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Re: [tlug] SOLVED - Re: iBus Setup Problem



On 06/22/2011 10:58 AM, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
CL writes:

  >  Not a *major* issue but I hate it when I have to think about stuff
  >  I could previously ignore.

The problem with user-friendly distros is that they're only friendly
to *their* kind of user.  Multilingual folks are too rare to give a
flying Mexican f**k about.
Sir is forgetting that they have also followed MS in to the mousified 
desktop and cut away tonnes of stuff that would permit more work without 
lifting fingers from the keyboard.  One of my main reasons for keeping 
an XP virtualbox on my machines is the Japanese edition (v.9.0J from 
Marubeni) of WordPerfect ... there was only one, it is the only 
Unicode-ready version EVER, and it was made for Millennium Edition / WIN 
2K.  But, one could produce, format, and deliver camera-ready copy of an 
entire book of several hundreds of pages without ever taking your hands 
from the keyboard ... except when you had to open a new subdirectory for 
photos, illustrations, charts, and tables.  I did exactly that several 
times.  There is no product that does that today with as little hassle 
and no mousing around.  It has gotten more arcane instead of easier.
WP is dying because the Linux edition failed at v.8.0 in 2001 and there 
is no Unicode support -- a stupid move when you consider that it's 
largest installed bases remain Germany, France, and the Scandinavian 
countries.  Oh, and because Paul Allen is it's largest shareholder.
There are a couple of German guys trying to keep Linux Edition alive, 
but they have to resort to using an ancient edition of Mepis with 
numerous kernel hacks and installation of lib files that have not been 
seen in the wild since 2003 just to keep it from crashing at startup. 
And the lack of Unicode pretty much kills its usefulness.
I have made several attempts to turn OOo / LibreOffice into a suitable 
multilingual WP alternative using the WP for DOS keyboard mapping, but 
there is no interest in the community to produce a polished product that 
can be used from the keyboard without having to mouse around or use a 
five-key combination where two used to do.  I'd love to do a complete 
remap of the keys but it requires time that has to come from freelancing 
in order to achieve.
Besides, taking ten minutes to whine takes a smaller chunk out of my 
productivity and counts as my break.
--
CL


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