Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: [libreoffice-marketing] Good Article for LibreOffice

This is utterly maddening.

Based on Pedro's post, I ran a simple test. I created a document in Word 
(.docx) and an identical document in LibO (.odt). I saved them both and then 
extracted their contents using 7-zip Manager. I was amazed at how similar 
the two document contents were, and yet how different. Neither document had 
any of the binary smilie faces I've come to expect by opening a .doc 
document in a text editor. All of the individual files contained formatting 
codes in simple text. And, yet...

The maddening part is how two programs can create the same type of documents 
(xml files saved in a zipped format) and yet remain so completely different.

I found similar results when I tried saving .rtf files with different word 
processors. They all claimed to be .rtf, and in fact, were .rtf, yet they 
were all different.

But, MS knows how to market its products. Programs need something to set 
them apart from other similar programs, and office suites are getting to the 
point that any decent suite will be able to perform the same tasks as the 
others. LibO is set apart by being free (both in $ and in license 
restrictions). MS can't compete head to head with that model, so the only 
way it can set itself apart is by maintaining some uniqueness in its file 
format. The only reason people buy MS is because everybody else buys MS. If 
it fully adopted the .odt format, there would no longer be a reason for 
people to buy MS. Unless it had some killer feature, it would die and LibO 
would win.

I sense that a similar future lies for either Apache OO or LibO. Right now, 
the two programs are very similar and use the same file format. I use both 
programs interchangeably, sometimes forgetting which one I have open. My 
guess is that, at some point, either Apache or LibO will become different 
enough and so clearly superior that the other will fade away. That may be 
the hazard of having a truly open and standard file format. It eliminates a 
program's ability to survive.

Virgil

Virgil



-----Original Message----- 
From: Pedro
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 9:05 AM
To: users@global.libreoffice.org
Subject: [libreoffice-users] Re: [libreoffice-marketing] Good Article for 
LibreOffice

Hi Tom, all

Let me be the "Devil's advocate" for a moment...


Tom wrote
> MS keeps claiming that is what their new format is all about.  They
> claimed it with Rtf which they no longer develop which fits their pattern
> for gradually dropping completely and they are claiming it again with
> their DocX and all.

RTF is plain text with format codes. So it is true that you can open it even
in a text editor. Even if it is discontinued, it is not encrypted.
Docx is exactly the same as ODT. A Zip container which stores objects such
as images, formats and the actual text in a XML file.


Tom wrote
> Given that ODF 1.0 and 1.1 still open in LO, AOO and all the rest it looks
> like ODF might achieve the promise, especially given that "contents"
> written in Xml can be opened and read.

The same applies to MS Office. You can always open previous MS files in a
newer Office version.

As explained above ODF follows the same logic as OOXML ;)
In both cases you need to have some program that opens the zip container in
order to have access to the XML file which contains the text.

Cheers,
Pedro



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