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List:       koffice-devel
Subject:    Re: MS filters
From:       Luciano Montanaro <mikelima () cirulla ! net>
Date:       2008-03-18 16:39:33
Message-ID: 200803181739.33724.mikelima () cirulla ! net
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On Tuesday 18 March 2008 17:17:31 Matthew Woehlke wrote:
> Robert Knight wrote:
> > May I insert a quick reality check here.  There are many risks of this
> > nature in a project as broad as KOffice.  I would be very surprised if
> > Krita in particular has no (accidental) issues. The issue is only which
> > risks are big enough to care about.  For several reasons, I reckon that
> > the risk in this case is below the threshold:
> > [snip reasons]
>
> I fully share Thomas' opinion here. Microsoft's track record is
> appalling, and I for one have no intention of letting myself be
> convinced this isn't more of the same without a very clear statement
> that Microsoft won't go after GPL projects... and OSP fails to be such a
> statement.
>
> (...and if Microsoft turned into a patent troll, as some feel is
> happening, then reasons (2)-(6) go out the window and (1) just means
> they go after distros and users, rather than the developers.)
>
> Anyway, my stance is the same; at the very least, keep the "tainted"
> stuff at arm's length and don't just disregard the opinion of the SFLC.
> IOW, what Thomas said, and what /you/ said in (1) :-).
>
> > 6)  Lawyers working for the company have much bigger fish to fry.
> > Seriously.
>
> Hehe, let's hope ;-).
>
> > Finally, can you please not refer to the company as "M$".  That is the
> > kind of thing one would associate with a Slashdot troll and it is
> > difficult to take any argument containing that phrase seriously.
>
> Apologies; I do try not to when making a serious argument.

My two cents from my prospective as a koffice user here...

I think the need to support many formats is overrated -- there are large 
classes of tasks where it is not needed. Eventually, some kind of 
ODF<-->OOXML converter will come out, and it will be possible to use that to 
convert from foreig formats. It could even be possible to incorporate it in 
Koffice in some user friendly way.

And since programs using KOffice native format should be available on many 
platforms -- many with a 0 pricetag -- I think there are better places where 
to spend developer time. Table support in KWord comes to my mind... :)

While it was an important feature to have, I think ODF support already kept 
developers away from user visible changes... I'd rather have new features 
that let me *create* things, rather than consume them. 

From what I read on the dot and on this list this is the plan anyway. So 
please, keep at it.

Thank you all for your great work,

Luciano



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