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Why Google Should Embrace OpenOffice.org
CWmike writes "Preston Gralla has a decent idea that could move the office needle: If Google really wanted to deliver a knockout punch to Microsoft, it would integrate OpenOffice with Google Docs, and sell support for the combined suite to small businesses, medium-sized business, and large corporations. Given the reach of Google, the quality of OpenOffice, and the lure of free, it's a sure winner. Imagine if a version of it were available as a Web service from Google, combined with massive amounts of Google storage. Integrated with Google Docs, it would also allow online collaboration. For those who wanted more features, the full OpenOffice suite would be available as a client — supported by Google. wouldn't be at all surprised to see this happen. Just yesterday, IBM announced that it was selling support for its free Symphony office suite. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine Google doing the same for OpenOffice, after it integrates it with Google Docs."
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/ooo2gd
I've written integration software for Office, and then ported it to support OpenOffice. The performance of OpenOffice was literally 10x faster. Things were happening so quickly I had to check to make sure that the code did in fact run. While there may be some feature/function support missing in OpenOffice that is present in Office, I find that as a casual user it meets my needs, and the price is right. I seem to recall a Time Magazine letter to the editor (if I'm remembering this right) where a legal secretary wanted to condemn Bill Gates to writing a precisely formatted several hundred page legal document in Word. I have to admit though, I sure miss the old reveal codes capability in Word Perfect.
I used to use WP 5.1 and I'm not sure what you're talking about. Word will show you all of the underlying formatting for your document. In Word 2003 you can simply Shift+F1.
And if you want to take it to another level, you can implement something like this...
http://www.sonicwall.com/us/products/Secure_Remote_Access.html
It will do RDP or Citrix connections via a web browser, no VPN client software required. So anywhere you have a web browser and internet access, you have access to your applications and documents. Of course it isn't free, but when it comes to IT, I find that you get what you pay for.
OpenOffice Impress is not powerpoint. It just isnt. It doesnt have some of the cool templating/artsy fartsy stuff powerpoint has. However, it is usable. And for something that costs nothing it does its job. At least the presentations can be saved as ppt files for interoperability, and recently I did a presentation and everything transferred correctly. And I had pictures, animations, sounds, etc.
:p
You could say I'm impressed
Just use FreeNX+OpenOffice.org. Free, works great with Linux, does the job at least as good as Citrix, if not better.
X11 is a wonderful thing, and extensions to it like FreeNX are quite incredible.
WhiteWolf666 an exBush supporter. All you new-school,compassionate,save the children Republicans can rot in hell
Google hired developers to work on OpenOffice.org, but found it difficult to fill all the vacancies. They seemed unwilling to work on the project understaffed and the people they hired now work on other things.
You can see a C|Net article about their hiring from a while back:
http://news.cnet.com/Google-throws-bodies-at-OpenOffice/2100-7344_3-5920762.html
I totally agree. I start to moan whenever I see it firing up. Large spreadsheets and docs are particularly painful as I often get the scroll-lag-of-death where the screen is about 5 seconds behind every click. I've given up on dragging the scroll bar completely.
Also, since when is Google Docs under the GPL?
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Never! When satan skates to work! What rock have you been hiding under?
Google Adds Star Office to Google Pack
You can get Google Pack Here.
Open Source Java DAO Generator
Wrong again. OpenOffice is written primarily in C++. It's surprising to see this myth perpetuated. Certain things like Base and various import export plugins require Java, but certainly not OpenOffice itself. Please stop spreading this kind of untruth. Besides being untrue, it's not relevant.
I'm running AbiWord and Spread32 on an XP Pro eeePC. Not a suite, but fast and small.
OpenOffice is too big and slow compared to MS Office 2003. Office 2003 ran fine on the eeePC, but it was way too big for what I actually need.
Needing MS Office is a bad reason to switch away from Linux. It runs quite well on wine.
Personally, I do not use either because latex covers almost everything I would use an Office suite for. In the rare occasion I need a spreadsheet, I use gnumeric because it works a lot better than OOo Calc. That said, Excel is a great piece of software. A good replacement for it would be quite a project.
Centralization breaks the internet.
Regarding performance, years ago, when I voiced the same complaint here on
The performance may not be stellar (although I really don't recall noticing a substantial difference), but in terms of functionality, there are many areas where OO.o outshines MS Office.
Google is an advertising company. They might make a little money providing search, but they make most of their money selling advertising (which is why the spend so much time developing products that people will want to use, it gets them eyeballs).
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
To reiterate what the GP said, OpenOffice.org is not a Java GUI program. What Java components it might [optionally] use have nothing to do with screen rendering.
Of course, the downside of my point is that OpenOffice.org manages to be sluggish on its own, with or without Java.
Breakfast served all day!
X/ssh is a bit slow for poor network links. Check out NX server, that'll give you a full desktop or app over GPRS. It's also GPL, and you can have NoMachine or FreeNX (the free and hard to use version :) )
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Office 2003: Garbage (apps at Gold but doesn't install)
Office XP: Silver
Office 2000: Bronze
Office 97: Garbage (apps at Gold but doesn't install)
Office 95: Garbage (apps at Bronze but doesn't install)
May I ask what you consider "quite well"? The AppDB guys at wine seem to disagree with you.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
So far there are no proven reports about Google really abusing its position (to my knowledge).
But there are quite some reports where the border guards have taken laptops for more than shady reasons and never given back.
So: Yes, I do trust Google more than the customs.
I believe the correct term is pedantry.
</pedantry>
This comment is for entertainment purposes only. Any similarity to real insight or information is purely coincidental.