On Thu, 2003-02-20 at 15:50, Russell Davies wrote: > ; Ie, I think this war is better won by making .doc on Linux *not* an > ; issue than an issue. > ; > ; After a while, we can stop sending the .docs and send each other .sxw > ; directly. > > That is fundamentally no better than using word documents,
Its significantly better. We're using an open documented format, that any application can support should it wish to. Even better, we're using a tool designed for the job, unlike HTML. OpenOffice has proper mechanisms for tracking changes in a document, far better support for a print oriented documents, spreadsheet functions, mail merging, etc. > what if my > friend running weirdos-3.14 can't run staroffice? Then he can: * Unzip the document and edit it with a text editor * Use XSLT to convert it to another format * Pay someone to implement OpenOffice on his platform. * Port OpenOffice to his platform himself There's only a slightly greater chance Weirdos 3.14 will have a standards compliant web browser. > Sure he can probably > more easily fiddle with .sxw than .doc, but the underlying assumption is > just as rude. This is why we should use standards that are Internet-wide. I disagree. I think we should use Open Standards that are widely accessible which are appropriate for the job. HTML is not. OpenOffice is. Mike > > r. -- ____________________________________________________________________________ Mike MacCana Consultant RHCE, MCSE, MCP+I Cybersource: Providing Quality IT Professional Services for 11 Years Specialists in Unix/Linux, TCP/IP and Web Application Development Level 4, 10 Queen St, Melbourne. Ph : 03 9621 2377 Fax: 03 9621 2477 -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
