openoffice bashing [was Re: How long will 64bit Ubuntu users have to wait?]

[Peter Garrett]

On Mon, 02 Oct 2006 09:45:44 +0100
Scott James Remnant <scott at ubuntu.com> wrote:

> In fact, I think the entire "Office Suite" concept is flawed.  It should
> be replaced by a set of simple and elegant programs that each work
> independently but whose results can be combined to produce work.

Which, if I understand correctly, is the "Unix Way" - and I agree.
Unfortunately, DE s like Gnome and KDE also have ( IMHO ) far too much
"integration".

Example: I never use Evolution any more, preferring Sylpheed - but
removing Evo is not really an option, as it hooks into Gnome too tightly.
Nautilus seems to be seen as the answer to all the world's ills as well
( for example, integrated CD burning, which works but is neither easily
discoverable for new users, nor as flexible as something like gnomebaker or
K3b). Serpentine and Sound Juicer, on the other hand, work well and are not
so tightly integrated that they can't stand on their own feet. We have also
seen how Firefox is "required" for many functions to "work" in Ubuntu.

I realise that I and others who find this trend disturbing are in a
minority, but it seems to me that too much interdependence between apps is
a Bad Thing , and enormous complex "suites" become effectively similar to
DE s - in fact the Star Office from which OOo sprang was originally pretty
much a ( very clunky) desktop in itself, so we have inherited many of the
problems of that approach.

Having said that, I do agree that OOo has been a crucial part of FOSS
becoming usable and popular for more people.

Peter