Re: [libreoffice-users] 4.0.3

On 27/07/13 17:28, Ernie Kurtz wrote:
> Hi Amit and Paul and . . .
>
> I am just an ordinary user -- historian by training, academic researcher in medicine by profession.  I, and 
> most with whom I work and come into contact, wish for, hope for, and strongly prefer stable releases in a 
> work environment that requires interoperability with M$ products.  One difficulty:  it is not always -- in 
> fact, it is rarely -- clear what is the latest "stable" release.  I use both OO and LO, and that 
> seems true of both.  My wish is that the developer-types and other enthusiasts think more carefully, 
> tolerantly, and generously about the technologically unsophisticated ordinary user.
>
> Thank you.
> ernie kurtz
> ernestkurtz.com
>
> On Jul 27, 2013, at 5:51 AM, Amit Choudhary wrote:
<snip>

Hi all

I too am an end user and not a developer. From my perspective it is not 
at all difficult to generally keep up to date with the latest software 
(although the 4.1. desktop-integration thing threw me for a while). All 
new releases are clearly badged: don't use on production machines. So 
don't then. This is not the fault of the developers if people install 
software that is not to be used on production machines on production 
machines. If your sysadmin is chasing the latest releases, s/he needs to 
decide on stability versus the latest gizmo that may well lead to a 
broader instability elsewhere.

Unfortunately, MS tends to make its own products backward incompatible, 
forcing businesses to fork out resources chasing the upgrade cycle, or 
to lock in with a given OS version and the tools which work with it, and 
patching it up for security holes and with service packs (which also 
don't always work as expected!) and biding time until the licenses 
expire. MS is also not known for its kindly disposition towards sharing 
(unless, of course, its your data and remote access to your machine by 
the NSA), which makes it difficult for OSS developers to keep their 
software up to date and interoperable, exacerbated by companies like MS 
which will continue to pour resources specifically to stay ahead in 
market dominance and exclude any potential rivals. So, there will always 
be catching up and new releases with bug fixes, features and the 
inevitable bugs.

If you want to use LibO, there are certain responsibilities a user would 
benefit from assuming: be responsible for what you install - don't use 
new releases for production work that demands stability. If you want the 
latest MS interoperability feature, then you trade stability for 
innovation. Your call. As Kracked and Tom and Paul wrote previously, 
select a conservative update value or just go with the version packaged 
by your distro if using GNU/ Linux or your BSD flavour.

The LibO developers have put together a great suite of software that is 
stable, flexible, scalable, fast, stays out of the way of the user (for 
the most part, but I still prefer greater flexibility with the bullets 
and numbering format option, and still struggle with multiple user 
styles! :-) ), and so we, as users, need to step forward a bit in their 
direction too by being more responsible for our own interactions with 
the software.

There is no good need for you to chase the upgrade cycle unless the 
benefits of doing so outweigh the benefits of maintaining a stable 
system. This is just good management whether someone is or is not 
technologically unsophisticated: don't mess with what is mission 
critical unless you have a damn good reason to do so and can do so 
knowing how to reverse the process if needs be. As a user, especially in 
this day and age, this is your responsibility, not the developers.

£0.02


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