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Re: Linux Adoption Barriers

__/ [ Linønut ] on Tuesday 28 February 2006 12:24 \__

> After takin' a swig o' grog, Erik Funkenbusch belched out this bit o'
> wisdom:
> 
>> On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 04:15:45 +0000, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>
>>> Give an example. The majority of users out there use Word, but not much
>>> beyond this. Name a feature that an average user relies on in Word and
>>> will not have in OpenOffice 2 Writer.
>>
>> Table drawing.
>>
>> This feature literally, allows you to draw tables using a pencil and
>> eraser metaphor to create complex table structures.
>>
>> Simply put, this is a feature I refuse to do without.  Creating complex
>> tables with other methods takes way too much time.


Table instantiation and manipulation: create -> number of rows -> number of
cells -> split horizontally/vertically as desired. Remove/restore unwanted
borders with a single click. Any LaTeX front end can handle it, so no need
brag about a Mickey-Mouse tool. If you want to draw tables by stroking, use
Tuxpaint. *smile*

 
> Hmmm.  I've never used it.  It's pretty easy to highlight cells and
> split and merge them.  Didn't even know that "table drawing" existed in
> Word.
> 
> Are you saying you are an "average user"?


That's definitely a feature that is unknown to many. Those who are accustomed
to having it will yearn for its existence due to skill through experience.
It goes back to the issue of *change*. Those who have never used that
feature will never need it. That feature is representative of many such
gratuitous tools that exist somewhere deep inside the binaries and serve no
real purpose. They only keep the develops of a complete package occupied.
The outcome is called "bloatware".

Recent write-up:

Features Don?t Matter Anymore. 
http://www.acm.org/ubiquity/views/v7i07_pfeiffer.html

Best wishes Erik (I never mean to sound too harsh),

Roy

-- 
Roy S. Schestowitz
http://Schestowitz.com  |    SuSE Linux     |     PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
  2:00pm  up 1 day 10:11,  8 users,  load average: 0.46, 0.81, 0.72
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