[opensuse] document incompatibilities
This week has been frustrating. I do up a document in Open Office and save as doc so someone else can read it. When it prints all the bullets and shifted and tabs are moved. I try the save as PDF and it turns out there is a bug in that current versions of adobe cannot open the file. It gives this error. There was an error processing a page. Invalid ColorSpace. I tried saving it as html but that also changed the formatting. print to file saves it as a .ps then ps2pdf does produce a workable version So one issue with a workaround The other then person then sends me a doc file back and in OpenOffice 3 the tables are missing, I look on my laptop that is still running 2.1 and the table is there. While there I click on a wmv file also on the usb key and low and behold it plays, it doesn't play on the desktop machine. Both have Kaffiene installed Is there an easy way to compare 2 installations to find out what the difference is? The laptop does have a XP partition, there is a vista partition on the desktop, both are running SuSE 10.3 -- Collector of vintage computers http://www.ncf.ca/~ba600 -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Thursday 08 October 2009 03:40:51 pm Mike wrote:
Is there an easy way to compare 2 installations to find out what the difference is?
Mike, I don't know of one other than looking at the rpms installed with "rpm -qa | grep OpenOffice_org". That will tell you if the open office installs are the same. However, so many of the 3rd party functions (pdf, etc..) rely on shared object libraries that may or may not be the same between the two systems that it can be difficult to tell. On another note, OpenOffice 3 has been so flaky in its tab, margin, table handling that I have downgraded all the boxes I need to get work done on to OpenOffice 2.4 which still works very reliably until OO3 grows up a little more. You should be able do disable the openoffice repository, remove openoffice and reinstall openoffice 2.4 from the updates repository. You can always just download the vanilla openoffice from the openoffice site and it works very well in suse. The still provide openoffice 2.4.3 for download. -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Mike wrote:
This week has been frustrating. I do up a document in Open Office and save as doc so someone else can read it.
Never save a file as .doc :) First try to persuade the other people to accept .odt and if that fails, use .rtf http://www.windowsreference.com/ms-office/how-to-open-odt-files-in-microsoft... http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2007/02/odt_plugin_for_.html
The other then person then sends me a doc file back
Never accept a .doc ! Always insist on .rtf if they won't give you .odt Cheers, Dave -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
At Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:37:17 +0100, Dave Howorth wrote:
...and if that fails, use .rtf [....] Never accept a .doc ! Always insist on .rtf if they won't give you .odt
Why? I certainly know that .doc files can contain a macrovirus, but are just interested in what moves you to not use .doc in communication with Word users. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Heinz Diehl wrote:
At Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:37:17 +0100, Dave Howorth wrote:
...and if that fails, use .rtf [....] Never accept a .doc ! Always insist on .rtf if they won't give you .odt
Why?
I certainly know that .doc files can contain a macrovirus, but are just interested in what moves you to not use .doc in communication with Word users.
Because it's a proprietary format. Plus in my experience .rtf works without hassle. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Heinz Diehl wrote:
At Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:37:17 +0100, Dave Howorth wrote:
...and if that fails, use .rtf [....] Never accept a .doc ! Always insist on .rtf if they won't give you .odt
Why?
I certainly know that .doc files can contain a macrovirus, but are just interested in what moves you to not use .doc in communication with Word users.
There are as many incompatibilities between different versions of word and doc files as there are are between word generated doc files and non MS products (possibly more). The format is a nightmare to deal with when coping with moving between different versions (and configurations) of Word. RTF is simple and usually causes little grief and almost always works.... Home users rarely see this problem, but it is PITA in more complex environments and one of the hidden costs of MS Office based installations... (One of stronger arguments for open source alternatives and ODT..) - -- ============================================================================== I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone. My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone. Bjarne Stroustrup ============================================================================== -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.9 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with SUSE - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ iEYEARECAAYFAkrPHlgACgkQasN0sSnLmgL1agCgmvNaaZQuknSVQ8QbjSSaqBS7 sHIAoITyVgKugcAt6eH9VQzCiDpqami2 =IhOQ -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
G T Smith wrote:
Heinz Diehl wrote:
At Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:37:17 +0100, Dave Howorth wrote:
...and if that fails, use .rtf [....] Never accept a .doc ! Always insist on .rtf if they won't give you .odt Why?
I certainly know that .doc files can contain a macrovirus, but are just interested in what moves you to not use .doc in communication with Word users.
There are as many incompatibilities between different versions of word and doc files as there are are between word generated doc files and non MS products (possibly more). The format is a nightmare to deal with when coping with moving between different versions (and configurations) of Word. RTF is simple and usually causes little grief and almost always works....
Home users rarely see this problem, but it is PITA in more complex environments and one of the hidden costs of MS Office based installations... (One of stronger arguments for open source alternatives and ODT..)
That may or may not be true. Simply avoiding the most current version of .DOC format works for us. But more to the point, the preachy linux guy demanding everybody else conform to HIS standards will win you no friends in the office. Push it too hard in some environments and you will find yourself installing Vista under orders. If you want to use a non-standard package (Non standard for the environment you are in), its up to YOU to make your software conform. If OOo is broken in its handling of .Doc's admittedly broken format, then it has to be fixed, even if it means breaking it. (And lets face it, there is a lot of broken stuff in OO still). You won't encourage adaptation by petulance. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Friday 09 October 2009 11:42:36 John Andersen wrote:
You won't encourage adaptation by petulance.
You won't achieve interoperability by allowing others to ignore formal standards. (Like OOXML or ODF.) -- Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. ,= ,-_-. =. bss@iguanasuicide.net ((_/)o o(\_)) ICQ: 514984 YM/AIM: DaTwinkDaddy `-'(. .)`-' http://iguanasuicide.net/ \_/
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Friday, 2009-10-09 at 11:55 -0500, Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. wrote:
On Friday 09 October 2009 11:42:36 John Andersen wrote:
You won't encourage adaptation by petulance.
You won't achieve interoperability by allowing others to ignore formal standards. (Like OOXML or ODF.)
For them, interoperability is solved by using word on both sides. - -- Cheers, Carlos E. R. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.9 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAkrQVDoACgkQtTMYHG2NR9W4LwCffuHSAh8mkdemAeFc0g2FijAS WCUAniOIzdr2FDNmUxcg3P/nVmiWvvMI =hAlN -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 John Andersen wrote:
G T Smith wrote:
Heinz Diehl wrote:
At Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:37:17 +0100, Dave Howorth wrote:
...and if that fails, use .rtf [....] Never accept a .doc ! Always insist on .rtf if they won't give you .odt Why? I certainly know that .doc files can contain a macrovirus, but are just interested in what moves you to not use .doc in communication with Word users.
But more to the point, the preachy linux guy demanding everybody else conform to HIS standards will win you no friends in the office. Push it too hard in some environments and you will find yourself installing Vista under orders.
BTW Opensource + standards != OO + linux only. (There are MS admins who have been actually daft enough to go for Vista?, I suspect these are the ones who may end up being down sized :-) ). I was not speaking as an end (l)user, more as an ex I.T. admin who has had to deal this kind of problem in the past. In my experience when MS Office was standardised on, the nasty surprise was that on a number of occasions later upgrades/patches produced serious issues with documents produced in the previous version(s) which occasionally did not turn up until months after any upgrade. Being a closed format recovering something usable in this situation was often problematic (and resource consuming). Dealing with documents from external sources added further complications as they cannot be expected to adhere to your organisations document standards, and dealing with the doc format from such sources usually took up excessive resources when it went wrong. Using the lowest common denominator (which in this case is unfortunately rtf), usually avoids this aspect of the problem. The real long term solution is for applications to use an open common format, on whatever ones platform of choice is.
If you want to use a non-standard package (Non standard for the environment you are in), its up to YOU to make your software conform.
Funnily enough, I agree with you,... However I am speaking as someone who has had to try to move a an environment from a mixture of solutions to a single solution with limited resources. There is a limited capacity for be able to deal with an individual wanting to do their own thing in this scenario. (Including stopping them from doing it in the first place). Of the commercial offerings I have come across MS Office is easily the worst because of the range of options available for the more ignorant users to mess up their documents or configuration. So such conformance is a bit more difficult to enforce... - -- ============================================================================== I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone. My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone. Bjarne Stroustrup ============================================================================== -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.9 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with SUSE - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ iEYEARECAAYFAkrQUywACgkQasN0sSnLmgI/IwCePz6h0rHQTo8hzZv32Jflxae0 TBAAoOjpNFq9bJUj+mr7UpX+weictbML =EqQ3 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
participants (8)
-
Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. -
Carlos E. R. -
Dave Howorth -
David C. Rankin -
G T Smith -
Heinz Diehl -
John Andersen -
Mike