Re: [libreoffice-users] drawing

On 04/21/2012 07:18 AM, Regina Henschel wrote:
> Hi Ben,
<snip>
> If you want a not-rectangle section, there exists a complicate way to 
> use a combined drawing object, to hide the not needed parts. But I 
> recommend to use an application specialized for bitmaps.
>
> Kind regards
> Regina

Bitmap images - think photos
                             use GIMP or other free and open source 
package.  There are a lot out there.

Vector images -  think signs and graphic artwork creation
                           use Draw, or an Inkscape type of package

The people who decided what was needed, and not needed, for the TDF/LO 
office suite package did not want to "reinvent the wheel" if there was a 
good open source option available.

Some people asked about having an email client with OOo/AOO, and now LO, 
to replace MS Outlook.  There are many good free or open source email 
clients out there, so the efforts of the developers did not feel we 
should go and try to make one as good or better.  OOo had a good vector 
graphics drawing package, so LO continued to work with that to make 
better and better.  But a vector graphics package does not do pixel 
related drawing and image editing.  GIMP has been the "standard" for 
open source pixel-based image editing package, as far as I can tell.  So 
why spend manpower to create a better one for this package.

An office suite needs to deal with a word processor, a spreadsheet 
package, a presentation package, a database package.  Then there are the 
extras.  Math will deal with the creation of formula "text" for the 
documents, and then Draw to add the basic graphics creation package for 
signs and other vector graphics needs of a business.  The average office 
worker, or student, does not need to do photo and bitmap editing.  If 
they do, they need some very specific, and maybe high end, needs that 
take a lot of manpower to develop and text to get it working right.

To be honest, one thing I hate about Microsoft's and Adobe's mindset is 
the fact that they want to have their packages do EVERYTHING they can 
think of.  That is not a good way to make a good working, and non 
bloated package.  The figures I have seen over the years is that 90% of 
the things that MS office can do is used by less that 3 to 5 percent of 
its users.  I knew people that had been working with Word since Word 95 
and they were the "expert" in that business for Word.  I borrowed a Word 
reference and started to read off things that Word does and this expert 
never heard of these things and could not figure out why you would want 
to do something like that in a word processor package.

In the software industry, companies try to meet all your needs, but end 
up not doing a good job.  LibreOffice is not like that.  If you want an 
office suite package, LibreOffice does it well.  If you want a photo and 
bitmap editing package, that should not be a part of an office suite, 
and LO did not include one.  If you want an email and calendar client to 
replace Outlook [another bloated package] there are open source clients 
out there that has years of development that LO could never match with 
its limited manpower.

I do not think LO should go the route of MS and Adobe and make their 
software so bloated it takes 1 to 2 GB of drive space just to install 
it, and then not use most of what those companies thought we need, when 
90% or more did not need it.

LO seems to have become the best office suite out there in the free 
and/or open source market.  One day it will be a true 100% replacement 
to MSO for most business users.  In my opinion, it fills the needs for 
at least 80% of business users.  But it will not get there if it offered 
a bloated package that included photos editing, email and calendar 
clients, a web browser, and full HTML editing client.  There are some 
good to great free and/or open source out there that covers all not 
non-office-suite package needs.  TDF/LO took the office suite market 
away from Oracle/OOo when dropped the ball in that market.  But TDF will 
not go and make the mistake of some other companies and try to create a 
package that includes everything a computer user might want to do on 
their machine.  That is one of MSO's mistakes, so let them spend the 
money and manpower dealing with that mistake.  Let TDF/LO deal with the 
needs of the "average office suite user".  It makes a better product 
that way.






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