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

On 11/09/2011, Spencer Graves <spencer.graves@prodsyse.com> wrote:
> LibreOffice.  I've had problems with LibreOffice where I save something
> in *.doc format or *.ppt and reopen it, and it's different.

This is the fundamental essence of the problem. The majority of m$
users of LO want a free m$ clone, ideally producing m$ file formats.

A more interesting question to the _long term_ development of the odf
is, did you experience problems saving to native odf?

> could with MS Office.  For any document I have to send to a collaborator
> who uses MS Office, I need to keep it primarily in the MS format to
> increase the chances that I will at least know what is being changed
> without warning!

It is difficult to believe that as a profitable business, you are
unable to buy m$o. In effect, m$ users are asking LO programmers to
donate their _free_ time to subsidise your collective unwillingness to
buy m$o!

It is hoped that all those m$ users seeking an m$ clone, should donate
at least equivalent to Euro5 per m$ format technical support question
to LO.
>        For example, in LibreOffice 3.4.3 Impress, create a dashed line
> and save it in MS PowerPoint 97 format.  Close then reopen it.  When I
> did that just now under Windows 7 x64, the line style was lost and it
> displayed solid.  If I do NOT have to share it with an MS Office user,
> then I keep it in Open Office format.  Otherwise, I must convert at some

Does the dashed line remain so in native odf? If so, LO is working
fine. If you want m$ perfection, buy m$o or donate an equivalent value
to LO for m$ clone development. Presumably for m$ users, the _freely
donated_ time spent on m$ compatibility should be at the expense of
time available to develop a superior _true alternative_ to m$, in
which case requests for monetary donations are entirely justified.

Strategic development of odf is a long term goal, my guess is at least
20 years to become significant in quantity. For every extra m$ file
format created by LO and distributed as so (and thus by definition
every less potential odf file), the time to increase the quantity of
odf documents in existence is lengthened.

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