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Re: [Fsfe-uk] Free Software & The ICT Hub


From: Tom Chance
Subject: Re: [Fsfe-uk] Free Software & The ICT Hub
Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2006 02:22:20 +0100
User-agent: KMail/1.9.3

Ahoy,

On Sunday 23 July 2006 01:30, Simon Morris wrote:
> http://beerandspeech.org/fsfe/Letter_to_ICT_Hub_rev1.txt

I think it would be worth picking up the weird allegation about the size of 
RTF files versus DOCs. I always thought it was the reverse - bloaty DOC files 
taking forever to download for a bit of thin formatting! What is this "one 
user's experience"? The whole paragraph comes across as a bit of fluff 
written on Slashdot, which is unfortunate because the rest of the article is 
informal but at least more informative.

A suggested rewrite of the format bit, which is longer but I hope a bit 
clearer. The mention of PDFs is also not necessarily on message ;-)

----
I believe this paragraph misses the point of open formats, and misleads 
readers about the practicalities of exchanging documents.

First, the suggestion that RTF files are considerably larger than DOCs is 
false. There are sometimes issues with complex formatting not translating 
well between different software packages, but otherwise RTF files are a good 
option, along with HTML, PDF and numerous other well-supported file formats.

Second, there are important long term benefits from using the OpenDocument 
formats. Organisations using Microsoft Office file formats lock themselves 
into that product, compromising their independence and the accessibility of 
their data in the long term. Microsoft Office file formats are undocumented 
and it is questionable if data created by the MS Word package (for example) 
10 years ago will be accessible today, even in modern versions of Word. There 
are no guarantees that data created in today's version of Word will be
accessible in the future.

The OpenDocument formats offers organisations the ability to have access to 
their data at any time in the future through documented, open and free file 
formats. Already several office suites, including OpenOffice.org, support the 
formats. When sharing documents with those who use Microsoft Word, you can 
simply save the documents as RTF, HTML, PDF or other widely supported 
formats.

Organisations would be wise to consider migrating to open file formats. By 
dismissing the use of open file formats you are prolonging and encouraging 
this situation where valuable data is locked into proprietary formats.
----

> "...the economical benefits..."

the economic benefits.

Regards,
Tom


-- 
The task of critique is not to denounce the ideals, but to show their 
transformation into ideologies, and to challenge the ideology in the 
name of the betrayed ideal (Fromm – Beyond The Chains Of Illusion)




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