On Fri, Jan 25, 2008 09:48:20 AM -0500, Aaron Kulkis ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
>> cfr the Autocad paragraph and links in the second part of: >> http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/focus_format_history/ > > There are industry standard file formats for CAD/CAM, and > AutoCad can export and import to those formats. of course, but the problem is with _past_ files. After you have been tricked for years to save millions of files in the proprietary format, converting them is a huge undertaking. Same with .doc, .xls etc, really. In my opinion, the _real_ size of the problem is much smaller than Microsoft, Autocad and similar companies make it appear, but that is a separate, off topic thread so let's not go there. In practice, to stay on topic, there is little doubt that many businesses don't (even try to) use Linux just because they are or feel locked by proprietary formats. And that the real or perceived effort of converting away from those formats will continue to be very hard to justify to managers, stock holders, etc... until such businesses are told "if you want to get one single buck in government contracts from now on, you must commit to only use non proprietary formats like ODF etc... in those contracts, period". The avalanche effect at that point would be enough to definitely protect Linux and make much easier for everybody else to switch when they want. Practically nobody bothers what sw he or she is running, as long as their digital documents and communications aren't threatened. Selling the beauty of modifying and sharing source code to a world which does NOT want to program is a useless and hopeless mission, IMO. Marco -- Your own civil rights and the quality of your life heavily depend on how software is used *around* you: http://digifreedom.net/node/84 -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
