Slashdot Mirror
More Light Shed on Project David
Sun writes "Flexbeta.net received from Specops Labs screenshots "proving" that project David (previously covered here) is a real thing. The demo.... Office 2000 install. This is something both Wine and CrossOver Office know how to do for quite some time.
In a discussion on wine-devel some people noticed evidence inside the screenshots that project David is a CrossOver Office ripoff."
Could this project be based on the leaked MS code, or is it really a CrossOver Office ripoff? I can't tell, but Mike McCormack could.
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
Look at it as Offshore Outsourcing, FOSS style.
The good news though is that you'll be able to buy a license to use Windows compatable operating systems for $699 per seat very soon.
This image mentioned in the article clearly shows lines that reference /usr/bin/wine in the winbridge.lst preview icon.
Combined with the link you give, if this is not a complete ripoff then they are at least building on the wine base code in some way.
Yup, I discovered it too. It's right here.
this pic for references to an install of wine.
Finally, for those who know lots about these things, on this picture notice how the on the right and bottom of the page the scroll bar and status bar are clipped. This is a bug in crossover office but is fixed in the latest wine, so they appear to have basically made a crossover varient and not even bothered merging the latest release of the offical wine in. poor.
Combination - fun iPhone puzzling
Well, that is the problem with open source. If the companies are also releasing the code to the purchasers, then the companies aren't violating or "ripping off" the open source apps.
What these companies are doing, in theory, is providing the support and services that Free/Open Source/Libre software supporters have always said is the way to make money.
So while you may see it as "ripping off" open source, these companies are doing exactly what the developers intended when they released their software under that kind of license: some very knowledgeable people can get the source and compile it themselves and do all the troubleshooting or someone who just wants a product that works and a support number to call when it doesn't can pay for the packaged solutions.
Since no one else did, I sent this when the first slashdot article appeared. I got a reply recently.
To sum up the email, they will use LGPL, and release a demo code around May when the website will be re-opened.
The program is based on some already existing open source software. So yes, it probably uses wine.
So will it turn up?
This was the response:
The availability of the commercial version of Project David is before the
end of this year. We do encourage the open source movement and we will
comply with the GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE. We will be posting
developments and availability of our demo code through our Website
http://www.specopslabs.com which will be reopened before the end of May.
Through our website, we will be announcing how you can secure a licensed
copy of Project David when it becomes commercially available before the end
of this year. For existing MS Windows users, it will be available via
download. For users buying a new PC, we are working with PC manufacturers,
System Whitebox Builders and OEM's on having this pre-loaded when the PC is
ordered as a Linux desktop/server
As the final pricing of the commercial version of DAVID is still being
finalized, the combined pricing of David with the Linux distribution of your
choice will be significantly lower than securing a license for the desktop
proprietary Operating Systems in the market today. We are a firm believer in
having Linux on the desktop and will price the product accordingly to make
the commercial issues more compelling.
Below are some additional information on Project David. [SNIP!]
The only things I didn't already know from the articles that have appeared are that:
"Our Linux/Win Bridge software is one of multiple
components [Including LGPL stuff like wine?], which comprise our OS platform. In the future we will release
another component, which is a set of tools that will encourage developers to
write native Linux applications."
"The David software is a joint development effort between De La Salle
University and SpecOpS Labs. Our Chief Technical Officer is Mr. Peter
Valdez. As you may know Mr. Valdez is the founder of Tivoli Systems, which
is now a multi billion-dollar flagship product of IBM."
"The code for our Windows/Linux Bridge is a hybrid of code, including our own
proprietary code, and code from several open source projects."
Joseph Farthing
http://josephfarthing.com
Okay, I don't mind the joke becoming a debate, but if it does, can I ask about this one:
"[OpenOffice.org] lacks an email client, evolution does the job fine but not everyone agrees"
Now, everyone says this, I hear it all the time, and it makes no sense. Is there someone here who could explain
Why does an office suite need an email client?
No, really. Why? I mean, I've used email for years and I've used office-suites for years, and I've never even once had the urge to say "send this document by email" from a spreadsheet menu. And as yet, my email client has never had any problems with handling spreadsheet attachments in whatever's the default application, no integration required.
In fact, I'd prefer not to have office software integrated with email, because when you send email, you have to stop and think about what the recipient might want, what's the best file format to use, and how best to reduce the size of the attachment, nevermind double-checking you're not sending something confidential in the file headers.
But people are always on the OpenOffice support lists wishing that it had an email client. Why?
Surely it's a barrier to using new software? If OpenOffice.org had an email client, you'd have to swap email clients as well as office suites to use it. Maybe you like the email client you've already got. Maybe it would cost a lot to change email clients.
It's not as if I don't have these tools available. At work I have Outlook and OfficeXP (please don't send viruses, my company probably couldn't handle them). But I've never once used the two together in any way more complex than double-clicking an attachment and the operating system will decide which program to use. I use these programs all the time, and you'd be hard pressed to find some way in which they "integrate". In fact, Visio looks more integrated with MS-Office, and it's not even a microsoft product until recently.
What is it? Is it just convenient to buy them at the same time? Do people actually use the "Save and email this file" menu? Can you preview emailed spreadsheet attachments in a tiny little Excel window? Is there some sort of email collaboration feature that I haven't seen but would change my life if it worked?
What is it about email clients that people want them to be part of an office suite?