Re: Decoupling GNOME Office?

[Paul Warren <pdw ex-parrot com>]

On Thu, Aug 31, 2000 at 04:09:58PM -0400, Havoc Pennington wrote:
> 
> 
> Ali Abdin <aliabdin@aucegypt.edu> writes: 
> > Abiword is more of a 'text editor' while StarOffice is word processor is a
> > word processor.
> > 
> > For example, Microsoft provide three 'text editing' tools - NotePad(very
> > lightweight), Write (kind of like AbiWord), and Microsoft Word.
> > 
> > I do not think it would be bad to include both AbiWord and StarOffice word
> > processor. But it wouldn't make much sense to include gnumeric and the
> > StarOffice spreadsheet program.
> 
> This is assuming AbiWord intends to remain a lightweight word
> processor, I think they want to become a full-featured word processor.

Indeed.

The Microsoft analagy doesn't quite work - it's a licensing thing -
NotePad and Write (or WordPad) are bundled with Windows, Word costs
extra.  I am sure that WordPad is deliberately kept feature-thin to
ensure that it doesn't steal any of Word's market.

I believe that AbiWord intends to become a more fully featured
word-processor, without hitting the ridiculous feature-bloat that Word
is so famous for.  As it is not funded by a regular upgrade cycle, there
is no need to put in new features for new versions, just for the sake of
generating extra selling points and backwards incompatibility...

Paul