X3 is nice
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| rijelkentaurus Nov 10, 2006 6:42 PM EDT |
Yes, it's proprietary, but X3 is a very nice little suite of apps. I wrote them recently to ask WTF they aren't supporting ODF in their product...that's the major problem. You can export to PDF, and you can import and edit PDF. The email client is pretty suite...sweet...and it has a nice little calendar with it. I have several clients in the law field and lawyers often LOVE WP. I recommend it over MS Office because it is able to save and understand a lot more formats than office. However, I won't recommend it over Staroffice or OOo because of the ODF thing. That's pretty important, and they could pick up some users just by supporting that. It would give governments of the world another option in office suites, and it would annoy MS to no end. The mail client will export to MBOX format...cool. I also like hearing about more avenues for distribution for Firefox. Wait...I'm installing Debian...Iceweasel. Yeah, Iceweasel. |
| jimf Nov 10, 2006 8:34 PM EDT |
Well, WordPerfect is much nicer than MS Office, and, I even remember that way back in the day they did offer a rather antiquated version for Linux (darned if I could ever get it working). So it's not even cross platform. Add to that ,WP has never been anything like free, or open, or anything even close, and, I have quite a problem with recommending it for anything. I'd also say that offering a 'free' inclusion of the already free Firefox Browser in the mix doesn't impress me much either. Viewed the other way round, Firefox pimping for a Windows, proprietary product is just plain warped, and, does nothing for Firefox's credibility. |
| rijelkentaurus Nov 11, 2006 2:56 AM EDT |
Proprietary doens't bother me at all. I'm a member of the FSF, and I find that Free Software is more to my liking, but the number one thing is the independence of the data. If WP were to embrace ODF, I could see myself recommending it to those who use Windows and want to pay. I still think Staroffice is better, but WP is better than Word. Good point on not being cross platform, however. I think they've missed the boat for Linux. We've already got several that support ODF, and most of them are Free. |
| dinotrac Nov 11, 2006 3:50 AM EDT |
>but the number one thing is the independence of the data Agree completely. If Microsoft were to fully embrace ODF for Office, I still wouldn't rush out to buy Office, but...those who do would not be trapped. In fact, in my poor unlearned, uninclined to shout "4 freedoms" view, proprietary software that adheres to open data formats does not diminish your freedom in any significant way. So long as the data is portable, you are free to use other apps, or even write your own. Just for fun, I recently played with an OO document. I found I could do things like mail merge and simple changes with a little bit of shell scripting and xslt. Rather cool. |
| jimf Nov 11, 2006 3:55 AM EDT |
> Proprietary doens't bother me at all While not entirely adverse to it, that's my choice only if there is no other equivelent way to do a task. I'd also never recomend that anyone run Windows at all. That would be like recomending that the user go jump off a cliff... Which pretty much eliminates WP. |
| rijelkentaurus Nov 11, 2006 4:07 AM EDT |
>That would be like recomending that the user go jump off a cliff... I've got a few users I've told THAT to... ;-) I agree that FS is better to use than proprietary when you can. Something about FS programs...they just don't feel the same...they feel BETTER. That's not something that I can quanitfy, and it might just be my perception, but they are not as rigid. Bah, I can't get across what I'm trying to say. You probably know what I mean, anyway. I wonder what type of end-around MS is trying to pull on ODF with the Novell deal? I don't trust them...either of them.... I am inclined to recommend Apple over Windows if someone is afraid of Linux or BSD. At least they get good hardware, but most folks see the $299 Dell (which after configuration they pay $899 for with a 1-year warranty) and go for cheap, even though...well, Dell sucks. My employer sells Dells, so I know they suck. I am using a Dell right now, but it's a PIII and from the days when Dell actually made a decent PC. Those days are gone. Still, Da Penguin is where it's at. Or Da Devil, if it suits you. |
| dcparris Nov 12, 2006 10:15 AM EDT |
> While not entirely adverse to it, that's my choice only if there is no other equivelent way to do a task. I'd also never recomend that anyone run Windows at all. That would be like recomending that the user go jump off a cliff... Which pretty much eliminates WP. Jim, Jim, Jim! Wait a minute. I thought you were one of the 'freeloaders' riding the coattails of the Free Software movement! ;-) Seriously, though, I agree with your perspective. I can understand someone using non-libre where there is no choice. And I recently told some folks that I would never recommend Windows to a non-technical user, since it requires far more security expertise to run safely than other OSes. |
| jimf Nov 12, 2006 10:43 AM EDT |
Don, > I thought you were one of the 'freeloaders' riding the coattails of the Free Software movement! ;-) That deserves a serious answer. I believe that open source is the best choice. But, I also think that without 'choice' there can be no ethical decision. Absolutist dogma doesn't allow for choice. I also think that telling users there is no solution is, in essence, giving them no choice. Open source has to stand on it's own if it is to succeed. That means that, until it can, there may have to be compromise. It 'must be' up to the individual whether or not to accept the compromise. that's choice.... Of course compromise also has repercussions, but again, as with any other life situation, that's the individual's choice. |
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