[KLUG Members] Re: Calling all Linux novices: -- Mega-ignorance on MS Office!

[Mike Morrett]

Please take this discussion to the Advocacy list.

Thanks,
Mike Morrett

On 14 Jan 2003 22:38:29 -0500, "Bryan J. Smith" <b.j.smith@ieee.org>
said:
> On Tue, 2003-01-14 at 19:55, Mike Williams wrote:
> > I think StarOffice / OpenOffice with it's XML based OPEN file format has 
> > a chance at fighting the entrenched MS Office juggernaut, but it won't 
> > be soon and it's far from guaranteed.  What I don't understand is that 
> > these discussions (arguments?) seem to focus on the Word format.  Until 
> > you get to unnecessarily complicated documents full of tables and fancy 
> > formatting (which more people probably do than should, but that's a 
> > separate problem) reading and writing Word files in something else is 
> > easy enough that it works.
> 
> My bias is going to be towards large documentation projects that span
> years.  In such cases, MS Word is intolerable and unmanageable, because
> it _lacks_ an underlying documentation language.  You cannot assemble
> documentation in MS Word -- it's the only, major documentation
> application where you cannot.
> 
> Large enterprises and publications agree.  They simply cannot use MS
> Word because of it.  For those of us that have been published, they
> require you do use "markup" if you submit in MS Word.  Because they
> eventually export to text, and do processing into a documentation
> language.
> 
> > The problem is Excel.
> > For one thing, and I truly hate to admit this, Excel is the best 
> > spreadsheet out there.  I've tried Quattro, I've tried Star / Open, none 
> > of them can touch it.
> 
> Er, um, my old 1-2-3 r4 still does formatting and formulas that Excel
> 2000 could not.
> 
> But I moved to Gnumeric in 1999 and never looked back.  To each his own,
> for whatever they need.
> 
> > The most common application of a spreadsheet I've seen is taking a
> > string of data, sometimes just text, and splitting it up into cells so
> > you can work with it.
> 
> Have you tried Gnumeric?  It rules at this!!!
> 
> > Nothing else does this even close to as well as Excel.
> 
> Gnumeric???
> 
> > Until something gets it right, (and I haven't tried Ximian yet, so
> > maybe it will save me) MS Excel will continue to dominate.  At least
> > this time they're dominating because they actually have a better
> > product.
> 
> Yes, for what you need.  Except you haven't tried Gnumeric.  ;-p
> 
> Gnumeric is the most mature Gnome app by far, always has been.  It was
> around well before Evolution, or Ximian for that matter, even existed.
> 
> -- 
> Bryan J. Smith, E.I. (BSECE)       Contact Info:  http://thebs.org
> [ http://thebs.org/files/resume/BryanJonSmith_certifications.pdf ]
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> * A lecture on software piracy from Bill Gates is like a lecture *
> * on adultry from the owner of a brothel of other people's wives *
> 
--
cat /dev/coffee | /dev/cup | /dev/mouth | /dev/nose > /dev/keyboard