Re: PET PEEVE #3148

[Kevin Harper <kevinh -at- DEV -dot- TIVOLI -dot- COM>]

> From: Debbie Molinaro <MOLINARO_DEBBIE -at- NY -dot- MRC -dot- SONY -dot- COM>

> How does PageMaker accomplish the tasks of Cross Referencees,
> pagination, book and TOC generation, anchored frames, etc.?

See below.

> Frankly, If I thought PageMaker could accomplish any of those tasks,
> I'd dump FrameMaker. And I suspect Adobe wouldn't have gone through
> all the trouble to buy something they already had.

Words like "market share" and "profits" come to mind.


> I still maintain that full mastery is required when the docs group
> is working together on a project.

> As I said, the ability to write is a given. I would not consider
> a person for a TW job if they couldn't write. FrameMaker is a
> requirement.

What is so blasted difficult about cross references, pagination, etc.?
None of these concepts are diffucult to understand, even if PageMaker
does not have these features. Word has most of them. Interleaf has
all of them. And even if a candidate has Frame experience, how do
you know that his/her previous company didn't use some aspect of the
program in a completely different, or even opposite, manner than you
do at Sony? How much time are you willing to spend retraining this
individual on Frame?

I've been responsible for hiring writers in the past. I'm far more
concerned about a candidate's ability to learn and adapt than his/her
experience with a specific set of tools.

Kevin Harper
Tivoli Systems