tlug: Filtrix in Japanese/Linux version (fwd)

[Jonathan Byrne - 3Web <jq@example.com>]

Hi all,

I inquired about the possiblity of a Filtrix version:

1) For Linux
2) That did double-byte languages

This is the reply that I got from them.  While they didn't say "No, never,"
they did say they would want to clearly see how they could profit from it.  If
you would buy something like this, please e-mail Kevin Dwan
(kevin@example.com) and tell him you think it's a good idea.  Get anyone you
know who could/would buy it to also mail him.

If you don't yet know about Filtrix, check it out at
<http://www.blueberry.com>.  It imports lots of stuff, including Office 97,
and exports various formats,too.  It runs on commercial UNIX platforms, but
I'd love to see one for Linux.  An easy-to-use filtering system that could
pull in MS Office docs and spit them out as Applix docs and do a good job of
it, could be a real asset to Linux in making a run at corporate and SOHO
sales.

Cheers,


Jonathan Byrne
Media and Content Section
3Web - Your Internet Solution! <URL:http://www.threeweb.ad.jp/index.en.html>
3Web Channel <URL: http://www.3web.co.jp/index.en.html>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 10:33:57 -0700
From: Kevin Dwan <kevin@example.com>
To: jq@example.com
Cc: kevin@example.com
Subject: Filtrix in Japanese/Linux version

You wrote:
> 
>Hi, 
> 
>I just ran across your web site and was intrigued by Filtrix, it sounds 
like 
>just the kind of thing I need. I use an RPM-based Linux distribution and 
work 
>in an office full of Windows machines running MS Office 97. I also have 
the 
>Japanese version of ApplixWare (4.3.7) which I use for those times when my 
>standby Xemacs just isn't quite enough. However, it's ability to import MS 
>Office documents is limited to the (very) obsolete 6.0 format, and it
doesn't 
>even do that very well. A utility such as Filtrix could perhaps be just what 
>I'm looking for, if it ran on Linux. Are you considering possibly 
releasing a 
>Linux version? 
> 
>Also, does Filtrix have any difficulty dealing with documents containing 
>double-byte characters? A great deal of the documents I handle are in 
>Japanese, and the ability to read a Japanese MS Word document and export 
it as 
>a Japanese Applix document would be very important. 
> 
>Finally, is there any possibility that an MS PowerPoint import filter might 
>become part of Filtrix? 
> 
>Thank you very much, 
> 
>Jonathan Byrne 
>Media and Content Section 
>3Web - Your Internet Solution! <URL:http://www.threeweb.ad.jp/index.en.html> 
>3Web Channel <URL: http://www.3web.co.jp/index.en.html>
==================================================
I just received a very similar inquiry from Scott Stone, head of development
for TurboLinux.

We license our filters to Applix. I don't know why they don't release them
with
the Japanese version of their product. They do seem to want to produce their
own Word filters rather than ours--perhaps that's the reason. 

We actually have gone to some pains to reduce the Unicode (16-bit) characters
in Word 97 to 8-bit to allow filtering with 8-bit applications. I don't
imagine
allowing 16-bit character upport for Word 97, Applix Words, and perhaps
FrameMaker would be a major job, though it wouldn't be trivial, but it's
certainly not the kind of project Blueberry would want to undertake without
very firm understanding of how we'd profit from it.

We don't have any plans to add MS Power Point filters to our product. We
sometimes get requests, but our development resources have to go to more
broadly-based formats, such as XML/PNG.

Thank you for your interest.
 
Kevin Dwan            voice: 707-829-5443             
Blueberry Software        fax: 707-829-5380 
260 Petaluma Avenue        Internet: kevin@example.com 
Sebastopol, CA 95472        <http://www.blueberry.com>http://www.blueberry.com