Nakashima wrote:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/05/16/78380_HNibmodf2_1.html
Since the DOE relies heavily on Lotus Notes, this might be a very good
thing.
--Peter
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OpenOffice.org/StarOffice is indeed much more powerful than most of us
on the islands are aware of. For example, this is the only GUI-based
office suite that I am aware that you can load into two different
locales (languages), side-by-side, during the same session (& on the
same screen). See the attached screenshot:
http://wpuniverse.com/vb/attachment.php?s=ff1da038aedaa496c838dbcf71bb69b1&postid=141448
<http://wpuniverse.com/vb/attachment.php?s=ff1da038aedaa496c838dbcf71bb69b1&postid=141448>
http://wpuniverse.com/vb/showthread.php?s=ff1da038aedaa496c838dbcf71bb69b1&postid=141806#post141806
<http://wpuniverse.com/vb/showthread.php?s=ff1da038aedaa496c838dbcf71bb69b1&postid=141806#post141806>
which shows an English version of OOo along side a “simplified Chinese”
version. (There was a third, German version of OpenOffice.org running in
the background but was not captured by the screenshot.) If we are to be
prepared to take advantage of our geographic proximity to the CJK market
along with our unique cultural mix, OpenOffice.org presents an
interesting opportunity (b/f its secrets are broadly known).
A while ago I mentioned here that, as far as desktop Linux goes,
StarBasic should be the most important language to learn/teach. This
comment was, as expected, immediately shot down as an idiotspeak. By
StarBasic, I actually meant OpenOffice.org API, in that StarBasic is the
easiest way to access OOo APIs. OOo APIs are arranged into various UNOs
(uniform network objects). In addition to StarBasic, other UNO bridges
have been developed which allow OOo interfaces to be written in C++,
java, python, and javascript. StarBasic does not substantively extend
the functionality of OOo. To do that, a developer must go into C++ and
java. Of courst, OOo is written in C++, thus making it a must-have
language skill if you need to go into the OOo code itself. OOo also has
a built-in BeanShell if you need to write a quick and dirty non-fully
typed java class.
I have gotten into a few heated discussions with my colleagues in the
legal community with regard to OOo vis-a-vis other wordprocessors
(mainly Word and WordPerfect). I think the main problem is that most
people simply download OOo and expect to be able to instantly apply the
skills that they have accumulated in other wordprocessor(s). It may
(actually "will") take some tweakings here and there, but at least as
far as creating legal documents is concerned, I have not found anything
that OOo can’t do.
Most people are not aware that you can compose and send emails directly
from OOo (thus taking advantage of those built-in tools as well as your
own customized dictionairy. OOo (Writer) is also an excellent tool to
creat forms that serve as a front-end to databases.
For those of us who oftentimes have to send out an original document to
various people and incorporate their changes to that document, OOo
(Write) does a beautiful job without exposing your system to the risks
of letting in a Trojan horse (as does Microsoft Word). The steps are
briefly discussed in:
http://productivityapps.itbusinessnet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=42970
This is not the same version feature as in MS Word, but I think it does
a better job. Wayne
