Re: [tdf-discuss] Re: Do not support writing to OOXML format

On 03/01/11 03:17, Larry Gusaas wrote:
> That is pure condescension. He is saying that because I do not write
> code my opinion is worthless and nobody will listen to me.

That is hardly condescension, merely a statement of fact. The reality
is, that if you or I want a greater say on matters such as these, the
best way is to become a contributor proper. To do so merely demonstrates
our qualifications to speak *authoritatively* on such matters.

Furthermore, what you're arguing for is the intentional crippling of
*LibreOffice* on political grounds! I suspect that such a view, were it
expressed by God himself, would be ignored by any rational developer!

On 03/01/11 03:17, Larry Gusaas wrote:
> Then why is this list called "Discuss"? Isn't this the place for
> discussions? Or should we quit wasting our time giving our opinions on
> the project? After all, if we do not write code we are not contributers
> to the community and have no say in the community.

You have wholly misconstrued the meaning of my last e-mail. Yes, there
is a *core community* of contributors whose opinions, backed by the
verasity of their qualifications (as people who contribute code, GUI
designs, etc...), are given greater weight and are perhaps more likely
to reach the ears of the steering committee members. However, that
should not preclude the contributions of we layman. It simply means that
we have to *debate* our point in a well reasoned manor. Doing so
increases the probability that our ideas will *inspire* or *chime with*
those of one or more core contributors, and thus work their way up the
greasy pole to one of the committee members. Also, I suspect that many
if not all of the committee members frequent these mailing list, so if
you can argue your case well you may well influence the project albeit
in unseen ways.

However, you do need to recognise that your opinions and ideas aren't
necessarily going to chime with those of the developers. In such cases
you'll either have to *put up* (learn to code or create some mock-ups to
better illustrate your points) or *shut up*, because the reality is, no
developer is going to work on an idea if (s)he doesn't agree with it
and/or if there's no chance the steering committee is going to include
it. This is *not* condescension in any sense, it is a recognition of the
reality that not every opinion and idea can be implemented.

In the context of this thread, two arguments have been made. One that
favours interoperability for the sake of pragmatism and user experience,
and one that favours crippling *LibreOffice* for the sake of politics
and principals. In my humble opinion, the steering committee made the
correct decision; *The Document Foundation* should not be bogged down by
politics, else it'll run itself into the ground.

Kind Regards,

Lee Hyde.



On 03/01/11 03:17, Larry Gusaas wrote:
> I guess I will quit wasting my time here and go back to just giving
> support to OpenOffice.org users.


-- 
"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel"

        -- Dr. Samuel Johnson (April 7th, 1775)


-- 
Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to discuss+help@documentfoundation.org
Archive: http://listarchives.documentfoundation.org/www/discuss/
*** All posts to this list are publicly archived for eternity ***