On 12/21/06, Vihan Pandey vihanpandey@gmail.com wrote:
O.K, so in that case the only option is the lesser evil. Go to the windoze filled cyber cafe and download OOo for win32 and use ODT. Is it REALLY that hard?
You're assuming that one will have unlimited rights installing any programs on a cyber cafe computer. While this may be true for Win98 computers, most cyber cafes I've frequented of late lock everything except the "my documents" folder. Also, consider the amount of time I'll have to waste downloading a program -- zealotry at its best I'd say.
Devdas, I know that flaw in my argument ;-) I'm just trying to make a point that fanaticism doesn't always make sense. There are many other ways to convince users to try ODF exclusively other than flaming them.
Try this -- pick up an Open Source app (Open Office, Gimp, etc) and discuss it with a windows user who's used that app and gone back to the windows version. What you'll probably get are real reasons why it's difficult to migrate users (not developers) from one app to another. Do note that software "mukti" doesn't count for much to end users. Hell, in case of Indians it doesn't count for much for many developers even.
Also, note how IE specific sites (activex sites, IE only javascript) have diminished over time because of firefox (or iceweasel ;-) ). The reason is that users find it better than IE. I believe if openoffice was good enough, the same would have happened for the ODF as well.
Regards,