tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Nov 22 16:18:53 2003

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Re: [discuss] Hacking OpenOffice.org

Christian Einfeldt ([email protected]) 

On Saturday 22 November 2003 11:51, Alan Anderson wrote:
> [I do not subscribe this list.  I noticed the discussion through
> Google Groups' archives of the mailing.comp.open-office
> "newsgroup".]
>

snip...

> > Klingon????
>
> HIja'.
>
> > Seriously.  Considering all the things OpenOffice could use help
> > with, couldn't these people help with something useful instead?

snip...

I apologize for these comments, but the OpenOffice.org (OOo) forum is a  
democracy, and I can't account for the lack of diplomacy of some 
people on the list.  I certainly would not have taken such an approach 
with someone else's project.  

Please also recall that OOo is a serious challenge to Microsoft, and it 
is widely known that MS has employees who lurk on the site to keep 
track of OOo's projects for the purpose of developing 
counter-measures.  It is also widely known that "trolls" will visit 
the OOo site with flame-baiting comments designed to introduce spite 
into our conversations.  I'm not saying that the author of those 
unflattering comments about Klingon was a troll, and only he can 
account for his own comments on such a public list, but please do bear 
in mind that there are billions of dollars at stake in the competition 
between Microsoft, a multi-billion dollar multinational corporation, 
and the all-volunteer OOo project, which currently has 35 million 
users worldwide. 

Please let me emphasize that the involved leaders of OpenOffice.org are 
very much in favor of this Klingon localization project, and hope that 
it will advance the use of Klingon. 

>
> Seriously, Christian came exuberantly bounding into a discussion
> forum about the Klingon language, going on about how wonderful
> OpenOffice.org is, how fantastic it would be for us Klingonists to
> be able to write in our own alphabet, and how great
> translating/localizing OOo could be.  He didn't say anything about
> other possibilities for helping.

There are lots of ways that OOo and KLI, both non-profit .orgs, can 
assist one another, and we at OOo certainly are open to suggestions! 

>
> (He also apparently didn't consider that there are already a number
> of ways for Klingonists to type using a "Klingon" character set,
> including the Klingon conscript assignment in Unicode's Private Use
> Area.)

Actually, I am a simple end user who has been tasked with finding a 
technological lead who has the know-how to make this project a 
success.  I was aware of the existence of  the Klingon conscript 
assignment in Unicode's Private Use Area, but I don't understand the 
signficance of that fact because 1) I don't know what Unicode is 2) it 
is my understanding that the Unicode script is not as helpful for 
Klingonists as a full localized office suite would be and 3) I have 
concluded from my novice's reveiw of the Unicode site that the Unicode 
conscript assignment could be incorporated into the more full-featured 
OOo office suite. 

Finally, I will also point out that other members of the list rapidly 
disagreed with this member's uninformed comment and pointed out that 
Klingon is a rich, complex language with native speakers world wide. 

Again, my apologies for the lack of diplomacy of that OOo list member, 
but one can't always account for another's uninspired sense of poor 
diplomacy.  I hope that we will be able to go forward with the project 
with the KLI and other Klingonists, because the project obviously will 
never take off if Klingonists are not enthused.

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