Generally, Python is the preferred choice for LibreOffice macros. It's a lot better than Basic for medium-sized macros. For a long time, I've felt that this is a major advantage that LibreOffice has over MS Office.

It sounds like this could be a significant step forward for MS Office.

Yeah this is the first I heard of the new name.

From reading the article summary, I thought this guy has no clue, but after looking at the blog, it sounds like the author has some interesting ideas. Teaching these kids programming of any kind is quite ambitious, but from the blog it sounds like the author realizes this.

I have some experience with this sort of thing in southern India, and in my experience, one challenge was typing. The people who were learning computers had done mostly outdoor work and their fingers hadn't gotten used to the fine motor skills required for typing.

Word processing and spreadsheets is a good thing to focus on, and it's easy for students, teachers and parents to see why it's important. I did actually suggest some games, but the idea didn't go over very well. I'm not sure that approach is really a good one in India.

I'd rather have neither riches nor poverty, and be happy.

Using python with dialogs from inside LibreOffice/OpenOffice works well. Complex programs can be built this way -- I have a 10k LOC add-on that interacts with libraries and files external to Office, as well as Writer and Calc. My project uses only modal dialogs, but non-modal should be possible too -- see https://forum.openoffice.org/e....

How easy is it? Not exactly easy; requires some digging, but there are forums available if you get stuck. Python is easier than Java for working with the UNO API, and allows more structure than Basic, so it's a good choice.

On my machine (LibreOffice 5, Windows), Tango is the automatic (i.e. default) theme, showing lowercase "a" icons.

Galaxy seems to be the default for OpenOffice, and it shows the traditional B/I/U icons. Switching LibreOffice to Galaxy and changing icon size to small (both under Tools -> Options -> View) makes the icons look an awful lot like OpenOffice.

Recently I put in a bug report for AOO and after a few months they had a fix incorporated into a new release. It seems like there is still life there.

On the other hand, LibreOffice didn't have that bug at all. I like the streamlined feel of AOO, but LO is so much further ahead.

Many updates seem to slow it down, but after some updates I've actually seen it get faster.

If speed is a higher priority than software compatibility and saving time then by all means go with Linux on the desktop. For myself, the speed of a modern Windows desktop (with Linux in virtual machines) is fast enough.

succeed: (1) achieve the desired result. (2) take over a throne or other office.
secede: withdraw formally from membership in a federal union.

Although the other meanings could fit this sentence, I think you mean secede.

We have a .NET C# project that uses C++ code for the nitty gritty bits, and it runs under mono on Linux. Don't know about Mac.

Vim is my staple, but Notepad/Wordpad are still occasionally useful for their simplicity and for Unicode rendering.

He strongly apologized in a 2013 interview:

"I think the one thing I regret the most is giving people the impression I cared about politics and getting involved in something that had nothing to do with me."

Science typically starts out with a prediction of the outcome, which is a theory. For example there used to be a theory that objects in their natural state are at rest. After centuries of testing, it was finally discovered that this was false.

Regarding origins of human life, Darwin proposed that the mechanism of evolution could explain it. Creationists assert that evolution is not an accurate picture of how life came about, and the idea that after billions of years we just emerged is a little silly. In my opinion, what science should do is investigate the evidence for these opposing theories. Both of these make certain predictions about what the fossil record should contain for example.

So, I am very much in favor of what the State Board in Texas is trying to do (by the way, I am from Texas, so this could potentially affect my kids). Isn't critical thinking supposed to be encouraged in schools? However the popular idea seems to be that we should try to silence opposing viewpoints. At least, that's how it often seems on slashdot.

Calling the changes "dramatic" is qualitative and subjective. Here is a more objective statement: Only one actual doctrine is questionable based on grounds of textual differences, that of snake handling. So while I'm not sure at what exact point in Saul's reign the events of 1 Samuel 13 took place (verse 1 has several variants), there's no reason to question whether the Bible really teaches that we should honor our father and mother.

Agreed, quality rather than quantity is needed now. However I don't think that's because of anything they've done wrong in the past. The original emphasis on quantity was a good way to get started. It's just that an adjustment needs to be made now that the project has gotten to this point.