Subject: Re: Response to Bad Review [was Re: Fwd: not worth downloading]
From: Gary Allen (glallen2@netzero.net)
Date: Mon Jun 18 2001 - 17:58:36 CDT
Hello all,
I am encouraged by the good atitude shown in
this e-mail. The author, who mentions that we
should show a good attitude in this endeavor,
even when receiving a bad review (inevitable,
since we can't please everyone), has good taste
and will help the cause. I must agree ... it can
only help the cause of AbiWord and free software
if we show a superior attitude. And that is not
for the sake of superiority, but for the sake of
making the goal of lots of free, good quality
software, easier to attain.
Quite frankly, I'm one of the Windows users who
is happy with it. I like Linux too, but don't
really have the interest in truly learning a new
OS anymore. I spent the last 20 years with CP/M,
DOS and Windows, learning every technical detail
I could get my hands on. I served as the IT
Administrator in a small company for several
years, etc. That's enough for one lifetime (for
me anyway). That said, I agree that Windows out-
of-the-box is pretty useless. WordPad and
Notepad are "almost tools." They are almost
useful. What AbiWord brings to the table is a
good quality tool that is free of bloated
nonsense and "over-integration" with the OS. The
Windows version performs nicely, and the XML
format is an excellent choice for compatibility
and the support of powerful and useful features.
My highest praise goes to all involved with this
excellent software, and the good attitude behind
it.
-Gary Allen
Systems QA Engineer
====================
6/18/2001 3:16:37 PM, Alan <horkana@tcd.ie>
wrote:
>[In response to a bad review posted on CNET,
mentioned on the devloper
>list, i have CC this to the user list]
>
>Some people just dont care about having access
to the source. (Spyware,
>ha!)
>Some people just dont care about having a
program that is incredibly
>cross platform. (If only the rest of Gnome
Office was so enlightened)
>Some people dont care that the rest of the
world does not speak the same
>language as them.
>Some people dont care about being able to
import and export a plethora
>of file formats. (Being able to bring your old
documents with you
>without having to convert them in some external
program is a killer
>feature.)
>Some people dont appreciate a constistent and
familiar interface (even
>if Abiword is to an extent mimicking the de
facto standard)
>Some people are very harsh irrespective of the
fact that a project is
>run entirely by volunteers and not for profit.
>Some people dont understand the pre version 1
softwafe is not perfect,
>and the odd version numbers indicate unstable
unsupported releases.
>(Abiword is remarkably solid considering)
>
>
>ChrisDigo@aol.com wrote:
>
>> Sometimes I go to download.com and look at
AbiWord user Review.
>>
>> ttp://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-10026-
601-5109226.html?tag=st.dl.10001-103-1.lst.uo
>
>> There are many good reviews but here is a bad
one:
>
>> use only 4MB of RAM when launched. THE BAD:
First of all, from the
>> CNET
>> download page the AbiWord homepage is not
avaialable, when downloading
>> from
>
>(You probably already know this ...)
>The abscence of the abiword homepage was
temporary glitch due to Source
>Gear changing the IP. <sarcasm>The DNS works
so well</sarcasm>
>Really you should not have even noticed the
downtime but thats the
>internet for you.
>
>> CNET the primary site was not available, had
to select an alternate
>> site.
>> AbiWord has no built in paragraph numbering.
Although AbiWord has the
>> ability
>
>Paragraph numbering?
>i dont get it, but i might submit an RFE later.
>
>> to Insert Images the options are for PNG and
BMP (who uses BMP
>> anymore?)
>
>windows users thats who, it the only image
editor that comes with
>windows and it is useful within its obvious
limits.
>
>> formats. AbiWord was only a 3.x someting MB
download yet it installed
>> nearly
>> 6MB to the C: drive during installation. This
is quite a large file
>> for
>
>If the person making the windows build could be
convinced to use UPX we
>could probably get the installer size down even
more.
>http://upx.sourceforge.net/
>[i will submit a request for enhancement (RFE)
regarding a minimal
>install as soon as ive finished writing this
mail]
>
>As Abiword becomes more modular, a small build
(with only the very basic
>file importers and exporters, no help
documentation, no clipart, no
>templates or sample docs, no international
language support) could be
>made available.
>[i will submit a request for enhancement (RFE)
regarding a minimal
>install as soon as ive finished writing this
mail]
>
>you can delete everything except the
Abiword.exe and it will still run
>fine (** in American English and if you try and
acess the help nothing
>will happen**) and that brings it down frim
5.6MB to 2.27MB. And
>abiword stores all its files in one directrory,
no where esle and
>unstalls everything leaving hardly a trace on
your machine.
>
>> nothing more than MS Notepad on half a
steroid. If you are interested
>> in an
>> alternative toMS Office and Star Office try
searching for EasyOffice
>> or
>> EasyWord on the CNET download site. There are
2 versions of EasyOffice
>> for
>> download, a 27Mb and a 4Mb file. The 4Mb file
is basically a
>> wordprocessor
>> and contact manager (not bad really) and the
27Mb file is a full
>> office
>> suite. Craig Knapp knappcek@worldnet.att.net
"
>
>I really dont like the look of Easyword, and i
fail to get the whole
>concept of contact managers but i know they are
popular with business
>types for some reason.
>I am happy user of Abiword, i use
OpenOffice/StarOffice if i need more
>functionality.
>
>The PAY version of Easy Office has some voice
recognition which looks
>interesting, but id rather spend my money on a
dedicated Voice package
>like IBM Via Voice and stick to Abiword for my
word processing.
>
>> Who wants to anwser at this guy and explain
him that AbiWord is much
>> much
>> much more than "nothing more than MS
Notepad" .... (gnnnh!! It make me
>>
>> mad!!!!!)
>
>MS Notepad, Considering Microsoft bundles so
much with their operating
>system would it kill them to bundle a spell
checker? Cheap Bastards.
>
>Dont let it get you down, make it encourage you
to make Abiword better
>in anyway you can.
>This reaction is perfectly understandable
(although rather rude) from a
>user who does probably does not do any
programming.
>
>No matter how much you may disagree be very
careful how you _explain_ to
>him, he is entitled to his opinion and flaming
him wont help anyone. Im
>not going to respond to him directly, perhaps
when the next release
>comes round we can add some reviews on CNET
that hopefully address his
>concerns.
>
>Linux Advocacy Guidelines
>http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue14/advocate.ht
ml
>
>Tucows only gives it 4/5 (for version 0.7.13),
hopefully it will get the
>full 5/5 when Abiword supports tables.
>
>Perhaps the Abiword web page should include
negative reviews, with
>counter arguements?
>
>--
>Keep your friends close and your enemies
closer.
>
>
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>
>
--+--
==============================
Gary Allen
[Network Engineer]
glallen2@netzero.net
==============================
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b25 : Mon Jun 18 2001 - 17:59:14 CDT