> Who needs OpenOffice.org Write when you have troff? > > Who needs OpenOffice.org Calc when you have CSV and awk? > > Who needs OpenOffice.org Impress (PowerPoint) when you have troff and > either mv or Uriel's macros? > > Who needs OpenOffice.org Draw when you have 2nd edition draw in /n/ > sources/extra? > > Who needs OpenOffice.org Base when you have PQ (which I have not tried)? > (I have been considering writing a database for Plan 9 that uses > distributed computing and possibly 9P.) > > Who needs Java when you have Inferno and Limbo and Dis? > > On Mar 26, 2008, at 10:21 PM, Joel C. Salomon wrote: > >> On Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 9:57 PM, Gorka Guardiola <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> wrote: >>> (written as an example, untried and not being overly careful) >>> >>> #include <u.h> >> <snip> >> >> Two echo programs, with no options, would be less code. And then we >> could all go back to complaining about the lack of OpenOffice.org and >> Java. :) >> >> --Joel >>
Pietro, as usual you have missed the important part--in this case, the humor. I'm pretty sure Joel knows all those things you've listed better than you do yourself. Your replacements are pretty questionable, too. Write is basically crap. I gnash my teeth with a great anger every time I use it; my roommate was rather concerned a few years ago when OO dumped about a half hour's hard work on a lab report and I punched my bedframe as hard as possible... I think he feared for his life, OO made me that angry. However, having done basic things like format text, add images, and insert tables in both Write and troff, Write is much simpler, although I think troff does a better job. I could actually consider replacing Write with troff or maybe TeX if it comes down to it. CSV and awk? I like awk, and CSV is fine, but if I could choose one program to have on Plan 9, a decent spreadsheet would be pretty high up on the list; it's the original Killer App and quite convenient for a lot of quick, simple tasks that become less quick and simple when you do them almost any other way. While I dislike PowerPoint and think that people could do well to use fewer slides, we're stuck with them for now; strangely, when you're collaborating on a project, others aren't always thrilled when you tell them they need to learn a typesetting language before working on the slideshow. The number of .ppt files I've been mailed over the last couple years... pretty steep. Comparing Draw to the 2nd edition 'art' is rather silly. I don't think I need to go deeper. I haven't used PQ either. In fact, has anyone used PQ in the last couple years? I wouldn't trust OO to do my databases, but considering the Sinkhole of Support I'd be likely to experience with PQ (it's in sources/extra, it's old, it's unsupported), I'd be more inclined to write an interface to a remote postgresql or MySQL server, or try to port one of those. I agree with you 100% on the last point, though. Nobody needs Java, and nobody knows that better than the people on this list. John
