Would OpenDoc have succeeded if it was completely Open Source?

06-June-2005

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[ failed standard , middleware , OpenDoc ]
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OpenDoc was a multi-platform software componentry framework standard for compound documents which IBM and Apple almost brought to the desktops of the world in the mid-1990s. Would an Open Source OpenDoc have succeeded?
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Opendoc Logo OpenDoc was a multi-platform software componentry framework standard for compound documents which IBM and Apple almost brought to the desktops of the world in the mid-1990s. It failed in the sense that robust implementations never became available. It is fondly remembered by developers and designers who had experience with it. Many of us feel that it might have dramatically improved the content and interactivity for e-learning.

The question I want to put here is: Would an Open Source OpenDoc have succeeded?


Mike Malloch; 06-June-2005 04:06:04; forum (2) help

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1 Do you have experience of working with OpenDoc?

Did you ever work on OpenDoc parts, editors or containers? Can you share your experiences?

Please let us know what your own experiences of working within the OpenDoc framework were like. Was it a positive experience? If not, was this because of implementations or architecure?

Mike Malloch, 06-June-2005 09:13:29 forum / discussion

2 What do you think? Would Open Source have saved OpenDoc?

Would OpenDoc have succeeded if the project had been thoroughgoingly Open Source?

As wikipedia notes, OpenDoc was one of Apple's earliest experiments with open source development methods. Apple and its partners did not release the source code for wide reuse, but did make the complete source available to developers for feedback and for testing and debugging purposes.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDoc.

Would OpenDoc be here now if it had been Open Source in a more thorough sense at the time?

Mike Malloch, 06-June-2005 10:42:29 forum / discussion

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