On Sat, 30 Jun 2018, William Morder wrote:

> However, you missed what are, for me, the most important points:
> 1. LibreOffice messes up my documents, so that I would have to redo thousands
> of pages of layout. Usually the pages are only off by a couple lines between
> my OpenOffice version and the LibreOffice, but over the the length of an
> entire document, everything gets screwed-up, and I would be forced to begin
> all over again, almost from scratch.
>
> 2. LibreOffice often refuses to open my own documents; even after I change
> permissions, remove lock files, etc.
>
> 3. When I did complain about my problems with LibreOffice, I was basically
> told just to "get over it"; sort of like when KDE3 died. When people started
> mentioning the possibility of reviving the old KDE3 as TDE, we were told that
> it wouldn't work, that it couldn't work, that there were problems with Qt3,
> Qt4, etc. And anyway, anybody who didn't just give up and "get with it" and
> stop complaining and just use KDE4 Plasma must be old fogies, and nobody
> cares about them anyway.

in case people don't know, there is also a libreoffice mailing list 
for users, which is quite active. and I get the impression reading it 
that it is very helpful.

> 4. I don't like LibreOffice. I do like OpenOffice. (See #8 below.)

I have limited experience with Libreoffice but I do much prefer 
OpenOffice.

with OO on a yearly basis I have put together 60-page volumes with 
footnotes (numbering beginning at each 'chapter'), table of contents 
and modest use of paragraph styling (chapter headers, footnotes, 
indented paragraphs for extended quotes, bibliography). so, for me, it 
works.

> 5. I didn't recommend "OpenOffice for Everybody!"; I only said that some few
> might prefer it (for example, myself and deloptes, to start); and others
> might find that it suits their needs. I don't feel that I must take on the
> responsibility of maintaining OpenOffice merely because I have made a
> qualified and limited recommendation.
>
> 6. I do not doubt that OpenOffice has some security holes; most stuff out
> there as some problems, and some have more than others. Please direct me
> towards some software that has absolutely no security holes, as I've never
> encountered a virgin in the real world.

"virgin" is not the same as bug-free (in this context).

I can't judge the security issues. documents I send or receive are 
.doc, .docx or .pdf since most people I correspond with use Word. but 
looking at the CVE site, I haven't figured out an effective way to 
compare vulnerabilities <https://www.cvedetails.com/>. the few I've 
read there would likely not affect me.

> 7. LibreOffice tends to do a lot of stuff that takes control out of my own
> hands. (I haven't used it for a while, so no, I don't have a list handy, but
> perhaps others can help there.)

LO is too 'busy', I find the interface distracting and need to master 
the very fluid update system: "fresh", "still" and so on. but like 
with almost anything on a computer, I'd get used to it if I had to.

> 8. I do like OpenOffice. I don't like LibreOffice. (See #4 above.)
>
> As I said, it might not be for everybody, but maybe for a few people it is
> still useful. You seem to be saying that nobody ought to use it, and that I
> am wrong even to bring it up. So much for WORLD PEACE.

the objections seemed appropriate and fair warning but I find them 
hard to assess. in any case, I hope world peace does not require 
agreement.

f.

-- 
Felmon Davis