Dear Juergen: I just received your message in [discuss] about the open office mouse. As well as that of another person who didn't see it as particularly OpenOfficeMouse germane.
I have also seen your first page of the OpenOfficeMouse website. IMHO: The idea of a mouse that does more is good, but what it does and its potential field of applicability are where the controversy surely will arise. I remember myself having uploaded somewhere the idea of a mouse that was hardware versatile, but the objectives for it were quite different. It was not for gamers, nor was it any more dedicated to any operating system that the most basic mouse that could be found. All the variations were purely hardware. The reason for this was that I wanted the speed to be hardware controlled so that it could be controlled, and slowed down during use in a BIOS session or during the initial loading of an operating system. Also this would make it totally independent of both the operating system and all software running on any platform that would work with the most basic, standard mouse around. Such a device also would have significant potential to help handicapped users. Hence it would use standard, basic software that comes with the operating system, and appear identical to that basic mouse to the machine. Thinking further, this idea would not really need to be a mouse itself, but an adapter box that would plug between the actual mouse or trackball and the mouse port, which could be PS-2, USB or RS-232. I am an electronic technician with an overall background of almost 50 years. I have an old trackball here that is a bit like that. In the days of 16 bit windows, I purchased this for $CDN 129.95 plus tax. It is known as the roller mouse and was made in California. However this device only connects RS-232, typical for that time. I am currently using it on an old 16 bit machine I have that I still use occasionally when working with/recuperating data that comes from the DOS era, such as stuff done in Generic CADD or Ashton-Tate's Framework IV. On another occasion, I remember hardware modifying a mouse to make the buttons operate with foot pedals. The prototype worked, but I found the foot pedals did not marry with physical coordination as well as I would have liked. About that critic: I got the impression that the critic would have preferred a project that had no potential for use outside of Open Office. He was being very marketing conscious and proprietary-oriented in the interest of using the idea as an open office "selling" tool. (I say "selling" even though Open Office is free, because his object is to "sell" potential users to commit their time to downloading and learning to use Open Office.) The other problem: 18 buttons on a mouse sound very versatile, but they would cause a huge physical coordination problem for many. Fancy keyboards have a plethora of programmable buttons, and they abound in the marketplace at low prices because of their market penetration. Personally, since I often have to work on other peoples' computers, I focus on making the best use of whatever is there at the time, and making my own templates, etc that I carry with me on the road in an external hard drive that will run either USB or FireWire. (I prefer Firewire when it is available since it demands less of the processor and runs more stably.) When Microsoft in its early days went for a 2 button mouse as opposed to the MAC's 1-button, there were those people then who saw this as a bad idea. The argument was that it was not natural or intuitive to the human body. Personally, I find 2 buttons OK, but what software people try and do with the use of the mouse is often too much. In either case the limitation is neither hardware nor software, but the human body. As an older person (close to 65 years old), I find physical coordination is more of a challenge than it was when I was younger. Also in the majority of cases eyesight, after the age of 40 or so, starts to gradually degrade. These physical limitations also need to be respected. When I buy a cellphone, I look for the (physically) biggest one, and abhor the market placing too much attention on smallness to suit the young people's mad attraction to gadgets for often wrongful reasons (such as responding to peer pressure or "keeping up with the Jones'es", with little responsibility for the value of money.) This is a simple example of the unsociable marketing that so often abounds. It has long been known that there are places in the marketing-related design aspects of a technological produce where an industrial psychologist can play a valuable role in the development team. Best Regards all, Bruce Martin Quebec, Canada -----Original Message----- From: juergen.schm...@sun.com [mailto:juergen.schm...@sun.com] Sent: November 9, 2009 7:29 AM To: discuss@openoffice.org Subject: Re: [discuss] Incubator project proposal - OpenOfficeMouse Hi, for new incubator projects the main question for me is, if there is any real relation and benefit for our project. In case of this mouse i am not sure and i don't really see it. It is a piece of hardware with very flexible configuration options. Not more and not less. Ok one of the pre-configured profiles was created based on some OOo user tracking information but that's it. It is not OOo specific and can be used with many other applications. For me it is no incubator project. For me it is a clever marketing strategy and nothing more. Probably there are other ways to support such things and it can be evaluated in a different context if necessary and wanted. We should simply ask us what we would expect from a new incubator project. In which direction would it develop further? I personally don't see there huge opportunities. It is more natural that we will support modern and new hardware like the new generation of touch pads which will also allow nice features ... Sorry but it doesn't really convince me and from my point of view a no for this new project. Just my 2 cents Juergen OOmouse wrote: > I am the designer of the OpenOfficeMouse and a long-time user of > OpenOffice.org, particularly Writer and Impress. It is my belief that > application interface efficiency can be pursued in other ways than new > variations on hotkeys, pull-down menus, and icon toolbars. We are > planning to release the source code for the mouse software we have > written and would like to do so as an OpenOffice.org project rather than > as an independent OSS project as a means of contributing to the > community. This is a request for review of the proposal to establish > the setup and customization software for the OpenOfficeMouse as an > OpenOffice.org open source development project. > The OpenOfficeMouse mouse is designed specifically for use with > OpenOffice and incorporates OOo 3.1 usage data for its default button > assignments. The software presently allows complete customization of > the mouse's 18 buttons, scroll wheel, and analog joystick. Additional > functionality includes double-click assignments for all 18 buttons as > well as the ability to use the joystick as a keyboard with 4, 8, or 16 > assignable key commands. Version 1.0 of the software is already > functional for Windows operating systems and the code will be released > under the Gnu Lesser General Public License (LGPLv3). The mouse > possesses 512k flash memory, supports 64 on-mouse application profiles, > and 1024-character macros. The software is written in C++ using Qt > library and uses .svg format for all graphics. The most pressing need > is for a library for sending and receiving commands according to the HID > standard in order to provide full Linux and OS/X support. > > More information about the OpenOfficeMouse can be found at > www.openofficemouse.com. The OpenOfficeMouse will be publicly > introduced at OOoCon next month. > > Thank you, > Theo > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: discuss-unsubscr...@openoffice.org > For additional commands, e-mail: discuss-h...@openoffice.org > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: discuss-unsubscr...@openoffice.org For additional commands, e-mail: discuss-h...@openoffice.org No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.698 / Virus Database: 270.14.53/2486 - Release Date: 11/08/09 14:39:00
