[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       openoffice-discuss
Subject:    Re: Writing a response article.
From:       Chris Sherlock <csherlock () optusnet ! com ! au>
Date:       2004-03-29 13:09:52
Message-ID: c4976d$t8g$1 () sea ! gmane ! org
[Download RAW message or body]

Some things I think we can add:

For "3. Existing MS-Office users will need retraining to use Open 
Office." - Can we add a section on OpenOffice's auto-pilot and the many 
great websites out there that use already made templates?

For "4. With OpenOffice you must still buy a mail client" could we talk 
about how UNO allows other mail clients to integrate with OpenOffice yet 
still remain distinct programs in their own right?

For "5. Open Office does not have a database." - you might be interested 
in this quote from the "Q" Product concept document for OOo 2.0 at
http://development.openoffice.org/releases/q-concept.html

"4.1.2.7 Usability of the Database application

(Frank Schoenheit, May 2003)

Currently, the database access (DBA) functionality in SO/OOo exposes 
various differences from other database applications. Those differences 
can be assigned to two groups: usability and interoperability. These 
issues are predominant with users who are not able to locate the 
functionality they need (though often it is present). They then do not 
feel comfortable with SO/OOo's user interface which follows a different 
philosophy in this area.

Additionally, having a competitive database application, instead of a 
set of database access components, clearly is an important feature for 
potential users and customers.

We will address this with a redesign of SO/OOo's database application. 
In the first instance, this will lead to it being recognized as a 
state-of-the-art end user oriented database application, and make former 
users of other database products, like Microsoft Access, feel more 
comfortable. In the second instance, it will address most of the 
problems customers have with the current user interface."

Anyone know more about this? Can we include it?

For "6. Businesses need to exchange documents with other businesses." I 
think we can't overplay the importance of OASIS and the openness of the 
  OpenOffice file format. As we don't want to attack MS in this article 
(just make a rebuttle) I think we should emphasise the fact that 
*anyone* can write a word processor around the OpenOffice file format 
and be 100% certain there is nothing hidden in the file format.

If we did want to make a comment about existing formats, maybe we could 
mention that many businesses have difficulty reading Word documents on 
non-Windows machines (for instance Unix desktop machines).

In point 7 "reply" should be "rely". Now I understand that the 
OpenOffice macro environment is run in a sandbox. I'm not sure of this, 
but could we get someone more knowledgable to comment on this and add it 
to the piece?

Also, I heard talk of allowing the OpenOffice document format to encrypt 
parts of documents. If this is the case, can we talk about this?

For "10. OOo only has basic features.  You use OOo because it's "good 
enough"." - what about Universal Network Objects? Surely someone can 
write up something about how excellent this is! What about XSLT? What 
about the fact that you can connect to *multiple* databases within 
OpenOffice?

Also: can we emphasise the fact that OpenOffice gives *anyone* the 
ability to localise it to their environment - no matter how small or 
large the people group is? though this is frequently pointed out by the 
Klingon example, I think this may not be taken so seriously (though it 
does underscore the point). No offense to Klingon speakers, but could we 
give a more concrete example like the recent Turkmen and Afghani 
localisation efforts? Also what about Bi-Directional text and Vertical 
Layout support? this hardly speaks of an immarture software package.

Interesting thought: for effect, why don't we list the localisations one 
after the other? That'd make certain multi-national software houses 
nervous :)

Overall guys, great job so far. I hope that at least some of my comments 
will be useful!

Chris



[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]