Tuesday, March 31, 2009
ODf - the best option
I've created a presentation about ODF and OpenOffice.org. Nothing unusual in itself except that this is my first serious presentation. That makes it a personal milestone.
I have created it as a presentation for my employer. I want to get as many comments back to smooth the rough edges on it before i actually show it. Am I over emphasizing or underemphasizing anything? The top link is to the file in ODF (ODP) presentation format and the bottom is to the file saved in flash format. It is licensed under a Creative Commons license so you can amend it for your own uses (go to notes view in Impress).
http://www.4shared.com/file/96083559/dc0c641/Why_OpenOffice.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/96083563/c6387c9c/Why_OpenOfficefl1.html
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What is your goal? Is it to get your employer to adopt ODF and OpenOffice.org, or is it to do an objective comparison? Are you asking people in forums who favour both formats, or have you chosen only the communities favouring one option?
ReplyDeleteIf it's intended to be an objective comparison then it needs a lot of work.
Here is some feedback in case it helps, organised according to your slide headings.
"What form of storing information"
(1) Most governments agree .... do you have a source for this claim? (Otherwise it sounds like FUD.)
(2) Unreadable if the program no longer exists .... incorrect, the DOC XLS PPT specification is publicly available at http://tinyurl.com/day72w and is already implemented in a range of programs including OpenOffice.org.
"Pre-existing alternatives"
(3) RFT is a Microsoft standard based on the DOC Format .... not really, it is a separate markup-based text format similar to XML, see http://tinyurl.com/29rds7
"Open Document Format"
(4) Just an observation, it's interesting that ODF followed a fast tracked ISO process.
"ODF adoption by software"
(5) If you want to be objective you should do a similar summary for OOXML, see http://tinyurl.com/yvv8ta for example, although this list looks out of date so there would be more adoption now.
"ODF format adoption"
(6) What does this mean? Have all these governments adopted ODF exclusively, and do you have sources for that? Or are these just governments who are supporting use of ODF, alongside other formats? Either way, to be objective, you should have the same list for OOXML.
(7) What is the comment about political lobbying intended for? Shouldn't you also note the extensive political lobbying by IBM and Sun, for equally obvious commercial self interests? See http://tinyurl.com/67txou
"Programs supporting OOXML"
(8) You do realise the version of ODF that is supported (1.1) is not the one that is ISO standardised (1.0)? So you want to be fair, you should have a similar statement that there are no implementations of ODF (ISO standard) at present. Also there is the small problem that it is technically impossible to conform to the ODF ISO format: http://tinyurl.com/dlckq5
"What will be the preferred format?"
(9) The first two quotes seem out of context, and over-played. They got twisted by the media coverage so it's not surprising you ended up confused here, but look up the originals and you'll see what I mean.
(10) Microsoft introducing ODF support .... yes but not for the ISO version, so if you are talking ISO versions, no. Just like Openoffice.org which supports 1.1, not the ISO version.
(11) Early adopters seem to be going to ODF .... really? I think you'll find there are far more people now using OOXML than ODF (and remember, neither one strictly in its ISO format).
"To summarise - document formats"
(12) Early adopter that have fully investigated .... seem to allow both options and not force a choice in their organisation. I think if you really study it, this is the overwhelming conclusion. Be careful you don't limit yourself to consulting pro ODF communities if you want to be credible.
"FOSS software"
(13) Acquisition cost is a tiny part of software cost, is a tiny part of overall IT cost. It's much more important to look at the total cost of ownership and the benefits you get over the whole lifecycle of software. Sun is currently in financial difficulty so it's also a risk that ODF will not be supported in the future.
(14) Freedom .... will you let end users modify software, can you get support for the modified version of software (patches, updates), do you have the expertise to do this without breaking anything, and do you really need to do it (is it really an advantage or just a nice fantasy).
"Why do corporates contribute?"
(15) You seem to have left off the real answer, that they want to make money selling support. That must influence the type of development they do.
"Major government Linux uptake"
(16) Probably good to have some sources, and a comparison with Unix, Windows, OSX uptake as well if you want to be fair.
"FOSS is frequently seen as second rate software"
(17) Is your employer running a supercomputer? Do you realise there hasn't been any real competition for Linux on supercomputers until about 2 years ago?
(18) Firefox is the most used .... I'd be really interested to see the study showing this, I would have thought web developers need to use a variety of browsers for a start. Firefox seems to be having some major security headaches the last couple of years compared to other browsers.
"Comparison with Office 2007"
(19) Retraining staff .... really? Have you looked for studies on this, I've heard the opposite.
"Cost of migration - comparison"
(20) Service support costs .... This isn't necessary for either product, I would have thought.
(21) Replacement costs .... not sure why these are noted, licences are usually perpetual and free patch support is for longer than OpenOffice.org.
(22) Home use cost can be free depending on how the product is purchased, I think. Anyway most people already have it at home so it's a bit of an non-issue.
(23) You don't mention the support cost and performance impact of Java and OpenOffice.org which are slower than Office 2007.
"Feature comparison"
(24) Isn't ease of use more important? I've used both and I find I use much more in Office 2007 because it's easy to find and use advanced functions.
"Implementation"
(25) At some time all businesses should mandate .... Why? DOC XLS PPT will be compatible for the forseeable future, there's no reason why these wouldn't be supported indefinitely in multiple software packages. ODF and OOXML will both be widely supported too in multiple software packages. Isn't it really a bit of a non-issue?
"Summary Uses and benefits"
(26) If your business already has the licences, you should be comparing to the cost of what you already have (zero to purchase, zero to train, etc) as one of your options.
(27) It's probably also worth mentioning here that there are already free translators and viewers between the document formats, that all the formats you've discussed can be viewed in multiple software packages including OpenOffice.org, and that Microsoft is launching web versions of Office, see http://tinyurl.com/dlnx53
Just a few quick thoughts, it got longer than I intended because you had more slides than I realised, so thanks for your patience!