OpenOffice.org Performance + rant

[Tim Writer]

Byron Sonne <blsonne-bJEeYj9oJeDQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org> writes:

> > I'll take Emacs or vi and LaTeX or troff any day.
> 
> Sure, while we're at it why don't we cut power to our houses, dig wells for
> water, grow our own food, and knit our own clothes? ;)
> 
> 
> Like it or not, all of the above mentioned programs pretty much suck for
> creating nicely formatted documents quickly and without (to the average joe)
> alot of training.

[snip]

> Maybe my jre is better performing than yours, or the system config has
> something to do with it. But what you do have to understand is that OO.o
> serves a *very* important purpose as it is easy to use

[snip]

You're making a very common mistake, equating ease of learning (or at least
getting started) and ease of use.  They're not the same thing.  Sure, Emacs,
vi, LaTeX, and troff all require a time investment to become proficient.  But
once proficient, IMHO, they're much easier to use, produce higher quality
output, and make _much_ better use of your system's resources.  Maybe the
time investment isn't worth if for your brother because he doesn't plan to do
a lot of document preparation in the future.  I do know, however, the time I
spent learning these tools in the mid '80s (i.e. twenty years ago) has more
than paid off and, more importantly, these skills are still useful to me
today. Can you say that about the word processor your were using 20 years
ago?  I doubt it and I doubt you'll say it about OO.o 20 years from now.

-- 
tim writer <tim-s/rLXaiAEBtBDgjK7y7TUQ at public.gmane.org>                                  starnix inc.
905.771.0017 ext. 225                           thornhill, ontario, canada
http://www.starnix.com              professional linux services & products
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