Re: Influencing Adobe on FrameMaker

["Stephen Harris" <cyberdiction@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Mark Barratt <markb@textmatters.com>
To: Dan Emory <danemory@primenet.com>
Cc: Ezra Steinberg <ezra@Resonate.com>; <framers@omsys.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2000 1:59 PM
Subject: Re: Influencing Adobe on FrameMaker


> Dan
> 
> I guess no responses because Thomas' and your posts were mostly
> information rather than calls to action, I thought.

There are those who come to this mailing list for information only
without a subscription to a political agenda. I think the determination
of apathy as a motivation to a lack of response is as grandiose and
ineffectual as the thinking which originally constructed the 'cabal'.
The persistent vitriolic posting describing Adobe's business practice 
is not constructive; the decision not to tongue-lash a dead horse is
not apathetic, but realistic. It reminds me of Apple. All those intensely
loyal Mac users were driven to Windows because Apple was content
to rot on the ground and reap profits without developing upgrades...
There was no response to the customer base. Why would one think
Adobe would be swayed by a conspiracy(discovered or not) or by
the limited FrameMaker constituency? I think Dan has an axe to grind
and that he used a manipulative term apathy, to stir support for his
bandwagon. The pretext is that documenting Adobe's lack of support
and caring is informational therefore we are serving our best interests
by fomenting responses. Realistically, that is just a waste of our time.
This does not mean Dan is other than highly intelligent. He is also
expert in FM. But his posts make me feel like I am on a therapy forum.
I am not here to download and savor the hostility he feels toward Adobe.
Nor do I think it is informative to cloak his salvos with a few facts.
Certainly we should be "Free" to criticize Adobe, but there is too much
focus put on that, rather than solutions(which ranting is not) in such an
ongoing, persistent manner. Throw stones or be labelled apathetic.

I noticed that Linux has KDE and that it has some FrameMaker ability.
Maybe the program is KDesk. Though still in development, the approach
of Linux applications seems constructive. Develop enhancements which
are not at the mercy of a corporate conglomerate, rather than expect to
influence corportate behavior without big bucks. Seems cheaper to me.
I would suppose since there has been no censure of this "subject:" being
off topic, then a response disagreeing with a sentiment expressed is Free.

Not apathetic by my defintional level,
Stephen

> I don't have thousands - or even tens - of licences, and if that's what
> works you/we are sunk.
> 
> But none of us are going to go down with the ship, are we? I've invested
> a lot of time learning Frame, then FM+SGML, since abandoning Ventura
> after it 'suicided' into Windows. I've 'sold' a fair number of licences,
> too. I'm committed.
> 
> But not that committed. I'm evaluating the competition as fast as I can.
> As we should all be. There are some interesting products coming along.
> 
> My judgement is that FM+SGML remains, with all its faults, the best
> document processor on the market at any price.
> 
> But the faults look more glaring as each week goes by, and the
> competition gets better. I consult, and I tell my customers what I know.
> These days I tell them not to commit to FM without a careful look at
> alternatives - and the list of alternatives gets longer.
> 
> The problems are obvious, the solutions are obvious. Heck, they must
> even be obvious within Adobe - most of us have been in organisations
> where capital and management talent have to be rationed and allocated to
> the 'saving the company' projects, so the marginal stuff gets closed
> down or left to idle along.
> 
> So. I've told Adobe what [I think] the problems are, as loud and clear
> as I can. I'll continue to do so when the chance comes my way. Then I
> have to get on with it - I'm an information designer, not a software
> symbiont.
> 
> best
> 
> --
> Mark Barratt
> Text Matters
> phone +44 (0)118 986 8313
> fax +44 (0)118 931 3743
> email markb@textmatters.com
> web http://www.textmatters.com
> 
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