Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: Suggestions to PTB

Question:  Which version of LibreOffice are you using? 3.3.3, 3.3.4, 
3.4.1, 3.4.2?  Many issues/bugs have been fixed in the 3.4.x line that 
has not yet been fixed in the 3.3.x line.  3.4.x reads MS formats 
better, is one of the fixes in that line.

I kissed MSO completely on Feb. 2010 when I choose Ubuntu as my OS on my 
new desktop.  Then when LibreOffice came out I kissed OpenOffice.org 
goodbye.

I had been using MSO since Office 95 or 97, with the last one Office 2003.

As for releasing software with "bugs", this is normal, even with MS 
products.  Many bugs are found in real world testing that happens on 
some systems, but not others.  When these bugs are reported, they are 
placed on some type of "bug needing to be fixed list".  Then it is up to 
the individuals who do the programming/developing [all volunteers] to 
choose which bug they have the skills to fix.  I was a mainframe 
programmer.  I was really good.  I am not skilled in the programming 
needed for developing/fixing code for LibreOffice.

We all hope that the next release has the bug fixed that causes problems 
for some groups of users.  Each release does its best to have as many 
issues fixed as it can with the fixed release schedule.  With a fixed 
release schedule, it give the developers/helpers/bug-fixers a time line 
to do the work.  Some bugs takes a long time to find the code that is 
the problem.  I was once told that the code base for LibreOffice [and 
OpenOffice.org] is 100's of thousands of lines of code.  Some are no 
longer used, while some are in need of "cleaning up".  The LibreOffice 
developers took OpenOffice.org's open source code base and dedicated 
themselves to cleaning up all the messy and bad coding that was in the 
OOo code base.  They did a lot of that and made improvements and more 
functions/abilities in their 3.3.0 release and came out with it before 
Oracle's people came out with OOo's 3.3.0 package.  Plus, the tech-media 
stated that LibreOffice was a better product from the volunteers for The 
Documents Foundation/ LibreOffice than was put out by the paid employees 
[and some volunteers] at Oracle.

To be honest, I was told that many of the bugs that are annoying 
LibreOffice users can be traced back to the original messed up core 
coding and the fixes placed on top of that coding to make it work, 
instead of fixing that core code that is not working correctly.  That is 
some of the hardest work for our volunteeers, to trace and fix the core 
coding that should have been fixed long time ago when it was developed 
during the time Sun Microsystems "owned" the OpenOffice brand.

Our developers are all volunteers and they are doing the best that they 
can.  If Sun, and then Oracle, paid employees working 8 hours a day 5 
days a week was working on developing/fixing/improving the 
OpenOffice.org product and did not do as good of a job putting out the 
3.3.0 version of OOo as was put out with the all volunteer package of 
LibreOffice, we have to give our people a hand for all that they did to 
make LO better than OOo.  Our volunteers are doing the best job as 
possible for volunteers and their limited amount of time after they come 
home from their paid jobs.  They deserve out thanks for their dedication 
to making LibreOffice the best they can make it with the limits to their 
time to do the work.

Sorry for the band standing, but our volunteers are doing everything 
they are able to do to make LibreOffice the best free MSO alternative 
office package.

On 08/26/2011 02:16 AM, Alexander Thurgood wrote:
> Le 25/08/11 19:37, Twayne a écrit :
>
> Hi Twayne,
>
> >     I would love to tell MS to kiss my shiny metal butt, but I can't as long
> > as some of these serious bugs continue to be ignored. One man can push one
> > car; as you're doing now, but not three or four at the same time. All this
> > is part of watching out for the future of LO and being able to say its users
> > are solidly behind it. Anythng that doesn't work shouldn't have been
> > released until it does work.
> I fear you might have misunderstood how this project functions. Most of
> the bugs get fixed as and when someone decides that their "itch to
> scratch" is really starting to annoy them. The developers working as
> employees of some of the software companies involved in the LibreOffice
> project do not have set agendas with regard to bug fixing as such that I
> know of - no doubt they have their own internal work pressures and
> priorities to deal with before sorting out bug X or bug Y. Most of the
> volunteer developers participate in the project because they like
> developing, i.e. for fun. There's no fun involved in being told which
> bug to fix and why that particular bug should trump all others, in that
> case, they might as well go and develop something else. The fact of the
> matter is that there are still too few developers to be able to maintain
> the massive beast of code which LibreOffice represents. Add to that the
> fact that an even smaller number really know anything about the code
> base and how it works as a whole (i.e. where poking one thing causes the
> butterfly to explode on your screen 50,000 miles away).
>
> If you can live with the way the project functions, then you can live
> with the bugs. If not, then from a pragmatic point of view you can
> either do it yourself, pay someone to do it for you, or else come back
> to the project in a few months/years time to see if things have moved on
> in the direction you want.
>
> Alex


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