself Sun StarOffice 5.1 for $19.99. A few hours with the book sure made my use of StarOffice more exciting! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Scary Gerry -- Senior Systems Manager [EMAIL PROTECTED] -For web-hosting, Perl, PHP MySql programming see http://www.interpool.ca -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe freebsd-questions in the body of the message
GUI Email Clients || Office Apps
1) I'm wondering what people's favorite GUI email clients are that will run under KDE 3.0. 2) What's the real difference between OpenOffice and StarOffice? ~ MET To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe freebsd-questions in the body of the message
Re: GUI Email Clients || Office Apps
On Mon, Sep 23, 2002 at 05:32:48PM -0400, MET wrote: 1) I'm wondering what people's favorite GUI email clients are that will run under KDE 3.0. No comment. Mutt really does suck less. :) 2) What's the real difference between OpenOffice and StarOffice? Not much, see http://www.openoffice.org/FAQs/mostfaqs.html#7. Certain items such as the spell checker are different due to third party licensing but provide the same functionality. And Sun provides support for StarOffice. -- Robin Damm [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe freebsd-questions in the body of the message
