Contra-

That's a great idea. If I come up with some spare time I might do that!

Tibbiecow-

That was my suspicion for a very long time-- I have played a close-holed flute for a long time, and I could not afford to drop tons of cash on a new open-holed flute... so I haven't. Sadly, many of my fellow flutists scoff at my old, unpretty close-holed flute and let it cloud their judgment of my playing.

Pyrioni-

Sorry for generalizing your opinion in the beginning of this thread: I was just trying to get the main point across without being wordy. I didn't think you were a die-hard open-hole supporter, I just knew that they worked better for you for the reasons you stated and wanted to see if the majority of flutists on this forum felt the same way.

Open holes to correct (or develop) good finger positions?

It may work for some people, but it did not for me. I bought an open hole Yamaha exactly for that reason and finished with a plugged hole flute after struggling a couple of years with the added difficulty.

Good finger positions are important for several reasons, in my case I had problems with RH ring finger accidentally hitting trills and the like.

I solved that specific problem with other measures, but not using the open hole way.

I wouldn't think that playing an open hole flute would present any more difficulties than an oboe (since they have open holes, too).

Well I play the oboe yes but are you talking about a ring key oboe? or the Boehm?

And I think it's pretty obvious that the Oboe and flute are completely different instruments. The only real similarities to me are some of the fingerings so comparing the two, imo, isn't relevant at all.