Re: [Fsfe-uk] Newham: Richard Steel speaks (Techworld)

[Alex Hudson]

On Sun, 2004-01-25 at 20:16, MJ Ray wrote:
> Some things might be doable with portable macros. 

What portable macros? I don't know of any such solution. VBA is heavily
platform dependent because it's basically a wrapper around the various
Office APIs (which, IIRC, are thought to be more complex than Windows
itself). OOo is exactly the same. You can argue that people shouldn't be
investing large amounts in software that high up the stack (although I
think that's a hard argument to make; you have to run on _something_)
but there is no possibility of making something portable without
inventing your own portability layer, which would easily cost more.

Microsoft have very successfully locked people into Office not just as a
wordprocessor, etc., but as a development platform. I would guess there
are more people paid to develop for Office than for Windows. Certainly
in terms of people, if not money. Access alone is an industry standard
for products which use database technology in that space between the
desktop and the data center. Office comes #5 in CW's top contract skills
by demand, and #8 in top perm skills (#9 is VB, and I would say that the
set of "Office AND VB" is probably a significant size). 

> >> Other than that, it seems that we're progressing along the old 
> >> phrase: 
> >> first, they ignore you; then, they fight you; finally, you win.
> > 
> > Netscape is an excellent counterexample, however ;)
> 
> Bad example IMO. Only being held down, not really lost yet. Fight 
> continues.

Well, when it comes out of a coma wake me...

Cheers,

Alex.