Re: [OSCOM] Open source CMS / documents are content/

> I mean sometimes I have used systems that have cost so much time and 
> money to develop, and they are not capable of performing anything 
> outside the most trivial functions not because of the limitations of the 
> software,  but because
> whoever buit the system was not capable of thinking, did not know 
> anything about technology nor its potential, and did not even understand 
> anything about the professional tasks that the system was supposed to 
> perform
> 

I don't know if I agree with your point that the developer is not 
capable of thinking.  I think it is just more of a matter of the author 
has so many ways to hide content within a document that there is no way 
the developer can anticipate all the places to look for it.  The 
developer can limit the options by crippling the authoring tool 
(disabling some functions) and that works to some extent.  But then the 
clever author just seems to think of another way to achieve the visual 
effect that they want.  For example, a developer might restrict font 
selection but a user might embed the text in an image to get the desired 
font.  Sounds crazy?  I have seen it.  It's like an arms race.

I think the key here is shared goals and compromise.  The author needs 
to understand that their output is not just what they are able to 
achieve on their screen but has other uses as well.  The developer needs 
to understand what formatting the author needs to enhance the meaning of 
the content and give them an area for that expression.