** Reply to note from Brian Kelly <[log in to unmask]> Fri, 30 Apr 1999 16:02:27 +0100
> PS Not sure what you mean when you criticise a tool for indexing
> proprietary file formats (whether it's MS, Lotus, Borland, etc). I suspect
> this is a very useful feature for indexing tools - and should be on a
> feature list for any indexing tool for indexing large web sites.
Thanks for the reply Brian.
I am really worried when MS submitts material to W3C for acceptance.
Maybe I have to try much harder to get the right words. Nothing wrong
with indexing files of proprietary formats. It also indexes PDF (I like
it, albeit proprietary too), Word perfect and who knows what else. By
the way I did not go surfing the MS site, Brett Burridge from Essex
emailed and gave me more details.
My problem is not with what a search engine does. My problem is that
the engine makes it easier to lock people in a particular office suite
(the cash cow of MS), which then produces non-standard outputs which
means we need newer version and ... perpetual cycle.
So the question is "is it wise to go down the route of using a complete
www solution from MS?" (There will be advantages for productivity but also
the cash cow will keep feeding). [I am giving a neutral view here not
a personal one].
Am I too idealistic?
Lotus Notes for example is a proprietary system too (and many small
companies make a good living out of supporting it, which shows it is also
difficult and expensive to maintain). The difference is that, when Notes
is accessed over the web it produces ordinary HTML as far as the client
is concerned. I would not be thinking any more highly of Notes if in
order to see what it churned out you should have Smartsuite Millenium or
at least Smartsuite97. (Mind you for the educational cost of 10-15
Office97 licences we could have a perpetual site licence for
Smartsuite97. We probalby won't get it, the marketing pressure to use
MS Office is too great).
How does it work in other institutions?
Here at Dundee we have decided ("we" as in one part of the
administration) we shall only send EMail attachments in RTF unless we
explicitly know what the person(s) at the other end can read. On SOMIS,
during the last 12 months or so, no "University" public internal or
external documents have been saved in a proprietary format. RTF & HTML
is the highest you get and PDF when the previous two cannot do the job.
That includes the minutes and agendas of our two governing committees
which are published where possible on both HTML and RTF.
Unfortunatelly, I save spreadhseets in any combination of Excell 5,
Lotus, csv, txt. Shame on me :-(
We do have departments that do not use Office97 or similar MS product.
We have depts which are entirely Macintosh or Unix based. From where I
am standing and what we have to do, we try to cater for everyone not
just the majority. If that means that some of our meticulously
word-processed committee minutes do not look perfect under HTML but all
staff can see them, GREAT!
I do understand that newer Universities with more "top-down" management
structures, find it easier to standardise on one OS/Office suite.
If they make the right or wrong choices time will tell.
BTW. I am not trying to prolong a discussion, and I have no problem using
NT or Office (MS gets enough royalties from for using OS/2 anyway).
I cannot stand dancing paper clips. :-))
Have a nice weekend or new week (for those not keen to work over a
weekend).
Charles
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Charles Christacopoulos, Secretary's Office, University of Dundee,
Dundee DD1 4HN, (Scotland) United Kingdom.
Tel: +44+(0)1382-344891. Fax: +44+(0)1382-201604.
WebDad of http://somis.ais.dundee.ac.uk/
Home of the Scottish Search Maestro http://somis2.ais.dundee.ac.uk/
Happily using OS2 Warp.
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