Alexandro wrote:
Their software has been discontinued, that is why I wanted to express
the feeling that SO 5.2 was a much diverse solution. And that 'looking
back' it was a better application than what now is SO7.
'Better', eh? You are free to continue using it. I shudder when I hear
it's mention.
AFAIK OOo drop many things on the deal between Star(Media?) and Sun
for OOo. But it seems it droped also for StarOffice 6. The end result
is what many know today as OOo lacks (email client, calendar, Browser,
Chart Engine, Bitmap Editor, database etc).
Don't forget the game of solitaire, fly catcher, moon-phase imager,
eyebrow plucker and fortune teller.
OOo doesn't *lack* these, because OOo sits in an ecosystem of
open-source software, and can only be judged in this context. What you
claim OOo 'lacks' directly can be just as easily found and downloaded
from any number of competing open-source projects.
Funny enough, asking for those products will produce a massive amount
of traffic yelling out the bloatness of OOo making it a 200Mb
download,
I personally don't have a problem with *any* size that an OOo download
gets to. I understand, though, the issues some people have with bloat.
Many of them post to various OOo lists asking if they can download only
*one* stand-alone application, eg the word processor. This is
unfortunately not possible at the moment, and this situation makes it
quite difficult for people in developing countries ( or even just people
on dial-up ) to access OOo.
The main argument being put forward against all these 'features' is that
it dissipates the coders' efforts and creates a big collection of
half-arsed 'solutions'. Instead of getting a *really* good word
processor and a *really* good spreadsheet, you get a sort-of OK word
processor, and a a she'll-be-right-mate spreadsheet. Then you get an
email client that is missing *this* feature and *that* feature, and only
works well with *this* setup, and users complain because OOo ate their
mail yesterday, and why can't people right-click in an email address and
add it to the address book, and why doesn't my OOo work with my IMAP
server with SSL and ... ... ...
SO 5.2 included all these tools for a number of reasons, but the main
one would have been that there were no decent non-commercial
alternatives - ie either include them in StarOffice, or people will buy
a competitor's product just to get an email client. This situtation has
changed considerably. There are a number of open source email clients.
OOo is an open source project. Thus there is very little motivation to
reinvent the wheel just to provide an integrated mail client, calendar,
etc, as users can just as easily download an open source tool that fits
the job. People who continue requesting a return to the 'good old days'
of SO 5.2 and it's integrated-everything approach are also very rarely
willing to re-implement said features.
however SO 5.2 packed all this tools with a 76Mb download
for windows.
Thunderbird is a 5MB download. As someone else posted recently, there
are win32 builds of evolution available now. If you don't like the way
either of these integrate into your desktop, then maybe a different
desktop is in order. Don't turn to your office package to manage your
desktop - it's an application suite. Use the right tool for the job.
--
Daniel Kasak
IT Developer
NUS Consulting Group
Level 5, 77 Pacific Highway
North Sydney, NSW, Australia 2060
T: (+61) 2 9922-7676 / F: (+61) 2 9922 7989
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
website: http://www.nusconsulting.com.au
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