Re: [libreoffice-users] Should LibreOffice even support Microsoft secret formats?

On Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 22:28, Anthony Papillion <papillion@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've been thinking a lot about this lately as many of my clients are coming to LibreOffice from 
> Microsoft Office and I deal with both packages quite a bit. Many times, one of the first things I 
> do once LibreOffice is set up is to show clients how to save in Microsoft format as opposed to 
> .odf. It's actually one of the first questions they ask. Lately, I've been wondering about the 
> wisdom of an open source package actively supporting a secret format like the Office ones.
>
> Would it not be preferable to support *only* saving in the open document format and then 
> providing a plugin for Microsoft Office users who needed it? IMHO, allowing users to save in 
> secret formats just continues the problem. They're still using proprietary software, just 
> packaged a different way.
>
> Thoughts?

Which MS Office file format is secret? They are all published here:
http://www.microsoft.com/interop/docs/officebinaryformats.mspx

LibreOffice does not support them because there are not enough LO
contributors, not because the formats are secret.

-- 
Dotan Cohen

http://gibberish.co.il
http://what-is-what.com

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