[PLUG] Open Source comes through again

["Edmond Kerollis" <e.newed@verizon.net>]

Dear Group,
I came across this article that I thought was interesting.  I had heard on
some list ( it may be this one?) about mistakes in spreadsheet programs
being a hidden danger. Especially for businesses who depend on Spreadsheet
Presentations to justify there proposals.

Here is a direct example of how Open Source can respond to Customers needs
and fix mistakes in a timely manner.

Here's a link ( the article is a pdf):
Article on Gnumeric fixing Calculating functions
URL:
http://www.csdassn.org/software_reports.html

Title: Fixing Statistical Errors in Spreadsheet Software: The Cases of
Gnumeric and Excel

Abstract: The open source spreadsheet package "Gnumeric" was such a good
clone of Microsoft Excel that it even had errors in its statistical
functions similar to those in Excel's statistical functions. When apprised
of the errors in v1.0.4, the developers of Gnumeric indicated that they
would try to fix the errors. Indeed, Gnumeric v1.1.2, has largely fixed its
flaws, while Microsoft has not fixed its errors through many successive
versions. Persons who desire to use a spreadsheet package to perform
statistical analyses are advised to use Gnumeric rather than Excel.


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