Lotus Symphony and Other Alternatives to Microsoft Office
As a result of a patent infringement suit against Microsoft, the company was ordered to stop selling products that include a particular XML file format technology. Unfortunately Microsoft Word is one of these products, and no sales of Microsoft Word and possibly the whole Microsoft Office Suite will be allowed after October 10, unless the technology in question is removed.
Now Microsoft is trying to appeal this court order using the argument, among others, that there is no alternative software available for consumers and businesses. This is an interesting argument, given all the trouble Microsoft had with anti-competitive practices.
Of course there are alternatives:
- OpenOffice.org
- Lotus Symphony
- Corel WordPerfect
- StarOffice
Typically these alternative office software packages are less expensive or free, and they are not tied to a single operating system. This means users can continue to use the same software when switching from Microsoft Windows to Linux. Open source software does not require licensing and can be freely installed without requiring authentication keys to be functional, and they have no expiration dates.
Don’t Forget Abiword !
The concept from BEll LABS was to offer the world FRE accest to computers. Microsoft broke that concept when it dicovered it could legally xircomvent that concept. Now, perhaps his grasp upon the world is crimbling, and we can get back to the free concept. Let’s hope so, anyway! Dell, IBM and HP seem to think so. We shall see.
Comment (2) neglects to mention that Bell Labs gave universities free access to Unix, C, and other software as a smart way to promote AT&T’s commercial software business.
Once university graduates moved into the workplace they wanted to continue to use the same software they had learned to use at school, which prompted their employers to purchase commercial licenses.
So, AT&T was motivated by the profit motive, just like Microsoft, which also gives away a lot of free software to influential communities (e.g., their suite of Visual Studio Express products).
The free software movement is a bit different, in that altruism really does seem to be the motivating factor for the individuals involved. But, some companies that support the free software movement have a darker motive: harming their commercial competitors.
Commercial software will continue to coexist with free software as long as the commercial products offer users benefits that they think are worth paying for. That means that commercial products need to stay several steps ahead of comparable free products if they hope to survive over time.
One of the best things about free software, I think, is that it provides competition to commercial products, which causes them to steadily improve in order to remain commercially viable.
In the race to the top, everyone wins.
I don’t think the commercial software vendors have too much to worry about. The only thing that works in Linux is the operating system. OOo doesn’t read Office files as well as they say it does. Every other program crashes just about every time I use it. GIMP is about the only decent program available on Linux, and it still doesn’t even come close to Photoshop for pro work.
I WILL say, though, that Windows 7 is a direct result of competition with Linux and Free-BSD. I have to fight with Linux to get anything done, but XP and 7 never give me a minute’s trouble. 98 totally sucked, and Linux was better, but now it’s the other way around.
Now the Linux community needs to tighten up. I see signs that they are, and I’m rooting for them. Ubuntu has started the “100 paper cuts” project. Very good. The Tango project is making things look better, but much of the UI is still cartoonish.
You’re right, however, we – the consumer – win.