Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: CNET is claiming the best free MSO alternative is not LO

Hi :)
ODF is implemented the way it's documented as an ISO standard.  A lot of programs use the same 
implementation.  According to devs it's fairly easy to write something that can read it. 

Where programs have variations on their implementation those tend to be written up as bug-reports 
(and gets fixed) or added to the file about what the "Extended" means in "ODF 1.2 (Extended)".  

So, it's all clearly documented and is true to it's documentation.  That is all the reverse of all 
other formats 

In future years if you talk about trying to access large amounts of Rtf files, or DocX, then you 
need to know which version of the format, which version of the Office Suite, even which OS was used 
to create the files.  Documentation about the format wont help much because implementation is so 
far away from it.  

Wrt the ribbon argument, i'm glad it's over.  If the 'must have a ribbon' they can have Kingsoft 
[shrugs].  The reason for LO to have one has now vanished because there is an alternative to MSO 
that has one.  People will get tired of Kingsoft and may be more receptive to LO.  
Regards from 
Tom :)  






> ________________________________
> From: Ken Springer <snowshed1@q.com>
> To: users@global.libreoffice.org 
> Sent: Friday, 7 June 2013, 23:10
> Subject: [libreoffice-users] Re: CNET is claiming the best free MSO alternative is not LO
>
>
> On 6/7/13 3:41 AM, Tom Davies wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> > I too wouldn't touch Kingsoft with a barge pole.  I want to steer towards using formats that 
> > will be
> > around and usable in a few years time.  I want to be able to open
> > documents maybe 10-20 years from now without having to struggle against
> > malware and without having to try to find long-dead versions of long
> > dead software produced by a company that may not even exist by then.
>
> You just hope the formats will be around 10-20 years from now.  There's no guaranteed the current 
> ODT format will even be viable then.  Similar to the way desktop design interfaces are basically 
> horrible on cell phones and tablets (IMO), all of it can change almost overnight with hardware 
> changes.
>
> I stopped installing LO on the free computers I occasionally rebuild. Why?  Because I guessed the 
> odds were the recipients would be more familiar with the Office interface, or their friends that 
> helped them would.  And my goal was to make it easy for them.
>
> Plus, too many LO bugs that just pissed me off.   <sad smile>
>
> > What i tend to find is that people use all sorts of rubbishy excuses for why they 'cant' move 
> > away from certain software.  They moan and grumble
> > about petty issues in an alternative they have been handed but then go
> > and find some other alternative that they feel more in control of because they chose it.  Once 
> > they have made the break away from that certain software they become more reasonable about 
> > looking at other
> > alternatives realistically.
>
> You're pretty much right here, Tom.  It seems that while users will look at 5, 10, 15 different 
> TV's, they don't do that with software or computer systems.  And that probably has a lot to do 
> with the fact you can't find anything in the stores to look at.
>
> I used to do this, got far, far away from that, now going back to looking for the computer "tools" 
> that work for me.  At the moment, I'm trying the demo of a program for writing, and if things keep 
> working out the way they seem to be, you won't see me using Writer, Word, or any other "standard" 
> office suite word processor ever again.
>
> > One of the commonest grumbles i hear about LO (at the moment) is that it
> > uses the old interface and not the nice new ribbon-bar.  So, 'obviously' LO is old!  (Easy to 
> > see how FUD develops, right?).  Kingsoft neatly
> > deal with that and such grumblers can now be pointed towards that as an
> > alternative.  Of course when i do that i will still be quite disparaging about the ribbon-bar 
> > specifically and about proprietary software (and
> > formats) in general but at least now i can sound like it's not "just sour grapes",
> > just because LO hasn't got it.  Now i can be seen to be offering genuine choices rather than 
> > trying to herd people in a direction they might not want to go.
>
> I get tired of hearing this ribbon argument over and over again.  Some people like it.  Some 
> people don't.  If you want to appeal to the most users on this aspect, give people a choice.  MS 
> does, you can hide the thing.  I've not used Word regularly since 2003, so I can't say whether the 
> menu interface that appears when you hide the ribbon is as functional as its predecessors.
>
> <snip>
>
> -- 
> Ken
>
> Mac OS X 10.8.4
> Firefox 20.0
> Thunderbird 17.0.5
> LibreOffice 4.0.1.2
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