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Subject:Re: Rumor about Framemaker - is it true? From:Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Mon, 10 Jan 2005 13:44:58 -0800
I don't know, or even particularly care, if the rumor is true. However,
I do want to make a couple of points.
First, although rumors of FrameMaker's demise have circulated for at
least the last decade, this time they may be self-fulfilling. The fact
that Adobe has abandoned the Mac does suggest that the company sees
FrameMaker as an increasingly marginal product, not worth supporting. If
enough people panic, then other platforms may soon be unsupported as
well. I'd guess that the UNIX version would be abandoned first, then the
Windows verison - and then only if massive desertions happened.
Second, if Adobe did abandon FrameMaker development or support - so
what? The program would be no less usable than it currently is. And
anyway, when was the last time anybody phoned technical support for
FrameMaker? I think that most people would post to the mailing list
before contacting Adobe.
I also can't help pointing out that this sort of situation highlights
the shortcomings of using proprietary software. If FrameMaker or any
other proprietary software ceases development, you can't do very much.
You can petition the company to change its mind, but Adobe - and most
other large companies - haven't been very responsive to customers in the
past, so you can't expect very much from such efforts. By contrast, if
the developers of an open source project abandon it, then you can always
find other ones to take it over. If you represent a company, you can
even hire someone to continue development.
Really, it's situations like this one that are driving me and a lot of
others away from proprietary software.
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