OpenOffice 2.0 Criticized on Use of Java

karvind writes "Yahoo is running a story on how OpenOffice 2.0 Faces Opposition over Its Use of Java. According the article: "The problem, according to some free software voices, is that OO.o relies too much on Sun Microsystems Inc.'s proprietary Java programming language in an open-source project. In particular, free software advocates are objecting to the use of Sun specific Java code for such OO.o 2.0 features as the new, Microsoft Access-like database management program, Base and Writer's (OO.o's word processor) document wizards." Linus Torvalds also moved to an open-source solution for software configuration management system."

Comments

Re:OpenOffice just works

[BarryNorton]

I dunno about you, but ease of use and functionality is what matters to me

If that were true you'd surely be using MS Office...

Re:And what would be better?

[evilviper]

C++ because we all know that more buffer overflows and random craziness is what OpenOffice needs to compete with Microsoft Office?

Buffer overflows are a non-issue. What is this "random craziness" of which you speak?

C, since objects really are overrated for anything that normal developers might want to maintain?

Actually, yes, objects really are over-rated. Besides that, object-oriented programming is much more in how you use it, rather than the design of the language. C++ really only adds a few things on to C. C programmers today make everything into functions. Just look at any large C projects, and you'll see that non-object-oriented languages are actually quite easily maintainable.

Besides that, OOo is (was?? I haven't used 2.0) based-on GTK anyhow, so you could easily make use of glib/gtk's add-ons to C if you want object-oriented programming.

So seriously, of all of the major language choices, which would be better?

Umm, all of them, actually. Just by virtue of not being tied to Sun's restricted jre, any of the choices you listed (except perhaps C#) would be better. For all the nit-picking you've done with other languages, I'm certain you could find many, many more things wrong with Java. This has been discussed to death, so I won't bother.

Seems like they are just a bunch of....

[Edward Teach]

WHINERS!

Problem the First

[Geekboy(Wizard)]

Java does not run on all platforms. It can't run on platforms that Sun does not approve, with appropriate licensing fees. It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to have Java on my home computer, because Sun is being dicks about it.

We're not asking Sun to do the porting, or anything, we're just asking them to let us distribute the JVM binaries. Or at least bootstrap it w/o having Java already installed.

Re:If you'll pardon my French

[elrous0]

Yeah, it's just like those darn abolitionists saying that slaves should be free! My slave is free! I didn't pay a penny for him! John Brown doesn't consider him free, but you know what? He doesn't own the word "free".

Oh man, has this "information wants to be free" mentality deteriorated to such a point that people are actually drawing analogies between a piece of software and a HUMAN BEING?!?

What's next, a PETA-type movement aimed at freeing programs from their computer cages and chiding us for using the software instead of letting it roam free?

-Eric

Re:If you'll pardon my French

[elrous0]

Human freedom and free software are two completely different concepts and are not analogous in any way. So stuff your ridiculous analogy.

-Eric