[LUAU] This could be the first tiny step toward replacing MS Office in the DOE

[Hawaii Linux Institute]

Nakashima wrote:
> http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/05/16/78380_HNibmodf2_1.html
>
> Since the DOE relies heavily on Lotus Notes, this might be a very good 
> thing.
> --Peter
>
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> LUAU at lists.hosef.org mailing list
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OpenOffice.org/StarOffice is indeed much more powerful than most of us 
on the islands are aware of. For example, this is the only GUI-based 
office suite that I am aware that you can load into two different 
locales (languages), side-by-side, during the same session (& on the 
same screen). See the attached screenshot:

http://wpuniverse.com/vb/attachment.php?s=ff1da038aedaa496c838dbcf71bb69b1&postid=141448 
<http://wpuniverse.com/vb/attachment.php?s=ff1da038aedaa496c838dbcf71bb69b1&postid=141448>

http://wpuniverse.com/vb/showthread.php?s=ff1da038aedaa496c838dbcf71bb69b1&postid=141806#post141806 
<http://wpuniverse.com/vb/showthread.php?s=ff1da038aedaa496c838dbcf71bb69b1&postid=141806#post141806>


which shows an English version of OOo along side a “simplified Chinese” 
version. (There was a third, German version of OpenOffice.org running in 
the background but was not captured by the screenshot.) If we are to be 
prepared to take advantage of our geographic proximity to the CJK market 
along with our unique cultural mix, OpenOffice.org presents an 
interesting opportunity (b/f its secrets are broadly known).

A while ago I mentioned here that, as far as desktop Linux goes, 
StarBasic should be the most important language to learn/teach. This 
comment was, as expected, immediately shot down as an idiotspeak. By 
StarBasic, I actually meant OpenOffice.org API, in that StarBasic is the 
easiest way to access OOo APIs. OOo APIs are arranged into various UNOs 
(uniform network objects). In addition to StarBasic, other UNO bridges 
have been developed which allow OOo interfaces to be written in C++, 
java, python, and javascript. StarBasic does not substantively extend 
the functionality of OOo. To do that, a developer must go into C++ and 
java. Of courst, OOo is written in C++, thus making it a must-have 
language skill if you need to go into the OOo code itself. OOo also has 
a built-in BeanShell if you need to write a quick and dirty non-fully 
typed java class.

I have gotten into a few heated discussions with my colleagues in the 
legal community with regard to OOo vis-a-vis other wordprocessors 
(mainly Word and WordPerfect). I think the main problem is that most 
people simply download OOo and expect to be able to instantly apply the 
skills that they have accumulated in other wordprocessor(s). It may 
(actually "will") take some tweakings here and there, but at least as 
far as creating legal documents is concerned, I have not found anything 
that OOo can’t do.

Most people are not aware that you can compose and send emails directly 
from OOo (thus taking advantage of those built-in tools as well as your 
own customized dictionairy. OOo (Writer) is also an excellent tool to 
creat forms that serve as a front-end to databases.

For those of us who oftentimes have to send out an original document to 
various people and incorporate their changes to that document, OOo 
(Write) does a beautiful job without exposing your system to the risks 
of letting in a Trojan horse (as does Microsoft Word). The steps are 
briefly discussed in:

http://productivityapps.itbusinessnet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=42970

This is not the same version feature as in MS Word, but I think it does 
a better job. Wayne