[RULE] Suggestions: klipper, AbiWord, wiki

[Ruth A. Kramer]

Marco,

Thanks for your response!

M. Fioretti wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 07, 2004 00:51:05 AM -0400, Randy Kramer
>  rhkramer at fast.net  wrote:

> The problem with klipper is that is not a stand-alone application,
> packaging-wise. It is part of KDE so it is not known (to me now, at
> least) how to add just that without filling the drive with much more
> unwanted stuff. Hopefully through Mini-Kde activity linked from the new
> web page) we'll be discover if and how this can be done. Or just find
> another way to do the same thing.

Understood.  I wish I was enough of a programmer to help.  Maybe
someday!

> > 2. You might want to consider AbiWord specifically because it is a
> > cross-platform application (it works on Windows, Linux (with or
> > without GTK),
> 
> You probably mean Gnome, not Gtk.

I guess (or think) I meant both, at least for some time it did not
require GTK to compile, and, AFAIK, that hasn't changed.  (It may do
something like automatically use GTK libraries if they are available on
the system where it is compiled?)  Doesn't matter, really, as per your
next point, you want something that uses OASIS as its primary (default)
format.  

Far aside: The last time I heard, it didn't matter too much (in some
senses) which file format AbiWord uses as the default / primary, as text
importers import directly into AbiWord's internal "file format" (their
piece table) and exporters export from the piece table to the specified
format.  (There is no intermediate translation from a "foreign" file
format to AbiWord's file format before import into the piece table, and
vice versa.)  (Note: I am not an AbiWord developer, just a lurker on
their development and user lists.)

> No, it isn't. The main problem with abiword are:
> 
> 1) It is really light only if it is compiled to live without Gnome

Agreed.

> 2) It doesn't plan (unlike KOffice, see again our minikde page) to
>    converge on OASIS as primary format (the one used by OpenOffice).
>    Remaining dependant on filters or proprietary formats to exchange
>    documents among Free software users is bad

Discussed above.
 
> However, the good thing of RULE is that you can ignore all of the
> above because this is not a distribution. If you have enough disk
> space, after installing with RULE, you can simply download and install
> the klipper and abiword binary packages for the version of Red Hat /
> Fedora you are running, and they will just work.

Good point!

> > 3.  I wish you'd consider basing your website on a wiki
> 
> The new website does have a search engine. About wikis in general,
> this is what I wrote when we were discussing how to rebuild the
> website itself:
> 
> > frankly, I personally find adding stuff in a web form (wiki-wise)
> > expensive for dialup contributors 

Agreed (for anyone who has to pay by the byte).

> > and in general cumbersome and
> > limited (unless you do everything outside in a real editor and then
> > just paste it into the form)

I guess I'm used to the drawbacks of contributing to a wiki. ;-)  

> 
> A CMS like spip still has web forms, but at least the whole process is
> much more structured, and we can still add content automatially with
> scripts. In addition to this:
> 
> 1) we had a wiki for some time in the past, but nobody used it
> 2) I must admit I am somewhat adverse at the basic idea: the wikis
>    I've come across so far do look to me as semi-random collections of
>    tips, not really useful to really understand a subject or a complex
>    procedure. 

That is true of many wikis, and of mine (WikiLearn) as well, but it is
not necessarily the case -- if I learn enough about Linux and maintain
the ambition to record what I learn, I hope I will eventually (and
probably gradually) reorganize in a more "traditional" web page / pages
manner.

Out of curiosity, do you feel the same way about the original (Ward's)
wiki (http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?WelcomeVisitors)?

>    I'd really prefer that I and other contributors (please
>    consider joining as such) are told "please add, or explain this
>    better in that page" until it becomes one single, complete and
>    coherent thing, easily readable and printable as a whole. Giving
>    all credit where credit is due, of course.

Is there a page started that lists the klipper and AbiWord suggestions
and their current status?  If not, how would I start one?  (And how do I
join as a contributor?)

>    It also goes without saying that you and all other present and
>    future project supporters are more than welcome to prove me
>    wrong. If a general request for a wiki comes up again, we'll
>    certainly add it. In the meantime, do send me mail offlist pointing
>    out any error in the current pages.

OK.  Depending on your answers to the last paragraph, maybe I'll
contribute something (almost certainly content / documentation rather
than programming) ;-)

regards,
Randy Kramer