[Leaplist] MS Office vs. OpenOffice -- vendor lock-in is a *CHOICE* made by *YOU*

[Bryan J. Smith]

William Warren wrote:
>   BS> "Then say *THAT*.  Not what Linux does and doesn't do --
>   BS> or what it needs to do for you."
> It's about what Linux can and can't do for me and my clients.

So you want Linux to solve vendor lock-in *CHOICES* by you and your clients?
You really need to read the Gartner study of 2001 on this!

> My statement stands Bryan.
> Linux can't do access for me and my clients.
> When it can then i'm good to go.

And it will *NEVER* solve vendor lock-in *CHOICES* by you and your clients!
You don't seem to "get that."

William Warren wrote:
>   BS> No community solution is going to solve it for you.
> And that's one of the primary things limiting Linux on the desktop IME.

What?  That Linux doesn't solve the ignorant consumers' *CHOICE* to
lock themselves into specific applications, versions and countless
other data-loss?

Listen, I'm going to say this for the last time, what you are asking
is for *MASSIVE* reverse-engineering efforts into areas that are
*INFEASIBLE*!  It's bad enough that Microsoft doesn't do it for their
own customers (which should make you re-consider), but the effort
required to undertake such is *EXPONENTIAL* over what Microsoft should
do because it should value its customers.

So you, as a consumer, are rewarding them for their *PURPOSEFUL*
Orphanware/Abandonware!  MS Access is the absolute king of this.  At
least MS Word doesn't re-use tags incompatibly but every 2-3 versions
-- Access MDAC/ADO/Jet is basically *ORPHANWARE* by *1* version!

> For you that may not be a large problem.  For me(being a one man shop)
> and my clients(mainly shops less than 10 employees)is huge.  I speak
> from my experience with my clients.

Here's the deal.  You keep feeling the overwhelming need to "excuse"
yourself.  *STOP*!  Honestly, *STOP*!

It's one thing for you to say, "Oh, well my clients choose this, and I
support them because they support me.  If they choose to lock-in their
data, then that's their choice.  I will get paid regardless."

I'd *100%* respect you for that.

But it's another thing to say things like ...
  "It's about what Linux can and can't do for me and my clients."
  "And that's one of the primary things limiting Linux on the desktop IME."

No offense, but you and your client's "problem" has *0* to do with Linux.
It has *0* to do with community software and the community itself.
It has *0* to do with standards, solutions and avoiding risk to data.

It has *EVERYTHING* to do with just doing what the client asks.
If you would have just said that, I've got *NO* problem with you.
But then you go off and blame Linux for not solving it for you.

It just represents how you approach everything.  Blame, blame, blame
everyone else for what *YOU* choose.  I'm a jerk, but I'm a
self-admitting jerk.  I'm 100% responsible for what I say and do, and
always will be.

-- Bryan

P.S.  And I *AM* a 1-man shop!  I'm in New England 1,100 miles from my
wife.  So don't you even start.  I've been doing this for years now
and trust me, people make these "oh, the BS is an exception" and "oh,
BS has it easy" all-the-time.  BS!  Utter BS!  If you don't think I
have to explain things in terms of risk to sell things, you honestly
don't get anything I say.

I recognize what the community can and can't do for me.
Because *NO*ONE* can avoid vendor lock-in but *ME*.

But I guess that's why I make the money I do.  I work 6-9 months of
the year and relax 3-6 months.  It's just the role I've accepted.