Re: [Libreoffice] [REVIEW] Oracle Report Builder corrupting chart objects

Le 17/05/11 11:24, Michael Meeks a écrit :

Hi Michael,

>       And for those complaining about the idea of removing ORB altogether:
> doing some work to help out improve the stability of the implementation
> sounds like it would be a good plan. Rather than just wishing it was
> better, we need (new) developer resource applying to fixing it, with a

I think the point that most users are making is that it actually used to
work, and was fairly stable, "in previous times". This is what people
are concerned about, when they hear that something which used to work
and is deemed important to that group of users no longer does because
someone else made a change somewhere to another corner of the edifice
that is now hard to track down and it is suggested as a result to
potentially remove or deactivate that whole feature. It also belies the
ease (and a common open source fallacy) with which we are led to believe
that changes can be reverted in source code once they have occurred, as
you yourself have just stated.

The "if you want it fixed, help thyself" mantra only works for a very
limited subset of people. I put it to you that those particular people
are not the majority of those in the community who followed the project
from OOo in the "mirrored" hope of a brighter and better future with
LibO. Ignoring the user base at the project's peril and in time the
whole thing will become nothing more than a shell for an elite few - or
worse, those who have become disenchanted will become the most
vociferous opponents of the whole project, and they are often the ones
who prescribe or manage IT implementations in companies and administrations.

Personally, I don't think users can ever be truly satisfied with
software, but one can manage their expectations. Announcements of the
kind where one developer says "this is unstable, and it is giving me
jip, I would like to get rid of it" when the "it" in question has been
part of the whole product for the last 5 years, is necessarily going to
elicit wild reactions and passionate speeches from those for whom the
"it" has been the cornerstone of their use of the product.

Just before I sign off : I have been involved with QA on OOo a long
time, and since LibO began, I have been there too triaging bugs in my
own, unpaid spare time (as have many others, so I'm not asking for a
medal or anything). I have even financially participated in the creation
of the Foundation when the donation scheme was underway because I
believed that there was hope.

As time goes on, and the more I frequent the developer lists, IRC,
strategic planning, etc, I see that hope of mine waning - ultimately I
am a realist, I have a business to look after, nurture and grow. I will
use the tools that work for me, and recommend them to others with the
sphere of influence that I command (or not as the case may be, but
whatever) - if those tools fail to even maintain the status quo of
functionality before I joined this "brave new world", then I will swap
them for another which does. That is my pragmatism, that is my business
reality, and I am certain that I am not alone.


Alex