Re: XyWrite orphaned

[Leslie Bialler lb136@xxxxxxxx]

I for one am baffled at some of what has been posted in response to what I
consider to be Ken Frank's intelligent offer to supply us with the Smart Words
engine as a beta.

While much of the response, including mine, has been on the "sure, why not" side
of the fence, others have expressed fears of pigs in pokes, of the elimination of
footnotes (since disproved), and the like.

Then, of course, we have the usual chorus from those loyal to 0S/2 on the one
hand and DOS and 3+ on the other hand demanding that Ken Frank make versions for
those systems posthaste--and never mind that he would lose money were he to do
so. (Thus, I suppose, putting the lie to the notion that most computer fans are
Libertarians.)

There have even been those who have expressed the fear that to install, shall we
call it Dumbed Down Words, will induce stress. I quote:

"and for those . . . who work in an environment that is already stress-producing
beyond what most humans can tolerate, having to "fix" your software on a day-to-
day basis can be more than some can bear."

Now really! I don't think Ken Frank expects us to fix Dumbed Down Words daily. If
he does, then IMHO he has no business being in business at all.

In short, Ken has made what I for one consider to be a sensible and (pending on
the price he eventually decides to charge) generous offer, and it ought to have
been received with a little more generosity of spirit than some posters have
chosen to display.

--
Leslie Bialler
Columbia University Press
lb136@xxxxxxxx