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

On 03/01/11 04:10, Larry Gusaas wrote:
> Yes it is a statement of fact. A perfect example of the condescension
> shown towards anyone who is not a programmer.

I see from this statement that I'm not going to be able reason with you,
but I'll give it a go anyway. ;)


On 03/01/11 04:10, Larry Gusaas wrote:
> So giving user support and reporting bugs is not contributing since it
> is not providing code.

On the contrary, providing support and reporting bugs is a worthy
contribution and I thank you for your efforts. However such support
doesn't lend *qualified authority* to your voice on matters of coding,
design and project policy. If you want your voice to carry weight in
those arenas you are, I'm afraid, going to have to prove yourself.

Otherwise you'll have to put forward your opinions in a reasoned tone,
providing evidence where appropriate and politely debating with those
oppose your views. You'll also have to learn when your side has lost
that debate!

On the other hand, your experience in providing user support and
reporting bugs (assuming it is extensive) could prove useful issues of
website design (with respect to support forums and bug reporting) and
documentation. That is an arena in which your voice may well hold
*authority* and in which you could make a *qualified* contribution if
you choose to.

On 03/01/11 04:10, Larry Gusaas wrote:
> Including the ability to write OOXML format is a political decision
> driven by the Novell and Microsoft marketing agreement. User experience?
> Ask that question of any user of older versions of Word after they
> receive a .docx document and are unable to open it.

Indeed, I have experienced this myself when trying to send documents.
However a blanket ban on OOXML would, in the long run, be a disadvantage
to *LibreOffice*. Whether you appreciate it or not the older document
formats (.doc .xls .ppt) are going to fade away as Microsoft pushes its
considerable weight behind newer versions of Microsoft Office and with
them its own interpretation of OOXML. That means that at some point
these new formats (.docx .xlsx .pptx) will one day be viewed as the
standard (unless TDF pulls off a coup that is) and waiting until that
day to support these formats would put *LibreOffice* on the back foot.

In any case, nobody is suggesting that MSOOXML become the default format
for *LibreOffice*, or that the older Microsoft formats (.doc .xls .ppt)
be abandoned. I don't see a downside myself, other than of course
wounding *your* principles.

On 03/01/11 04:10, Larry Gusaas wrote:
> I will stand by principle (not principal) over politics any and every day.

Well good for you (and I apologise for the typo), but such decisions
would more than likely lead to *failure*. The majority of users don't
care about your *principles*; they do care about *document fidelity* and
*interoperability*.

Kind Regards,

Lee Hyde.


-- 
"Thousands of years ago, tribes of human beings suffered great
privations in the struggle to survive. In this struggle it was important
not only to be able to handle a club, but also to possess the ability to
think reasonably, to take care of the knowledge and experience garnered
by the tribe, and to develop the links that would provide cooperation
with other tribes. Today the entire human race is faced with a similar
test. In infinite space many civilizations are bound to exist, among
them civilizations that are also wiser and more "successful" than ours.
I support the cosmological hypothesis which states that the development
of the universe is repeated in its basic features an infinite number of
times. In accordance with this, other civilizations, including more
"successful" ones, should exist an infinite number of times on the
"preceding" and the "following" pages of the Book of the Universe. Yet
this should not minimize our sacred endeavors in this world of ours,
where, like faint glimmers of light in the dark, we have emerged for a
moment from the nothingness of dark unconsciousness of material
existence. We must make good the demands of reason and create a life
worthy of ourselves and of the goals we only dimly perceive."
        
        -- Andrei Sakharov, Excerpt from his 1975 Nobel Lecture (1975)


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