Re: Decoupling GNOME Office?

[Kent Schumacher <kschumacher uswest net>]

Paul Warren wrote:
> 
> On Thu, Aug 31, 2000 at 04:09:58PM -0400, Havoc Pennington wrote:
> >
> >
> > Ali Abdin <aliabdin@aucegypt.edu> writes:
> > > Abiword is more of a 'text editor' while StarOffice is word processor is a
> > > word processor.
> > >
> > > For example, Microsoft provide three 'text editing' tools - NotePad(very
> > > lightweight), Write (kind of like AbiWord), and Microsoft Word.
> > >
> > > I do not think it would be bad to include both AbiWord and StarOffice word
> > > processor. But it wouldn't make much sense to include gnumeric and the
> > > StarOffice spreadsheet program.
> >
> > This is assuming AbiWord intends to remain a lightweight word
> > processor, I think they want to become a full-featured word processor.
> 
> Indeed.
> 
> The Microsoft analagy doesn't quite work - it's a licensing thing -
> NotePad and Write (or WordPad) are bundled with Windows, Word costs
> extra.  I am sure that WordPad is deliberately kept feature-thin to
> ensure that it doesn't steal any of Word's market.
> 
> I believe that AbiWord intends to become a more fully featured
> word-processor, without hitting the ridiculous feature-bloat that Word
> is so famous for.  As it is not funded by a regular upgrade cycle, there
> is no need to put in new features for new versions, just for the sake of
> generating extra selling points and backwards incompatibility...
> 
> Paul
> 
I manage a medium size computer installation, and the number one complaint
I get on word processors (Word, Wordperfect, and StarOffice) is that they
are too hard to learn.  I wouldn't mind seeing AbiWord become an easy to
learn, comfortable word processor that can interchange documents with 
StarOffice.  In this role it would make sense to have both StarOffice and
AbiWord as part of Gnome (AbiWord and AbiWord-Heavy...).

Kent