Trying to read file in Console-get might be a binary file

[sandlynx]

I'm trying to read a file in Console, and get the message that it might be a binary file. It's a KWord file, .odt. Here's the Console read-out:
bash-3.1$ cd /home/sandy/ToFloppy
bash-3.1$ ls
BillGates-UseVaccinesToLowerPopulation.odt
BillGatesTalksAboutVaccinesForPopulationReduction~
DoNotPityTheDemocrats-13sept2010.odt
IsThisTheEndOfGlobalization-q-july2004.odt
LanguageOfPipelines-11sept2010.odt
ObamaScienceCzarsPlan-SterlizePopulationThroughWaterSupply
RecessionAltersWhatsNeeded
U.S.ArmyBurnsBiblesInAfghanistan2009
bash-3.1$ less -c BillGates-UseVaccinesToLowerPopulation.odt
"BillGates-UseVaccinesToLowerPopulation.odt" may be a binary file. See it anyway?

It's KWord file. If I click on it in Dolphin, it displays so I can read it as text. A binary file? It's an .odt file. What am I doing wrong here? Stupid noob!

[Freston]

.odt is a compressed format, so although it's just plain text with <xml> markup, it's not readable that easy.

That said, you can uncompress it with `unzip`, and you'll find the data in 'content.xml', and there are some other files in the archive as well.

[sandlynx]

Thanks, that was very informative. So, then I probably want to use a text editor, like Kate, for saving files to floppy, and to read them in Console without a lot of extra steps?

[Freston]

Sure, you can. But you can also 'safe as...' in Kword and safe as plain text.

[keikun2004]

I know it is solved for you, but just FYI.
When you put test in a file from a word processor and save it, doesn't mean that the resulting file will be plain text. The word processor needs informations about the font, color, size ... used to type the text.
That's the difference between a text editor and a word processor.
Kate, gedit, vim, nano ... are text editors.
KOffice writer, OpenOffice.org writer, Microsoft Office ... are word processors.

[sandlynx]

keikin2004,
Thanks for the info. For what I'm doing right now, I'll go with text editors. I like KWord. It's a nice application, but not for this specific use. I like to keep thing simple; the fewer steps the better.