Re: [tlug] The Great Mistake is thinking OOo is different [was: Why Vista Sucks]

[tlug@example.com]

On Friday 11 April 2008 00:29:01 Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
> Dave Brown writes:
>  > ODF (a zip file full of insane XML) is, for all that it's crazy, still a
>  > great improvement over standard MS Office format.
>
> Well, no.  It's still a bucket of binary sludge that you can't operate
> on sensibly with text-processing tools.

This comment is so ill-informed that I find it challenging to reply to it 
politely, but I will try...

First of all, there are many good reasons for storing a document as a 
compressed archive of separate files.  Separate files are used in order to 
separate different aspects of the document: content, styles, embedded 
objects, thumbnails, etc.  XML data can be processed separately from binary 
data, and binary data does not have to be encoded.  Keeping them all in an 
archive ensures that all necessary parts are kept together when copied or 
transferred, and since the archive is binary, it prevents the text from being 
modified during a transfer, such as it would through a 7 bit protocol.

Once you decompress an ODF file, you definitely can "operate on it sensibly" 
with text processing tools.  I do so occasionally, and it works rather well.  
For example, I sometimes need to apply styles to paragraphs according to 
regular expression matches.  This is very easily done to an ODF file, once 
unzipped, using sed.

> (And lest we forget, the standard MS Office format is now OOXML, which is
> <gasp /> a zip file full of insane XML.  Do we really want to be justifying
> that?) 

This is not why OOXML is a bad format...  To learn why OOXML is a bad format, 
see this site:
http://ooxmlisdefectivebydesign.blogspot.com/2007/08/microsoft-office-xml-formats-defective.html

> WYSIWYG is not a solution, it is the problem, and
<SNIP>
> we're going to have to live with that crap.

I believe that there is no single solution to all problems; one must pick the 
best tool for each job.  Which tool is the best is not just a function of the 
problem, however; it is also a function of the operator.  Slandering software 
or methodologies with profanity just because it is not a tool of choice for 
yourself only reflects close-mindedness, egotism, and disrespect toward 
others.

Respect,

Travis