On Sunday 14 October 2007 10:50:16 Jim Hartley wrote: > James Knott wrote: > > James wrote: > >> M Henri Day wrote: > >>> 2007/10/12, Mike B. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > >>>> At 10/11/2007 07:25 PM, you wrote: > >>>>> From another thread I see someone has suggested that docx > >>>>> support will be available in OOo v. 3 expected in 12 > >>>>> months. Frankly I think that is > >>>>> way too long to wait to be able to mix it with the big boy- > >>>>> not that I can offer any programming expertise to hurry it > >>>>> up! > >>>>> > >>>>> This is going to be a problem that spreads like the plague > >>>>> over the next 12 months as people get sucked into the > >>>>> "upgrade or perish" cycle and start spreading these things > >>>>> around like a virus! > >>>> > >>>> I think that MS has shot themselves in the foot trying to > >>>> upset OOo users. They may have switched to an incompatible > >>>> format to convince users that OOo is a bad idea, but since > >>>> most MS Office users can't, or won't, upgrade in the near > >>>> future, there will be a lot of MS's own customers who get > >>>> frustrated and annoyed too. This may be the software > >>>> equivalent of the PS2... > >>>> > >>>> For those who aren't old enough to understand that > >>>> reference, I'll explain. The rest, or those who don't care, > >>>> can just hit delete now... > >>>> > >>>> Back in the early days of the IBM PC, IBM wanted to get rid > >>>> of clone-makers...those making computers that were > >>>> compatible with IBM-PCs, but cost less and worse, didn't put > >>>> money directly into the pocket of IBM (they did put money > >>>> there indirectly, by creating a larger market for PCs and > >>>> thus "floating all boats"). IBM tried to stifle the PClones > >>>> through the BIOS, but lost that battle in court...which > >>>> determined that reverse engineering was legal, if done > >>>> properly. So IBM invented the Microchannel Buss, which they > >>>> patented and used as the basis of their new PS2 computer. > >>>> This was a new buss design that was better than the ISA buss > >>>> in many ways, and if you wanted to make cards for it you had > >>>> to buy a license from IBM. This added to the cost, and > >>>> there were rumors that IBM wouldn't sell licenses to those > >>>> making cards that competed with IBM's, but the extra cost > >>>> and physical incompatibilities with existing systems (both > >>>> IBM's and the PClones) was enough to put the general public > >>>> off the idea. The public stuck with the ISA and IBM was > >>>> stuck with a lot of PS2s that didn't have a very large > >>>> selection of expansion cards. The Microchannel buss died by > >>>> being too proprietary. It's too bad that IBM didn't manage > >>>> to keep the IBM-PC proprietary too...so that a *good* design > >>>> could have had the market instead. > >>>> > >>>> It may be that MS's new 2007 file formats are fighting too > >>>> large an established user base...both OOo and MS Office > >>>> prior to 2007...and don't offer enough good reason for > >>>> anyone to go through the expense of switching. Certainly > >>>> not in the short term...like the next year or two. If the > >>>> vast majority of users can't read them, those who do > >>>> "upgrade" to MS Office 2007 will just have to get used to > >>>> saving in 2003 or whatever format if they want to > >>>> communicate with the vast majority of users. > >>>> > >>>> This would be a good opportunity to try to educate "Joe > >>>> Sixpack" about the wisdom of standards...especially for file > >>>> formats...and that use of proprietary formats should be > >>>> avoided. Of course, given the number of posts I see on this > >>>> list from people who are paying for OOo or who can't > >>>> understand that OOo is NOT MS Office, it may be that many of > >>>> them *can't* be educated... > >>>> > >>>> -- Mike B. > >>>> -- > >>>> Slightly burned out, but still smokin'! > >>> > >>> Mike, I don't think the problem is that people can't be > >>> educated, but rather > >>> that there are so many «educators» around, who, for example, > >>> are «educating» > >>> them to believe that they absolutely *must* have the latest > >>> Microsoft «upgrade», for the sake of something called > >>> «productivity». The silver lining is that when people have to > >>> pay for something themselves, they tend > >>> to ask questions about whether what they get is worth the > >>> expenditure. Thus, > >>> the reluctance of many, in particular businesses, to > >>> «upgrade» to Vista. To > >>> my mind, the best thing we can do, is to support the > >>> initiative of the Globalisation Institute in Brussels (*not*, > >>> by the way, by any means a «socialist» organisation, but > >>> rather a strong advocate of «free markets»), > >>> which has suggested to the European Commission that within > >>> the EU, all computers must be sold without a bundled > >>> operating system, in order to promote competition in this > >>> vital area. More on this matter can be found here : > >>> *http://tinyurl.com/2oboej*.... > >>> > >>> Henri > >> > >> As a part-time <educator> in the Real Estate field & past > >> hardware & software designer (burned out) I, for one, am > >> promoting OO, Portable Apps & other GNU packages to my > >> students for the reasons of cost & compatibility. Until the > >> past few months a couple of major hardware vendors here in > >> California were also offering some Linux based boxes for $300 > >> and on sales as low as $150. Now I notice they have gone back > >> to M$ with Vhome on all their boxes which are now starting at > >> $350. The small drives on those boxes virtually guarantee > >> that within a service pack or two Vh will grow to, or beyond, > >> the capacity of those drives and the customers will be > >> "encouraged" to upgrade to "real" computer. I know a great > >> many people in America & other areas of the world owe their > >> livelihoods to M$ but I just have never been able to deal with > >> the arrogance, high handed business tactics & consistent > >> delivery of a defective product by that company. If hardware > >> had been as defective in the 60's we never would have made it > >> into space. For my part the GNU is well worth all the support > >> it can receive. > > > > Yesterday, I attended the "Ontario Linux Fest" in Toronto. One > > of the presenters described the efforts to provide computers to > > very low income high school students. They take donated > > computers and install Linux, including OpenOffice on them. One > > thing they do, is set the default file formats to MS Office. > > The reason they do this is, thanks to the contract the school > > board has with Microsoft, competing software, such as > > OpenOffice, is banned from school computers, so teachers cannot > > accept files in ODF. > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > >------ To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > I can see the problem they have and I sympathize. But if I were > doing it I would set the default to RTF (which the Word-users can > read) and NOT get them into the habit of doing DOC files. A tiny > step, yes, but anything that can be done to combat DOC files will > also help the fight against DOCX (OOXML) files and the absurd > OOXML wannabee standard. > > Jim Hartley
Another thing the schools there can do is just get Open Source Software and stop using MS software. The contract probably says they will not get MS software free or really cheap unless they use MS formats. They probably have the liberty to give up that free or really cheap MS software. The same group providing the computers to the families can also provide the software to the schools. I'm sure the IT people at the schools know how to use Linux. -- http://24.197.142.167/~jack/openofficefaq.php Read the OpenOffice.org FAQ Microsoft users go to http://www.pclinuxos.com for a great user friendly Linux experience! --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
