Re: [libreoffice-users] Do You Share ODF Documents With MS Office Users?

On 07/24/2012 05:06 AM, Anthony Easthope wrote:
> I have a comment on the error dialogue.
> I once got into a heated debate with my ICT teacher earlier on this year
> and in the debate the comment was made by her that: "Microsoft with that
> error dialogue are really just trying to insinuate that their products
> are superior to others"
>
> I in a way kind of agree with her because Microsoft have always insisted
> that the MO range of extensions should be the industry standard. Due to
> this sort of approach I find roadblocks when trying to submit work in
> .ODT format to institutions such as NZQA (New Zealand Qualifications
> Association). they keep getting angry at me for using a so called "UN
> recognized file format". I have now managed to persuade my school and
> some other institutions that for a truly open submission and form of
> collaboration that the use of ODF standards should be encouraged. the
> major problem with persuasion is that people are not willing to make the
> change is due to the lack of knowledge of understanding of opensource
> and how it can really become better than commercial counterparts.
IMHO most people use the default settings of the software they are 
provided and do not make an effort to learn much about the software's 
capabilities. So if support for a set of file formats is not transparent 
they will probably panic if they see an "error" message when opening a file.

Another problem for FOSS is that our marketing budget is nil and depends 
on word of mouth almost exclusively. IMHO most people do not understand 
the motivation of the FOSS community of developing and supporting useful 
software for all users. Thus, FUD is often used to scare them away 
claiming that many projects become abandonware without mentioning that 
commercial abandonware is also a major problem (any still use Ami-pro?).
> With education there can be a global revolution in the sense that open
> source programs such as LO will become commonplace and the illegal act
> of actions such as piracy (search on youtube "crack microsoft offfice
> 2010" to see what I mean!) will almost cease,
>
> Regards
> Anthony Easthope
>
>
> On Mon, 23 Jul 2012, at 09:03 PM, Don Parris wrote:
> > I would like to take something of a straw poll, if that's ok.  I simply
> > want to know whether any of you have shared documents using the ODF
> > format
> > with MS Office users (preferably in a business environment), and what was
> > the reaction?  What problems
> >
> > I am not seeking advice on how to share documents with MS Office users.
> >   Nor am I interested in an in-depth analysis of why one might experience
> > problems in sharing such documents.  I simply want to know your
> > experience.
> >
> > I have been sharing a simple spreadsheet document between LO (at home)
> > and
> > MSO (at work) in the OD format.  The experience has been interesting on
> > the
> > MS Office side of it.  I get error messages (that don't seem to be real
> > errors), and if I choose the "repair" option, it claims to fix the
> > errors,
> > and even gives me a link to click to see the list of alleged corrections.
> >   The list is just a near-empty XML document.  And to save a document in
> >   ODF
> > raises a warning *every single time*, with no opportunity to say "stop
> > warning me".
> >
> > I know most of us still have to deal with both suites.  I just wonder if
> > anyone else (how many???) has experienced similar issues.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Don
> > --
> > D.C. Parris, FMP, Linux+, ESL Certificate
> > Minister, Security/FM Coordinator, Free Software Advocate
> > http://dcparris.net/
> > <https://www.xing.com/profile/Don_Parris><http://www.linkedin.com/in/dcparris>
> > GPG Key ID: F5E179BE
> >
> > --
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--
Jay Lozier
jslozier@gmail.com


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