Slashdot Mirror

Checkout the screenshot at mozdev.org small screenshot of Abiword mozilla plugin
big screeshot of Abiword mozilla plugin .

As for speed i would expect this would be no slower than running both mozilla than Abiword at the same time, so if you already have mozilla open all day everyday the speed difference is probably not noticable

This sounds like bug #1030.

abiword

Same reason you can't have Photoshop for Linux, or Microsoft Office for Linux: because the vendor wouldn't make any money off of a version of their software for Linux.

Yet you can buy Maya for Linux, which costs just a hair more than Photoshop or Microsoft Office. You can buy Star Office, but most people don't, because OpenOffice is nearly the same quality with the definate promise of improvement. There's also Abiword. Gnumeric is a top-notch spreadsheet program that I've come to prefer to excel. There's more like this. There's really very little incentive to buy an office suite when you can get better for free.

In other fields, the Free alternatives tend to kick the hiney of their commercial counterparts. Let's try a few, okay? Pan, a newsreader based loosley on Agent. Pan is the only newsreader to score perfectly on the GNKSA Evaluations. Compared this to its commercial basis, Agent's score really sucks. Then there's Quanta for HTML editing. VIM is fine for most people, but if you need that Dreamweaver-like crap, Quanta does it without getting in your way. And it's REALLY good. Oh yes, it's Free with a capital "EFF."

This is a silly arguement to make against "Linux." This is Capitalism 101. Good products offered under better conditions succeed while inferior products do not. Maya is wonderful under Linux, and there is nothing else in its league available on a Unix-ish (OS X, Linux) platform.

Oh, yes. You can also buy numerous games, of course. Neverwinter Nights in particular will be releasing for all three major platforms in a single box. We'll see what this does for sales.

Since I primarily use any office suite for word processing, I just downloaded AbiWord. Slashdot ran a story earlier, too, about this.
If you use databases, I am sure you can find some open source version DB software somewhere. Same with spreadsheets and presentations. As for scheduling, let's just say, pen and back of hand work fine.

Indeed, right-to-left language support is currently very weak on OS X but this is rumored to change with Jaguar. Certainly there's been talk of it already from Apple people before (eg. Peter Lofting @ the ATypI Conference Copenhagen last year) You can of course use many right-to-left languages on MacOS 9 and with XWindows on OSX already (eg. AbiWord). From an implementation perspective, because of system-wide Unicode support it's certainly easier than ever - just get the language sets out the door at Apple. Additional language support should be quicker than with pre-OSX systems, and more uniform. Nice to see an another international ISO technology that Apple and Xerox started coming back to help them. I never cease to be amazed at how innovative those two companies really were back in the 'day. And to a greater or lesser extent still are.

I thought our CJK support was pretty good. We seem to some problems with Korean but we know our Chinese support is good because we have at least one Chinese developer and we get feedback from our Chinese users.
Most of us who work on the internationalization of AbiWord don't know any non-European languages very well. I try the CJK support and it seems okay to me but hey I'm only a gaijin (:
Please file some bug reports so we know what the problems are and can attempt to fix them!

Please file a bug report.

I think we'd accept a bug report that listed warnings that need to be fixed.

It doesn't yet but there's an RFE that already has quite a few votes. We are accepting patches.

"Make it Fit" sounds like a good feature. I recommend submitting a request if you really want it. That should get it some attention.

It doesn't yet but there's an RFE that already has quite a few votes. We are accepting patches.

"Make it Fit" sounds like a good feature. I recommend submitting a request if you really want it. That should get it some attention.

MS Word does do a better job if i18n than us right now but, after tables and footnotes/endnotes, improving i18n is our next highest priority. We have a special metabug right now to track tricky multilinal problems.
Work is already underway to add Pango and FreeType support.

Even without them our Chinese support is very good, our Hebrew support is also very good (make sure you get the bidi-build), and our Arabic support should be good but I'm not sure how much testing it has received.

So try it out with all the languages you want and file some bug reports!

MS Word does do a better job if i18n than us right now but, after tables and footnotes/endnotes, improving i18n is our next highest priority. We have a special metabug right now to track tricky multilinal problems.
Work is already underway to add Pango and FreeType support.

Even without them our Chinese support is very good, our Hebrew support is also very good (make sure you get the bidi-build), and our Arabic support should be good but I'm not sure how much testing it has received.

So try it out with all the languages you want and file some bug reports!

Is there a reason that abiWord doesnt have header/footer capabilities or am i just missing it?

I've tried to load a word document that has header and footer stuff already in it, and it never shows up right (it just screws up on each page)

Yeah. It sucks. X fonts are a terrible mess. The whole sordid affair is documented in Abi bug 1030. We will use FreeType in the future, though, and I hope that this solves the problem.

By the way, AbiWord usually stores its fonts in /usr/share/AbiSuite/fonts. If you want to use system fonts, you need to symlink them from your system fonts directory to that directory and run mkfontdir/mkttfdir to create a fonts.dir in /usr/share/AbiSuite/fonts. Then it'll happily use your fonts.

Table support is our most-requested-feature and our #1 priority for the next version. It's being worked on now.

It does support Word 2000 and XP but if you find a feature for those formats that is missing, file an RFE.

Table support is our most-requested-feature and our #1 priority for the next version. It's being worked on now.

It does support Word 2000 and XP but if you find a feature for those formats that is missing, file an RFE.

I didn't know about these utilities. I just posted a request for enhancement at Bugzilla. It would be really cool to have this as a plugin for 1.0.2; hopefully I (in my copious free time) or someone else can snarf the code and implement the frontend hooks Abi would need.

Please file a bug report!
We're not Microsoft - we actually listen and fix our bugs.

AbiWord does have extra Gnome-specific features when built as a Gnome application.
We've also been talking to the Gnome and Gnumeric guys about getting the two tied even closer together.
If you've got any specific ideas please file bugs or RFEs for them.

We've talked about it but I just checked and nobody has officially requested it.
Why not file an RFE now? Then the rest of you can vote on it and some of you can start hacking it!

After tables, this is our second highest priority.
See the bug report and vote for it if you like.

It's not a text editor, it's a word processor. Those are still 2 different things.
I doubt even a single AbiWord developer uses AbiWord to hack AbiWord!

That said, people have suggested making it more of a programmer's editor as well. Anybody can already make a syntax highlighter plugin if they want. Shouldn't even be difficult. (Actually that would be a lexial highligher - I've never seen any editor do syntax highlighting yet).
Another thing missing as a source editor is tabs based on the size of spaces.

Feel free to post an RFE on AbiWord's BugZilla if you really want this feature. Also feel free to start hacking it yourself - the AbiWord code is easy to get into.

I used to use IE all the time, but now I use Mozilla.. however, for some reason I happened to be using IE to read Slashdot today, and wow, that 'release-notes' page doesn't work in IE but is perfect in Mozilla.

I looked at the source and it said the page had been created from AbiWord. So.. I'm guessing that Abiword docs don't work in IE, although anyone with some sense is on Mozilla anyway ;-)

(Perhaps it's just an IE5.5 problem, you 'IE Sicks' users might be okay?)

Download the AikSaurus Plugin here.
It only supports US English so far but it's pretty cool.

I have on my hard drive at home a half-dozen documents that fall into the category of "standard Word documents", which is to say, they're the kind of documents you'd see on the "average" corporate network.

Even Word sometimes chokes and dies on them.

My point is, when I see "import Word documents", I can't help but think, "But what kind of Word documents?". I got burned too many times trying to convince my officemates to go away from MS and Office. Those documents are now a shrine for me: parse and display these, and you've won. Otherwise, don't even try to claim you can import Word.

Abi is an ant. She's blue.

As for spreadsheets, in the near future we release code which is able to embed Abiword files in Gnumeric and allows Evolution to use AbiWord to read emails.

"This will allow you to create simple tables. More sophisticated table support is the major feature planned for AbiWord 1.2. The developers already know that it is needed, and are already working on it."

where as the openoffice source is 128 MB accourding to there site

on my modem I find downloading 15megs much more appealing then downloading 128 megs. but then thats could just be me.

Reminds me of the recent slashdot feature about abiword and their call for help
It's good to see that new features are still being added.

• Myth: KDE is more integrated than GNOME
  
  Reality: The oft-heard cry of the noisiest KDE advocates. No explanation is given - the reader is expected to simply grok the wholesomeness of KDE, and the lack of this mystical quality in GNOME. It's nonsense of course. Neither desktop is particularly "integrated" compared to Windows XP, and certainly not compared any version of the Apple Mac.

• Myth: KDE is easier to use
  
  Reality: Again, such nebulous arguments are never explained, and the reader is expected to simply understand the truth. Both KDE and GNOME have user-interface irritations (indeed, all systems do) - but "ease of use" is not a simple thing to measure. What about application (see GNOME apps later) installation and removal: GNOME has the excellent RedCarpet by Ximian , which makes the installation, removal and updating of applications trivial. KDE users are expected to fend for themselves with brutal command line driven systems. GNOME also has the excellent Ximian setup tools to handle various very tricky cross-platform and potentially risky system configuration operations - KDE offers a few small half-assed Linux-only tools, which make no attempt at check-pointing to return to known working configurations.

• Myth: KDE is more popular
  
  Reality: In what sense? Arguably more people use KDE - but it is a close run thing. Most KDE zealots claim the results of online polls as proof of their superior userbase... which is, quite frankly, complete and utter nonsense. Online polls are the joke of the century; it doesn't even require a motivated script kiddie to render then worthless. A single post on a zealot-ridden site can reduce the result to a running joke. Popularity is also difficult to measure when both GNOME and KDE are frequently installed on the same system - and indeed, can co-exist except for certain applications such as panels. Many KDE users actually run GNOME applications for their superior features and stability.

  One of the few solid measures of popularity is the adoption in commercial use - and here, GNOME is far ahead. Both Hewlett- Packard and Sun Microsystems have committed to using GNOME as the desktop for their Unix systems. This ties in with the previously mentioned ease of use - Sun's major contribution to the GNOME effort is in the areas of user/developer documentation, testing, accessiblity and user-testing. Three of the less glamourous parts of desktop development. The arrival of the GNOME 2.x series will see these contributions reach fruitition and allow GNOME to make a quantum leap ahead of KDE in most of the basic computer/user issues.

• Myth: Konqueror is the best Linux browser
  
  Reality: Oh for a penny every time this lie is told in any KDE story! Konqueror is a fine piece of software - it's authors deserve plently of praise - it is, however, quite unreliable and lax in its support of basic web standards compared to either Mozilla or Opera . It is also extremely slow - slower than the latest incarnations of the GNOME Nautilus filemanager/browser.

• Myth: KDE applications are better/more advanced than GNOME ones due to the ease of developing in C++ using the Qt toolkit
  
  Reality: See also: Qt/TrollTech. Easily the most common wail heard by KDE developers - and yet it is easily disproved by looking at the actual applications for GNOME/GTK and KDE/Qt . KDE applications often have larger version numbers than GNOME ones... an old trick played by commerical software developers. Most KDE apps seem to jump for 1.x releases long before they are ready - KOffice being the best example. None of the components in Koffice are worthy of a 1.0 release, let alone 1.1 or 1.2. GNOME applications wait longer and get more testing in their 0.x stages and despite shorter development phases mature more quickly and reach stable featureful release states more quickly: the superb Evolution (groupware/email), Gnumeric (spreadsheet), Pan (newsreader), The GIMP (image manipulation), Abiword (word processing), RedCarpet ,X-Chat (IRC client), XMMS (media player), Galeon (web browser), and for developers: Glade , Anjuta . All of these packages ooze quality, far outclass and are, at least, 18 months ahead of their KDE/Qt counterparts. It's not only in the area of user applications that GNOME is lightyears ahead, with the forthcoming 2.x a number of impressive behind the scenes technology will finally mature: component technology (bonobo ), media (Gstreamer ), internationalisation (pango ). As a developement platform, GNOME 2.x is, frankly, years ahead of KDE. And what's more, it is not tied to a lowest common denominator cross-platform bloat-fest like Qt. Yet despite all this, we are still fed the lie that Qt and C++ makes development easier. Judge for yourself.

• Myth: KDE is faster and/or takes less memory than GNOME
  
  Reality: KDE is written in C++. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it is when the programmers do not know enough to avoid certain pitfalls that can plague software projects. Stupid use of ++/-- with C++ objects; masses of unnecessary allocations and deallocations of memory, and the most cretinous of all, blaming the extremely slow startup times of KDE apps on GCC. The GNOME 1.x releases were hardly svelt (2.x fixes many of these issues), but GNOME is a fashion cat-walk superwaif when compared to KDE's 500lb fat-momma cheese-burger scoffing trailer trash. One need only look at the recent fuss over ugly KDE hacks (such as prelinking) to see the problem inherent in the KDE architecture and basic design.

• Myth: GNOME development is slower. KDE releases faster.
  
  Reality: Fundamental misunderstanding. KDE releases as one big lump of code due to its use of C++ and the consequent problems with libraries. It bumps the version number of the entire KDE system for the smallest modifications. GNOME, on the other hand is componentized and each component releases on a (almost) separate schedule, bumping it's own version number but not the main GNOME version. Occasional releases of the entire GNOME system are done, and that's when the GNOME version number is bumped (currently it is 1.4). To see this in action, use RedCarpet and you will regular updates to GNOME components. GNOME development is not slower, it is in fact faster and more advanced. Lamers and newbies, however, fail to understand the advantages and just see KDE 1.1.1 followed a few weeks later by KDE 1.1.2. Wow! KDE roolz.

• Myth: TrollTech is a friend of Free software.
  
  Reality: Qt started out as non-Free. KDE developers knew this violated the GPL and are therefore untrustworthy. KDE core developers work for TrollTech. Expensive per developer licensing for writing closed-source with Qt. Labyrinthine licensing nightmare.

• Myth: Most good GNOME apps are actually GTK applications.
  
  Reality: Most KDE apps, such as those from The Kompany are actually Qt apps because they want to port to the more lucrative Windows/Qt market.

• Myth: KDE is attractive/GNOME/GTK is ugly
  
  Reality: Mosfet liquid theme is an ugly and unstable hack. GNOME GTk icons are of a far higher quality than the cartoonish and confusing KDE ones. Qt is basically a Windows-look on a Unix platform.

• Myth: KDE is more integrated than GNOME
  Reality: The oft-heard cry of the noisiest KDE advocates. No explanation is given - the reader is expected to simply grok the wholesomeness of KDE, and the lack of this mystical quality in GNOME. It's nonsense of course. Neither desktop is particularly "integrated" compared to Windows XP, and certainly not compared to any version of the Apple Mac. Whatever "integrated" really means.

• Myth: KDE is easier to use
  Reality: Again, such nebulous arguments are never explained, and the reader is expected to simply understand the truth of the zealots statement. Both KDE and GNOME have user-interface irritations (indeed, all systems do) - but "ease of use" is not a simple thing to measure. KDE has never been subjected to detailed user testing, unlike GNOME [gnome.org], and the claims of user-friendliness are from crazed supporters and not average users. Furthermore, the KDE faithful rarely look beyond simple-minded copying of Windows, and forget that administering a desktop system is just as important as having widgets in the correct place on the toolbar. For example: What about application installation and removal? GNOME has the excellent RedCarpet [ximian.com] by Ximian [ximian.com], which makes the installation, removal and updating of applications trivial. KDE users are expected to fend for themselves with brutal command line driven systems. GNOME also has the excellent Ximian setup tools to handle various very tricky cross-platform and potentially risky system configuration operations - KDE offers none of this, only a few small half-assed Linux-only tools, which make no attempt at check-pointing to return to known working configurations.

• Myth: KDE is more popular
  Reality: In what sense? Arguably more people use KDE - but it is a close run thing. Most KDE zealots claim the results of online polls as proof of their superior userbase - which is, quite frankly, complete and utter nonsense. Online polls are the joke of the century; it doesn't even require a motivated script kiddie to render then worthless. A single post alerting the faithful on a zealot-ridden site can skew the result so much it makes American presidential elections look fair and well organised. Popularity is also difficult to measure when both GNOME and KDE are frequently installed on the same system. Indeed, the systems can co-exist and even run at the same time, except for certain applications such as panels. Many KDE users actually run GNOME applications for their superior features and stability, not realising that by doing so they are barely running KDE at all.

  One of the few solid measures of popularity is the adoption in commercial use - and here, GNOME is far ahead, with both Hewlett-Packard [hp.com] and Sun Microsystems [sun.com] committing to using GNOME as the desktop for their Unix systems. This also ties in with the previously mentioned ease of use - Sun's major contribution to the GNOME project is in the areas of user/developer documentation, testing, accessiblity and user-testing. Three of the less glamourous parts of desktop development. The arrival of the GNOME 2.x series will see these contributions reach fruitition and allow GNOME to make a quantum leap ahead of KDE in most of the basic computer/user issues.

• Myth: Konqueror is the best Linux browser
  Reality: Oh for a penny every time this lie is told in any KDE story! Konqueror [konqueror.org] is not a bad piece of software - its authors deserve praise for the work done in it. However, the sheer amount of orgasmic praise lavished by the KDE faithful is completely out of proportion to its actual quality. It is quite unreliable and even simple standards compliant pages can crash it quite comprehensively. It is also lax in its support of basic web standards compared to either Mozilla [mozilla.org] or Opera [opera.com]. It is also extremely slow - much slower than the latest incarnations of the GNOME Nautilus [eazel.com] filemanager/browser (a target of much KDE FUD during its development).
  .

• Myth: KDE applications are better/more advanced than GNOME ones due to the ease of developing in C++ using the Qt toolkit
  Reality: Easily the most common wail heard by KDE developers, and yet it is easily disproved by looking at the actual applications for GNOME/GTK [gtk.org] and KDE/Qt [trolltech.com]. KDE applications often have larger version numbers than GNOME ones... an old trick played by commerical software developers. Most KDE apps seem to jump for 1.x releases long before they are ready - KOffice [koffice.org] being the best example. None of the components in Koffice are worthy of a 1.0 release, let alone 1.1 or 1.2.

  GNOME applications [gnome.org] wait longer and get more testing in their 0.x stages and despite shorter development phases mature more quickly and reach stable featureful release states more quickly. Some examples of this are the superb Evolution [ximian.com] (groupware/email), Gnumeric [gnome.org] (spreadsheet), Pan [rebelbase.com] (newsreader), The GIMP [gimp.org] (image manipulation), Abiword [abisource.com] (word processing), RedCarpet [ximian.com], X-Chat [xchat.org] (IRC client), XMMS [xmms.org] (media player), Galeon [sourceforge.net] (web browser), and for developers: Glade [gnome.org] and Anjuta [sourceforge.net]. All of these packages ooze quality, and far outclass the KDE counterparts. It is no understatement to say that GNOME is at least 18 months ahead of KDE in applications, and pulling still further ahead.

  It's not only in the area of user applications that GNOME is lightyears ahead. With the forthcoming 2.x a number of impressive behind the scenes technology will finally mature: component technology (bonobo [gnome.org]), media (Gstreamer [gstreamer.net]), internationalisation (pango [pango.org]). As a developement platform, GNOME 2.x is, conservatively, 2-3 years ahead of KDE. And what's more, because it is not tied to a lowest common denominator cross-platform bloat-fest like the Qt toolkit, the lead (as with applications) can only increase further.

  Yet despite all this, we are still regularly fed the lie that Qt and C++ makes application and desktop development easier. Judge for yourself.

• Myth: KDE is faster and takes less memory than GNOME
  Reality: KDE is written in C++. While this is not necessarily a problem, it can be when Visual Basic reject programmers (which the KDE project is overrun with) do not know enough to avoid important pitfalls that plague C++ software projects. Stupid use of autoincrementing operators and iteration with C++ objects, and masses of unnecessary allocations and deallocations of memory, are two of the most common. KDE suffers badly from both problems.

  Perhaps the most cretinous of all problems is blaming the extremely slow startup times of KDE apps on GCC. The GNOME 1.x releases were hardly svelt (2.x fixes many of these issues), but GNOME is a fashion cat-walk superwaif when compared to KDE's 500lb fat-momma cheese-burger scoffing trailer trash. One need only look at the recent fuss over ugly KDE hacks (such as prelinking) to see the problem inherent in the poor KDE architecture and basic design flaws.

• Myth: GNOME development is slower. KDE releases faster.
  Reality: Fundamental misunderstanding. KDE releases as one big lump of code due to its use of C++ and the many problems this causes with libraries. The project bumps the version number of the entire KDE system for the smallest modifications. GNOME, on the other hand is componentized and each component releases on a (almost) separate schedule, bumping it's own version number but not the main GNOME version (1.4, for example). Occasional releases of the entire GNOME system happen, and that's when the GNOME version number is bumped (currently it is at 1.4). To see this in action, use RedCarpet and you will see regular updates to GNOME components. GNOME development is not slower, it is in fact faster and more advanced. Lamers and newbies, however, fail to understand the advantages of this method and just see KDE 1.1.1 followed a few weeks later by KDE 1.1.2. Wow! KDE roolz.

• Myth: TrollTech is a friend of Free software.
  Reality: TO BE WROTE -- IDEAS Qt started out as non-Free. KDE developers knew this violated the GPL, didn't care, stole others' GPL code by porting it to link (in violation of the license) with Qt and are therefore untrustworthy. KDE core developers work for TrollTech. Expensive per developer licensing for writing closed-source with Qt. Trolltech only moved towards the GPL because of the success of GNOME. Labyrinthine licensing nightmare. Gradual migration of features into Qt (and so into TrollTech's IP portfolio), allowing easy porting of apps to the revenue generating Windows world (see TheKompany for a perfect example), thereby making KDE irrelevant.

• Myth: Most good GNOME apps are actually GTK applications.
  Reality: TO BE WROTE -- IDEAS Most KDE apps, such as those from The Kompany [thekompany.com] are actually Qt apps because they want to port to the more lucrative Windows/Qt market.

  Myth: KDE is more than attractive - GNOME/GTK is ugly
  Reality: Mosfet liquid theme is an ugly and unstable hack. GNOME GTk icons are of a far higher quality than the cartoonish and confusing KDE ones. Qt is basically a Windows-look on a Unix platform.

This troll was reposted from the Troll Library without permission of the original author. If you object to this post, or if you wish to add your troll to the Troll Library, please reply to this message.

Also it makes it easier to exchange files between Windows and Linux. Instead of worrying about working with excel you can ask your windows friends to download Gnumeric for windows to see your files.

That's right, missionaries are doing it because they believe it's the right thing to do.

According to dictionary.com, a missionary is:

One who is sent on a mission, especially one sent to do religious or charitable work in a territory or foreign country

Now, there's hardly three words in that definition that you could string together to apply to free software programmers! A missionary is not just someone on a mission, it is someone who is sent on a mission, usually for religious reasons. It's just that sort of argument that both glorifies not-that-noble parts of computer science (writing a word processor), and downplays the sacrifices of those risking their lives, and most certainly their comfort, for their faith. Anyone doing something in their spare time is a hobbyist. Even if they're "on a mission" (that phrase itself a bit of hyperbole used for everything from a professional athelete looking for a victory to someone's mom cleaning the kitchen).

The Abiword developers are not doing Abiword for relaxation!

You're right, they do it for something much more serious than that: fun. Seriously, ever put a ship-in-a-bottle together? A big jigsaw puzzle? Sometimes it's frustrating, but it's still a hobby, and until you make your living from it, you're a hobbyist. Just like the people building Battlebots, or re-enacting civil war battles.

The word 'hobby' indicates a low level of seriousness.

That letter indicated a low level of seriousness relative to a shrink-wrapped closed-source software shop, too. No big deal. In fact, that's what the letter was trying to say: "we can not be as serious about this as full-time developers could be,".

Einstein was an amateur scientist.

How did he make his living, then? From mowing lawns? Einstein did science for a living, therefore he was a professional scientist. Just like monks are professional clergy, even though they don't draw a salary. Sometimes monks are missionaries too, but that's beside the point.

But missionaries are not about to give up. Professionals will leave you in the lurch when they smell profit elsewhere.

That's a broad statement. If missionaries never gave up, the Spanish Inquisition would still be going on, and you'd have a few restraining orders out against Jehovah's Witnesses. Professionals are often not allowed to leave you in a lurch, because they have made a contract with you for their services. Free software programmers can leave just because they get bored.

I hope these ideas don't appear completely alien to you.

...

I don't need no stinkin' guide to write good bugs - my fellow programmers say I write the best bugs, and I never read any guides!

I don't need no stinkin' guide to write good bugs - my fellow programmers say I write the best bugs, and I never read any guides!

When posting a bug to bugzilla, please submit that bug (exact URL please) also to slashdot, so everyone can see it.

Their Help page needs a good forum for its users to help each other in. That way anytime you answer a question it is

1. Able to be searched for by DIY knowledgeable users
2. Allows the amplification of any official responses to multiple users. Mailing lists are fine and dandy for this but unless someone was subscribed to the list at the time they will never see the message, forum software solved this limitation. Faqs don't have to be updated as often as people can respond "on the fly".
3. This is the most important by far. Users help each other out the majority of the time and you build a viable support community around your product. 3.

If you just want the more common features for an infinitely better price, use Abiword or another free program. It's got the 90% of features that most people use (except for tables, which should be coming in the next few months).

Seems like we need a good open standardized WYSIWYG oriented xml based format for editing and storage.

AbiWord provides a just this. See the file format section of the AbiWord FAQ or the AbiWord XML DTD.

Enjoy!

Seems like we need a good open standardized WYSIWYG oriented xml based format for editing and storage.

AbiWord provides a just this. See the file format section of the AbiWord FAQ or the AbiWord XML DTD.

Enjoy!

Nah, just send them the document in its native form. If they complain that they can't open it, just tell them they will have to get OpenOffice.

A 35MB download!! are you nuts?

If you want to do this use Abiword and ask them to download that

Only a 3.4MB download

Huh? Do you even remotely keep a watch of the GNOME community? A couple months ago the GNOME 2.0 schedule was released and things are moving along pretty much as planned. A 2.0 API freeze just occured, activity on the lists and in CVS is dramatically rising. We've had recent releases of the new Control Center, a brand new AbiWord, second Beta of Evolution, new releases of development tools gIDE (screenshot) and DevHelp (screenshot), a new file selection dialog, etc...I could go on. I suggest you at least read the GNOME Summaries or check out Gnotices every now and then.

What would it take to push apple into making NeXTStep a truly cross-platform development environment again? If they did so, would anyone actually use it? (i.e. which is greater: the dirty feeling coming from using an MS platform, or the dirty feeling coming from using an apple (NeXT) platform.) Or is .NET better than *Step/Cocoa anyway?

Apple currently needs Microsoft for Office. Microsoft would not like Apple invading Windows by putting Cocoa on Windows or giving Linux a boost by putting Cocoa on that.

So Apple needs something to replace Office to get out of under MS control. The only real possibility is OpenOffice, but of course there is no Mac Version of OpenOffice and they report they need help porting to Mac OS X

I alternative to Word that could actually defeat .doc as the "standard" format is AbiWord free and small, so it is a easy download. But, it has the same problem OpenOffice has no Mac Version.

I think these two programs have no chance becoming wide spread without a Mac Version. Because basically anyone using any Macs can't use it. It is not "cross-platform" to them. Also us Mac Users would be very likely to go preaching the OpenOffice-Abiword gospel. We hated Microsoft before Linux existed, and I believe there are more of us then there are Linux users.

To read the latest discussion on Abiword development, check out this page.

I wonder how many people have tried MacGIMP because Adobe's taking so long to release Photoshop for OS X? Judging from some of the chat boards, I'm guessing a lot.

W
-------------------

Isn't it self contradictory on one hand to produce a product as Open Source...while fighting vigorously to protect the trademark?

It's not hypocritical at all. It's very important that when a name like "MySQL" or "Perl" or "Linux" represents a standard for compatibility, that name remain meaningful. If it weren't for trademark law, malicious companies could embrace and subvert all our open-source languages by creating their own incompatible versions, releasing the code, and stealing the brand in public perception with a big marketing blitz. Most people are not going to take the time to sort it out if many sites are providing different versions of Perl, and if Microsoft pre-installed a "Perl" that only ran under Windows and allowed embedded Visual Basic, people would use it and think it's Perl. Only trademark law prevents them from doing this.

AbiWord uses this combination of copyright (to keep the code open) and trademark (to keep the name meaningful), and they have a nice FAQ about the AbiWord trademark which explains both the legal and the philosophical issues (see also this post).

All of that said, the real issue here is that MySQL was dumb not to register every available form of their domain.

You will want to use PLPtools to transfer files from and to Linux (and perhaps other Unix-like systems). It can NFS-mount your Psion disk(s).

(although abiword may run into trouble too.)
W
-------------------

Actually, AbiWord has opened this doc quite painless. I can't say how faithfull it is to the true document, but you surely could get its gist.

As a colaborator of the project I might be biased, but I think its a pretty decent ms word doc viewer for linux.

Hugs, Cyke

Well I would have taken a look at the press release... if it wasn't in fscking MS Word format. Sigh.

Abiword runs on just about any platform you can use on a PC and reads MS Word files pretty well. It reads this press release just fine.