Slashdot Mirror
IBM to Adopt ODF for Lotus Notes
Mike Barton writes to tell us InfoWorld is reporting IBM has announced that the upcoming version of Lotus Notes, due out this fall, will feature an "ODF-compatible version of OpenOffice embedded in the Notes e-mail application." IBM hopes that this large scale distribution of the ODF standard will help bolster their foothold in the marketplace since "standards live or die on how many people use them"
I manage 2 Domino servers that back-end our school district HR system. There's a well-entrenched user base for this app in the school district market. Anything that helps us get stuff in and out cleanly is a huge leap forward. PDF generation and compatibility has been a bear for our technically challenged, but good at their HR specialties, HR dept staff.
Moderation in All Things... Especially Moderation - gurutc
Why was this moderated Interesting?
The Good Thing about Notes/Domino is that it allows anybody to develop applications. The Bad Thing about Notes/Domino is that it allows anybody to develop applications.
I've been a Notes/Domino Developer for 13 years now, and beleive me, I've seen some real dodgy applications. The 6.5 client is defintely the best, but even that sucks when you point it at poorly designed applications. You may as well say that Firefox is rubbish because you're looking at poorly designed websites all the time.
I think you're getting confused with what the client is capable of doing and what the application that you're using does.
Adding ODF just gives the client another tool to use. A very powerful tool.
If you're in a company with 27,000 employees, and you don't know anyone who doesn't despise Notes, then your company desperately needs som new Notes developers.
I started developing for Notes only about 2 years ago, so I came in with the same predisposed notions as is the norm around here. But when I truly came to understand what Notes is, my opinion changed quickly.
Notes isn't a mail client. It's a platform for database applications, which can be developed by anyone. If you don't like something in the default mail template, you are free to change it, as everything is open!
Sure, you can quibble about features in the client itself, but competent developers can get around that. Notes applications can be excellent if the developers of them are competent, and collaboration between applications in Notes is ridiculously easy.
Furthermore, IBM is now starting to push Notes hard, and focussing on bringing more open source ideas into it, as this announcement indicates. The most recent server release is a huge improvement over the last, both in performance and stability. Notes now has a future, where a few years back it wasn't clear whether future releases would have fewer and fewer new features.
Add that to the fact that the main alternative for most companies is Microsoft, and Notes is a winner...