Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> High Plains Thumper on Sunday
>> B Gruff wrote:
>>
>>> I guess most of you will already have seen it, and heard how Richard
>>> Stallman first returned his information re. the meeting (because it was
>>> in MS format - he demanded it in something proper!) and then shouted at
>>> the MS guy in the meeting....
>>>
>>> http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/
>>>
>>> I must admit, I have some sympathy with that "format thing".
>>> I've been trying to help somebody who was putting out invitations,
>>> lists, menus etc. for a social event. She wouldn't be told. I *told*
>>> her that not everybody would have MS Word *and* MS Works, and that most
>>> of the rest know how to go about reading the .doc and .wps attachments,
>>> but she wouldn't listen .... it's mayhem in the group now..... in fact,
>>> I think that *I* might have shouted at a MS rep!
>
> Here is the bit I quote when sending it to PJ.
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Mr. Stallman does not like Microsoft. Wow, does he not. He mentioned
> | that when the U.N. sent him the information about the panel in a
> | Microsoft Word document, he refused it and requested a different format.
> | During the panel, he called Microsoft evil, said that the U.S.
> | government is in Microsoft's pocket, and at one point faced the
> | Microsoft guy and shouted, right there in the United Nations conference
> | room, "You are a deceptive person!"
> `----
>
>> I am surprised (but then not) why the documents were not put in .PDF for
>> circulation. .PDF can be read by anyone.
>
> Exactly. It was quite some time ago that I began replying to people who
> send Office-formatted files while the University has purchased expensive
> licences for an Adobe tool that converts these to PDF's. It seems to be
> improving as PDF's are now being sent /most/ of the time. The nice thing
> is that sending ODF will compel most Windows users to have OpenOffice
> installed. ODF is, after all, an ISO standard. You can't beat this
> argument.
This is not an unreasonable requirement. Adobe has made PDF an open
standard by disclosing the specifics to all. However, one cannot but be
impressed with how they are able to make such a clear document in such a
small file space.
My Lexmark X7170 All-in-One can scan to PDF, but for a 3 page document it
creates a 90 MB file in color, 42 MB in B/W. Apparently it does no file
compaction.
An Adobe document will take less than 150 KB. There is a great disconnect
here. However, Adobe costs around $450 US (243 GBP). I have not yet
installed the Lexmark Linux drivers yet to see how it fares under Sane.
(OT) Interestingly enough though, SuSE 10.1 Open had the HP Deskjet driver
for my 610CL, which previously was a Windows only printer. Setup was quick
and easy in YaST2. YaST test page was impressive.
>>> The interesting thing to me though isn't the conclusion that the blogger
>>> comes to, or even his comments. To me, the interesting thing is that
>>> the U.N. is discussing OSS!
>>
>> All documents at that level should be readable and not in a proprietary
>> format that requires a proprietary reader. An Open Document Format (ODF)
>> is most appropriate. It puts all on a level playing field and there is
>> no reason why a software manufacturer cannot include an ODF "save as"
>> feature with their software.
>
> The UN has been encouraging the use of OSS for quite some time, so this
> was not the surprising part. Here is just one among many articles about
> OSS and the UN.
>
> Linux Professional Institute Participates in UN Symposium of Free and Open
> Source Software
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | The Symposium, entitled "Alternative Technologies for Development: A
> | Look at Free Open Source Software (FOSS)" is organized in collaboration
> | with Intel Corporation and the UN Conference on Trade and Development
> | (UNCTAD).
> `----
>
> http://opensource.sys-con.com/read/266564.htm
>
> The UN has found that OSS helps developing nations.
It does, it helps all. It places all software makers on an even playing
field. Rather than specifying what software to use, it is up to the user.
The software producers satisfy the users by providing the appropriate
formatting utility or "save as" feature, to ensure it is properly saved.
There is no discrimination of Proprietary versus Open Source. It gives the
user the ultimate freedom.
--
HPT
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