[Sigia-l] Tool standardization (was about visio or not to visio)

[Listera]

"Andrew McNaughton" wrote:
> If large organisations stnadardised on Linux or Unix variants you'd see
> tools equivalent to Visio being built for and ported to those operating
> systems a lot quicker than is happening at present.

See, that's not the solution we need, if I understand you correctly.

OSX (a Unix variant), for example, has OmniGraffle which in its very short
life has already produced an app superior to Visio for much of the stuff
people on this list do. However, I would *not* want OSX to monopolize 95% of
the market so that OmniGraffle can dominate the market. Switching
OSX/OmniGraffle for Windows/Visio for dominance is no solution, in my book.

The Unix world does not really glorify 'kitchen sink apps' like Visio that
tightly couples with other proprietary apps from the same company to lock-in
and deter entry into a market. Instead, it advocates apps that are best of
breed in discreet tasks, loosely coupled to create efficient workflows,
based on standards and open formats.

I want variety, competition, open standards, and no lock-ins. Not
'standardization' because one company is able to distribute its products
better than others, however illegal it may be. No lowering of UI/UE
standards, just because a product is the 'status quo'. And certainly no
forcing of *professionals* to use inferior products just because the company
can get licensing discounts.

Incidentally, this wonderfully illustrates one of the failings of the large
org: in the name of efficiency it kills variety which is the bedrock of
innovation. Think about it, if everybody in the org and every other org uses
the same technology, you've just lost one of your potential competitive
advantages. Thankfully, not everybody is in the commodity business.
 
> Apparently you can run at least some versions of Visio on linux using
> WINE.  Haven't tried it myself.

As its advocates point out, one of the advantages of Visio is the tight
coupling with the other Office apps. I don't know how CrossOver would handle
that aspect of it.

Ziya
Nullius in Verba