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KOffice 1.4 Released

Posted by timothy on from the good-move dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The KDE Project today announced the immediate release of KOffice 1.4 for Linux and Unix operating systems. This release is a large step towards embracing the OASIS OpenDocument file format which has become an approved standard for office file formats. This format is also used by the upcoming OpenOffice.org 2.0, thus providing high interoperability. New applications in the 1.4 release: Krita - a pixel based image manipulation application (screenshots, movie) and Kexi - an integrated data management application (screenshots)."

14 of 272 comments (clear)

  1. What's the point? by glrotate · · Score: 4, Interesting

    All of the momentum and best coders are behind OpenOffice. Does the market really need a KO?

    1. Re:What's the point? by Karma+Farmer · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Not many people drive Ferrari sports cars either... yet you don't hear many people complaining that Ferrari is being prevented from getting to the mass market.

      That's not a valid comparison. Ferrari sports cars use the same infrastructure as any other car: the same roads, the same fuel delivery network, the same vehicle registration laws, etc.

      Right now, computers are much more like the railroads were a hundred and fifty years ago -- a mess of different, incompatible standards that don't work together, and are an impediment to wider adoption.

    2. Re:What's the point? by Qwavel · · Score: 2, Interesting


      I'm not sure what you are referring to, but OOo 2.0 does not use native widgets - it fakes them.

      There are a variety of ways to do native support - faking it is the worst in my opinion.

      Yet another reason why there is a need for office suites other than OOo.

      But please make KOffice available on Windows. You would multiply your potential user base hugely.

  2. Expect More Interest by EZR-2000 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Due to the OpenOffice.org Java backlash, expect to see a spike in interest in KOffice, especially considering that, being written in Qt, it should, at least theoretically, compile natively on Windows and (unlike OOo) Mac OS X. However, it's not as if the FLOSS community is hunky-dory about Qt; see the old Harmony project for more on that.

  3. No Windows version? by DogDude · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why no Windows version? Are they deliberately trying to be anti-competitive? How is this fair to Windows users? Are they trying to stifle Windows usage? Where's the DOJ when you need 'em?

    And yes, this was intended to be tongue-in-cheek.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
    1. Re:No Windows version? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      actually, there probablly will be a windows version after they switch to qt4

  4. The news has to get out sometime by udderly · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sooner or later you would think that people are going to realize that the vast, vast majority of users can do without MS Office and its $400 price tag. I hope that it's sooner!

  5. Kubuntu Packages and Live CD by JRiddell · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Packages are available for Kubuntu as is a Live CD with KOffice 1.4 (and KDE 3.4.1).

    Kubuntu Hoary KOffice CD and packages.

  6. Re:Krita... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    At the maintainer of Krita I can say with confidence that you are right. That's where the name came from. I can't say I'm happy with it, though...

    But Krita has always had trouble with naming. KImageShop, the first name was obviously unsuitable. The next name, Krayon, was nuked by the well-known German law shark von Gravenreuth. Kandinsky (my favourite) was mooted, but Krita was chosen -- years before my involvement in Krita.

    But three names is enough, I'm not going for another rename!

    Boudewijn Rempt

  7. Re:An interesting thing to watch by JabberWokky · · Score: 4, Interesting
    HTML is a standard - but it is not a rendering standard. HTML is supposed to look different on different browsers. In fact, quite a bit of how it is designed is based on the concept that different browsers will have different capabilities and will display the page differently. It is a markup language, which is why tags are named things like address, credit, and em (for emphasized). It does not define how a section is displayed as emphasized, just that it is supposed to be rendered with emphasis.

    Standards for layout, like Postscript, tend to do better at the things you want them to. But then, that's like saying a boat takes you across water better than a city bus.

    --
    Evan

    --
    "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
  8. Re:Krita... by ziggamon2.0 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    And Rita is the Swedish word for "draw". With a K added to it to comply with all the other Koffice Kapplications.

    Wanna bet your "probably" against mine?
    Or maybe it's both?

  9. Re:The end of data by Joe+Jarvis · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I actually think the greater danger is in human skill lock-in. As a U.S. federal employee, I can't tell you how many people are wed to WordPerfect or Word because that's what they know (and thus any other UI "doesn't make sense"). Software can always be upgraded or customized (say, in the future, to read outdated file formats). Trying to convince 50 of your coworkers to switch to a new tool and use it to its full potential is the hard part. That's why we should all support open-source usability standardization.

  10. KIOslaves are a bad idea by typical · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You know, KIOslaves and gnome-vfs are both really bad ideas. There are great places for virtual filesystem code (kernel, userspace filesystems like fuse or lufs, or for wildly different interfaces, just simple stand-alone libraries), and libraries tied into desktop environments is not one (especially since lots of authors that might enjoy using this functionality aren't interested in tying their apps to KDE or GNOME).

    --
    Any program relying on (nontrivial) preemptive multithreading will be buggy.
  11. Re:An interesting thing to watch by PhotoGuy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    People who expect word processor documents to be to-the-pixel identical on different machines are on crack. What if the recipient of your document uses a different paper size than you (eg letter vs A4)?

    I call BS on this. On different papers, yes, the layouts would be different. And that's what a word processor is for, in general, rendering something onto paper. If a Linux and a Windows version of the same word processor (or format) were showing a document for printing on 8.5x11 paper, there's no reason they shouldn't show exactly the same layout of the items on the "virtual paper" before the printing occurs. To have it otherwise is disconcerting.

    That's why the page format is stored in the document; this document was intended for letter; this document intended for A4. Put the right stock in the printer, and you should get consistent results.

    Having OpenOffice render opened word documents differently from Word, is a problem; it's getting a *lot* better at that, thankfully.

    --
    Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.