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But when it comes to tech pubs tools, open source has some gaps.
1. There still is no open-source replacement for RoboHelp's WebHelp. By
"replacement" I mean a standalone cross-platform help system with
full-text search, authored in a WYSIWYG editor.
2. There still is no open-source replacement for FrameMaker
single-sourcing, which can put out HTML and PDF from a text authored in
a WYSIWYG editor.
3. FOP is considered to be buggy and difficult. I've used it
successfully for simple docs. But for complex formats or high-quality
printwork, it's still best to buy a commercial FO processor.
4. Visio is too entrenched as a brand name right now to consider using
anything else, and open source hasn't even tried to import the Visio
format (I don't think). My diagrams are usually simple, and I do fine
with open source tools like Dia and OpenOffice Draw. However, I expect
SVG-based open source tools to eventually own the diagramming market.
Firefox will soon support SVG by default (not sure what IE's plans
are).
4. I think DocBook would be much more popular if it were bundled with a
good WYSIWYG editor, and you could install everything by downloading
and clicking "docbook.exe." But it's just not that simple, so it's not
likely.
5. If you want to use some really good open-source software on Windows
(including the GIMP) you'll need to install the GTK libraries. It's no
more difficult than making sure you have the right JREs available -
should be no problem for a tech writer.
6. Of course, Snag-it will NEVER be replaced :-)
Mike O.
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