The OpenOffice FUD Compaign has Begun 3333

Erik Funkenbusch

News groups can seem very active with fewer than 50 people, and more than 50 people bough "Microsoft Dogs"

Good for you.

True, and open standards are the best way to do this.

I have to disagree here. I have see publisher included on the MSDN CDs, but have never seen anyone use it. I tried to use it once, it was a horrible hack. Project is invariably installed on a managers machine and tried for the first couple projects until it is discarded as useless.

Visio, like Project, looks good until you use it.

Its called "the shell game." You may not want these features, but someone will.

"Progress?" define progress. A few new features with more restrictions is not progress. Movement toward open standards and interoperability *is* progress.

But that exists now in the current metaphor, its called "undo."

Cute, horse and buggies? But maybe we should think about freedom and openness. If you want ancient comparisons, how about standard oil?

No, you wouldn't "say" that, you'd imply it.

There are "real" benefits of progress where the benefit of the progress is measurable. Like horse and buggy vs automobile, the automobile was clearly (after the bugs were worked out) a more efficient solution to the problem. Now fast forward to the hard geared transfer case four wheel drive vs the viscous coupling transfer case. One is clearly more advanced than the other, but the relative merits of both don't make one a clear winner without understanding the application and while the viscous transfer case works well in a lot of all wheel drive vehicles, the geared transfer cases are usually stronger and more efficient.

Progress is a perspective.