Re: [libreoffice-users] [Ten questions]

At 02:53 23/11/2012 -0500, Felmon Davis wrote:
> On Fri, 23 Nov 2012, Brian Barker wrote:
> > At 08:23 22/11/2012 -0500, Virgil Aonly wrote:
> > > The fact that the original questioner on this thread had to ask 
> > > how to disable so many autocorrect features, I think, proves my point.
> >
> > No - it just shows that he now knows about automatic correction 
> > *and* how to control it.
> >
> > > A user simply trying to type a document should never have to ask 
> > > why the program is making unintended changes to his work.
> >
> > Saying you don't want *unintended* changes is tautologous: you 
> > don't want what you don't want.  No-one can argue with that.  But 
> > that may require the program to read your mind.
> >
> > It all depends on what you mean by "changes".  If I type a complete 
> > sentence on one line of my document, the program *changes* what I 
> > typed by flowing the text onto multiple lines.  I've typed a page 
> > or two and then decide to increase the font size of all my text; 
> > the program now *changes* what I had by reflowing the text to 
> > fit.  I type a new value into a spreadsheet cell, the program 
> > *changes* all the cells with formulae depending on it - without my 
> > going near them!
> >
> > If you don't want a program to make any automatic changes, you 
> > probably want a typewriter.
> >
> > ;^)
>
> the emoticon is appropriate as the argument is obviously a strawman.

Oh, not at all!  The suggestion was that users shouldn't have to see 
changes they don't expect.  My examples were of changes that everyone 
values.  I bet every typewriter user didn't expect reflowing the 
first time it happened, nor every spreadsheet user recalculation when 
that happened.

The important thing is that such facilities can be disabled - and 
they can.  Our disagreement is whether these facilities should be on 
by default (so that experienced users who prefer to disable all or 
some of them simply need to do so), or whether they should be hidden, 
so they don't trouble experienced users but novice users (and 
possibly even experienced ones) never discover them.

> is there such a thing as "-1"?

Now I need a "chuckle" emoticon ...

Brian Barker


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