[PLUG] Windows Apps for Unix?

[A Braunsdorf]

In message <Pine.BSO.4.10.10008161605240.5774-100000@arachne.blacksoul.net>, "R
yan E. Helfter" writes:
> Hmmm, have we not heard this before?  In the event they did write Office
> for windows, what do you think would happen to their market...  I mean the
      [ Linux, you mean ]
> whole idea of Linux is that most of the software is free...  Do you guys
> think that marketable software for a free OS is the way to go?  And
> imagine if you will, Office for Linux being stable?  Would anti-Micro$oft
> people support it?

Open Source good.  Non-Open Source bad.  Standard, documented (and
they can't be standard if they aren't documented) file formats
good.  Proprietary file formats very bad.  MS Office for Linux is
just as bad as MS Office for MS Windows.  In fact, it's worse
because it sets a bad precedent.


That said, it'd go a long way to shaking the anti-trust complainers-
if it worked as well or better than the MS Windows versions.
Microsoft has made their whole game confusion of the applications
with the GUI with the OS.  People say they want to run MS Windows.
They don't.  They want MS Office, IE, and Netscape Communicator.
(And games, too. :-) )

It'll take more than having the applications available under Linux.
It'll take the consumer re-education that's long overdue: Office
is not Windows, Windows is not Office.  None of my MS Windows users
here understand that.  Really.


I don't think most Linux users, and especially the Slashdot community
will pay for software of any kind.  The majority of them seem to
believe in piracy of all media as some kind of birthright.  You
won't get rich selling them software.  Microsoft's already rich,
though, and the port should be pretty easy and get a lot of
(misguided) people off their backs.  For a while at least.


Don't get me wrong, though: MS Office on any platform is crap and
I won't buy it, use it, or recommend it until they use only standard
file formats.  (And, yes, getting MS Office's native formats pushed
through a real standards committee would be fine.  That's the last
thing Microsoft wants though.)

(I think basic tools should be open source and freely redistributable
too, but if people will pay for it...)

ab