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by frollogaston 12 days ago
"Microsoft hasn't actually selling their product on the premise of proprietary file format support. They sell it with the promise of total platform integration for every single software an office needs."

Idk, the entire reason I've ever used Office was because someone gave me files I'm afraid to screw up.
2 comments
jimnotgym 12 days ago
The reason corporations buy ms is exactly what you have in quotes above. Active Directory
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inigyou 12 days ago
You could just open it in libreoffice, make your changes and send them back an ODT, see how they like it.

Or demand a PDF and list out the things you want to change so they can change it themselves.

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cube00 12 days ago
> send them back an ODT

The formatting goes wonky or the macros stop working and you get the blame for doing something "weird" to the document everyone else managed to pass around just fine.

As much as you're doing the right thing by using open formats, you still end up looking like the incompetent employee. No good deed goes unpunished.

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inigyou 12 days ago
> employee

Oh well that changes things. Use whatever your boss tells you to use, they're the one paying for it.

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cube00 12 days ago
> Oh well that changes things.

It's the same for any case where someone sends you something and wants it sent back with changes.

If you screw up their files it's never going to go well for you (family, friends, volunteer groups).

Nobody will ever thank you for messing up their work because it's now saved in an open format.

If they end up using a feature that triggers the format nag screen they'll likely end up saving it back into the native Microsoft format anyway.

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frollogaston 12 days ago
Or dealing with any professional service that isn't your day job. Like oh you need to fill out some legal documents, the fields use something proprietary in Word that they can't just convert to PDF...
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pessimizer 12 days ago
> You could just open it in libreoffice, make your changes and send them back an ODT, see how they like it.

We didn't, and have decided to go with someone else who costs three times as much as you do. It's a bargain after the dozen internal emails back and forth, the missed deadline, and the subsequent heated discussions with you that your ODT caused. We know they aren't as good as you are.

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