From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: main.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: rvmolen@bambecksystems.com (Richard V. Molen) Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: (Slightly Off-Topic) Emacs-like Office App Date: 31 Oct 2002 14:16:24 -0800 Sender: help-gnu-emacs-admin@gnu.org Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: main.gmane.org 1036104895 23531 80.91.224.249 (31 Oct 2002 22:54:55 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@main.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 22:54:55 +0000 (UTC) Return-path: Original-Received: from monty-python.gnu.org ([199.232.76.173]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 187ODG-00067B-00 for ; Thu, 31 Oct 2002 23:54:54 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.10) id 187OAj-0008RY-00; Thu, 31 Oct 2002 17:52:17 -0500 Original-Path: shelby.stanford.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!headwall.stanford.edu!newsfeed.news2me.com!border1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nntp3.aus1.giganews.com!nntp.iccinternet.com!news.iccinternet.com.POSTED!not-for-mail Original-NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 16:15:47 -0600 Original-Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help User-Agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.2 Original-Lines: 85 Original-X-Trace: sv3-RKJWgOqSGte/pdTMrD7ooX1ULugQMl9qCNCUf+5XdhW0tzax2crxk/qwA7fhMIxfOtlbMzkI5fxM6PB!Ra6OFx1yxWezp+EkKIxlJvrXMDM1tYCv6vCXj3F7soCh+hYinntRSQRIjxzk9iZOmBIM20h9xTvZ Original-X-Complaints-To: abuse@iccinternet.com X-DMCA-Notifications: http://www.giganews.com/info/dmca.html X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.1 Original-Xref: shelby.stanford.edu gnu.emacs.help:106633 Original-To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-admin@gnu.org X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.11 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Xref: main.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:3183 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.help:3183 bobstopper@australispro.com.au writes: > This isn't really a request for help with Emacs but a request for knowledge > on Applications inspired by Emacs, specifically office type Applications. > > I love how Emacs is so extensible and provides so many features due to its > use of modes and elisp. So what I'm (very idly at this stage) considering > is the idea of an office kinda suite (yeah, like M$) all within the one > program through the use of emacs style modes and retaining a lot of > extensibility through a lisp dialect (probably guile). Sounds great, when can I get one. :-) > Emacs can probably do something similar to what I'm thinking already if > support was written for it, but I'm thinking Emacs would probably remain, > well, ugly in the eyes of typical office workers and it would thus > be unappealing. Wait, who are the target users, software developers or typical office workers? :-| > Instead I'm envisioning something that looks a lot like current gnome > office products... only it's capable of doing all of them simply by loading > the appropriate modes (perhaps after first writing them ;). If the target users are typical office workers then why not help improve the OpenOffice offering. It would probably be much less work. :-\ > Gnome office is a great idea and I think it's a great alternative to M$ > office but I think the idea of having separate programs attempting to > integrate through some additional system like bonobo or OLE will still > remain somewhat unintegrated and perhaps not as consistent in its interface > as what I'm suggesting would be. I imagine typical office users would be > much more satisfied if they only needed the one app that could do everything > and I imagine advanced office users and programmers would be much more > satisfied if they can extend that app to do almost anything they please. So the target users would be _advanced_ office users and programmers? Certainly programmers using Emacs would benefit. What incentive would advanced office users have to make the switch and undergo a learning curve? :-? > So if something *better* (rather than just equivalent) than M$ office is > written as part of the GNU/Linux project then we have much more clout for > winning the average user over. I imagine for this sort of goal the app > would almost certainly have to have a fully featured M$ Windows port so > it can first appeal to all these M$ windows users, and once they're won > over it's a small step to realising that if everything they need for > office work is in that app, and that app is available on GNU why not just > use GNU? Yow! Sounds ambitious. But wait, who is the target user? Uncle Bill's M$ success was by appealing to the lowest common comuter-user demoninator and releasing not-so-thoroughly tested software early in order to beat others to market. What features will this project provide that will attract these folks in herds and send them stampeding to GNU/Linux boxes? Answering that question, what would be the quickest route to providing these features and advertising that fact? :-/ > > So, with that description of my infant idea in mind, I have a couple of > questions: > > Does anyone know if something like what I'm describing already exists > or is in the process of being written etc? > > and of course: > > Is my idea stupid, infeasible, lacking in some major consideration, too > damned hard etc or is it actually a good idea? I like the idea, but it sounds like a lot of work. Would it be worth it? Eventually, of course, the best features of Emacs will creep into other applications and visa versa. > I'm looking forward to any kinds of comments/suggestions. Thanks! -- Richard V. Molen Warning!! Signature under construction, safety glasses required.