Creating Excel files on Linux

[Maan M. Hamze]

"Oleg Broytmann" <phd at phd.pp.ru> wrote in message
news:mailman.999873368.1229.python-list at python.org...
> On Fri, Sep 07, 2001 at 09:07:08AM -0500, Maan M. Hamze wrote:
> > Cool it down guys.  You take things so personal.  When I say that the
world
> > speaks the XLS language I mean that is what your average Joe Blow and
Jane
> > Doe understand behind their desks in their offices.  I did not not mean
it
> > as a computer programming language.
>
>    But again, am I free not to deal with this world?

Yes, you are free not to deal with it.  But it depends on what world you are
living in.  I am not defending Microsoft here, but I am being realistic.

>And I can assure you
> that my freedom not to deal with this world will lead to the world where
> J. Random User would not know what languages her software uses,

This, my dear Mr Broytmann, is a Star Trek Voyager world where everything is
transparent.  We do not live in such a world.  We live in a world controlled
by greedy corporations, let it be Sun or Microsoft or the late Netscape.

> but tech
> people will use any langauage they prefer. This will be much more free
> world. Donw that Black Monopoly.
>
Tech people will use any language they prefer while users do not know what
language is being used?  This is an Orwellian vision that can put what
Microsoft represent out in the dust.  Maybe you did not mean it like that.
But that is what comes across from your remark.  J. Random User does not
have to call Tech support whenever he or she wants to experiment with a form
on an Excel sheet.  Also, these languages run on platforms made by
companies.  These companies will end up always defining your paradigm of
what languages to run and not to run.
Computer Languages and different incompatibilities are a fact of this world
in the same way that people speak different languages and dialects.
Computer Scientists are no Gods, and computer languages reflect the social
order.
In the same way, an open platform is a MYTH.  Larry Anderson of Oracle likes
to talk about this while he flies his own jet looking down on everything.
Sun talks of open platform because they want their Java to be the standard
that runs........on their very own machines.  Mark Andressen (sp?) talked of
the ever present CORBA on every server.  Is not that a covered talk of
monopolies too?
We live in a world of arrogant men and greedy corporations, and they play
with concepts of the open platform.
As far as I am concerned, getting a job done is the issue here.  Anyone can
learn VBA during a lunch hour.  This is what I call empowerment for people
who got to work for a living, not to philosophize about the open platform
myth where people do not know what language they are using.
Maan