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OpenOffice Vs. Google Apps
jammag writes "Both OpenOffice and Google Apps are free, so the choice is purely down to which is better. Bruce Byfield, after looking at both, concluded, 'comparing Google Apps to OpenOffice.org is like clubbing a staked-out bunny — Google Apps is so far behind that the whole exercise seems like an exercise in pointless cruelty.' Ouch, that hurts."
Google Apps gives me what I want: A browser-based place to write stuff and make spreadsheets and store the documents where I can access them whenever I like.
Thus, Google Apps is fine for me.
After all, they are still in Beta. :)
We have always been at war with Eurasia!
I use OpenOffice at home for documents I want to keep secure (for the most part, I detest cloud computing) but for documents that can be out in the open, I prefer GoogleDocs simply because I can access them from any computer available to me and make a quick change.
Those who believe the Internet is private,
find their privates are on the Internet.
Google Apps are a new paradigm in software, having commonly used applications entirely on a server so that multiple users can use them. I think we'll see this on par with Open Office when it becomes more popular.
Those poor bastards, they have us surrounded. Now we can fire at them in all directions!
I eagerly followed the link in summary hoping to see some good bunny staking pictures or even bunnies clubbing a steak (for tenderness?), but NOOOO, I get some article about Google and OpenOffice. Seriously, who came up with the term "clubbing a staked-out bunny"? Who EVER says that?
Is this a reference to some Simpson's episode (w. Natalie Portman doing voice overs) that I missed?
Karma: Excellent. 15 moderator points expire sometime.
Does anyone expect a web app to come close to a heavy hitter like Open Office? It serves a different purpose; it will edit documents from any decent web browser at any location. The computer doesn't need access to my files as long as Google has them and it doesn't need any special software, either.
Google docs isn't special because it's a great office suite; it's special because it's convenient.
Is there something wrong with using both? If I have net connection, it's Google. If I'm offline, it's OpenOffice.
Open Office kicks seven kinds of Hell out of Google Apps in terms of functionality. Google docs offers online sharing of documents / collaborative working. You know what Open Office is doing with your data (f' all) and you don't know what Google is doing with it. Choose a product according to your requirements. Simple enough.
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
(Posting as AC for obviuos reasons...)
FAIL.
funny, the first thing that comes to mind for me is monty python.
A Smith & Wesson beats four aces -- Murphy's Law of Poker
Because that's what it is, right ?
A locall?y running suite to an online suite...
I mean, I'm all for opensource and stuff, but this...
Let's compare my wallet to my bankaccount...
Wallet wins hands down because I can pay a cabfare with it...
I will work to elevate you, just enough to bring you down
nt
blah blah blah
It's a bit of a non-article really. In other news, a Hummer mk.1 is less fuel efficient than a Prius. They've both got 4 wheels, so it's writing an article comparing them.
Well, also, I use a translation suite (Heartsome) that can't deal with any online docs. The document has to be reformatted to XLF format for use in the suite. Once complete, I convert it back to either ODF or doc format, and then I suppose I could use GDocs as storage. But there are a million online storage options out there now, some offering dav access.
Apples and Oranges, people...
GoogleDocs, for example, is merely a quick, easily accessible and SHARABLE online tool.
OpenOffice is a full suite of office software with an actual footprint on a single existing computer.
Not even worth comparing at this point. Not until we get more into a blur of web-based software and installed software.
Google Apps is right there in my browser and doesn't take a minute to start.
Also, unlike OpenOrifice.org, actually using Google Apps isn't like eating a bowl of sawdust with milk on for breakfast every morning.
http://rocknerd.co.uk
This is one of those articles that probably started out as an interesting idea, but then immediately was like 'oh, a bit of a waste of time'. I suppose the idea is that they are both popular and free to use, and thus was born the idea.
As everyone has (and will) pointed out, they serve different purposes. It's like comparing the OS on my phone to the OS on my laptop, and then saying 'wow, you can do so much more with the laptop OS'. Duh, mofo.. shortage of article ideas this month?
And don't mean to sound so harsh, just too much coffee I'm thinking.
I will shred my adversaries. Pull their eyes out just enough to turn them towards their mewing, mutilated faces. Illyria
Nobody I know uses open office, however a lot of people I know will can and do use google's applications. There is something to be said for simple/easy to use.
Plus, oo requires me to install something, why do I want to go through all of that headache?
This article reads like a fanboy post to be quite honest.
-when we'll be comparing novels to text messaging.
sudo ergo sum
Speaking of collaborative tools, anyone know of a good, free shared white board? I was searching for such an animal recently, and the results were disappointing, to say the least. There were only a couple of players, and the functionality was pretty bad.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
I'm surprised no one ever mentions Buzzword. I prefer it to Google Docs by far. It's sharing features far surpass Docs.
Seriously, if you want a free online word processor, Buzzword is the way to go.
Since Google sells Indexing appliances, wouldn't it be cool for them to sell a version that also has Gmail and Google apps?
That way, a company could use these in their own "cloud" (hate that word) , and users would get a user interface that they are used to, available from anywhere. Google could also compete heavily with sharepoint and Exchange in the enterprise that way..
Is it just me or are office apps becoming increasingly unimportant.
Ten years ago I spent most of my computing time in some kind of office app. Now I rarely use them. And I receive fewer office documents via email.
Perhaps the office app is just dying? Are they just transition applications between a paper based office and a paperless one anyway?
Cause it's what my work uses and the install disks get passed around our office as well as it's free from the interwebz
Ave Molech Setting
Ummm... no. One is free of charge only, the other is both free of charge and free as in freedom. One stores your data on computers you have no control over and leaves you at the whim of unexpected feature changes by a publically-traded company whose customers are their advertisers and whose product is your eyeballs; the other leaves you firmly in control over your own data and your own software. These are serious considerations.
The question is not so much functionality or reliability. This will eventually converge. The main difference is confidentiality. Are the data on google docs treated correctly? Is it possible to access them for other purposes? It is convenient for example for schools to collect grades on a google spreadsheet. Are these data kept away from third eyes? Are students with good scores for example being targeted suddenly by job hunters? I'm not aware of any case, where data has leaked, but we put a lot of trust in companies offering online applications.
Oh, you almost got it!
This guy's the limit!
Open office, as it is open source, is free now and free for indefinite period of time in the future. You have the source, you can recompile it for any future device.
Google apps, OTOH, only lives as long as Googles current business model lives.
Possibly, web apps are worst than shareware in this way.
Google Apps is right there in my browser and doesn't take a minute to start.
Unless your browser takes a minute to start. This can happen in a lot of cases: your dial-up or ISDN Internet access takes a minute to start, or your laptop's 3G card takes a minute to start, or it takes a minute to read the privacy policy that a Wi-Fi hotspot's captive portal presents and put in your credit card number.
I keep Open Office on a USB Thumb Drive and I can use Open Office anywhere I like and work with my documents anywhere I like and I do not need network connectivity and bandwidth to do it.
Why doesn't Google run a headless version of OOo? That way they can convert documents on the fly (as they are already doing, poorly) more efficiently. This would also eliminate the need for competition. Both companies would be working together to make their products better.
It's like using the the online banking interface to management my wealth in the bank [GoogleApps], and using quicken/spreadsheet to management my wealth that I manage (like Stock, Cash...) [OpenOffice]
or a better example: Gmail versus [insert your favorite email client]. No matter how sophisticated the gmail is, there are always some non-replacable reason that I want to keep my email client. It might looks stupid 20 years later why I still keep that (if we are moving everything to the cloud) but at this moment, I love my Thunderbird and Outlook.
Not to mention that the maturity and in feature-wise, GoogleApps is far behind from the gmail than their offline alternatives...I don't think we could many any sensible comparison here.
Plus, oo requires me to install something, why do I want to go through all of that headache?
On the other hand, google apps require me to install something that costs money per month, why do I want to go through all of that headache?
I think this says it all.
"But if Stallman's observations aren't enough to stop you from using network apps, a comparison of a leading example like Google Apps with free and open source software (FOSS) such as OpenOffice.org should be."
I really like OpenOffice. Version 3 is very good but this is clearly based on an agenda.
Google Docs are.
1. Good enough for most people. Guess what folks if a program does what you need it too any other features are meaningless.
2. Stores your data online. Great for anything that isn't extremely private. Even better because Google will probably do a better job of backing it up than you will.
3. It works most every where. No need to install it or keep it updated.
4. Works with many common file formats just like OO.org.
If you need OO.org than Google docs will not work for you. But then if you need a feature in Microsoft Office that OO.org doesn't support then you need Office.
But for a lot of people Google Docs are great.
But since both are free as in beer. You might as well use both.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
This article is really quite pathetic. Google Apps is barely out of beta. OpenOffice is based on StarOffice which has been around for over 10 years now. Isn't it kind of silly to expect a first generation product to have all the features of something that is in release 8?
I knew this article would be a steaming pile of manure in the first two paragraphs. The writer acts as though Stallman's opinion is the truth from on high. I know very few people who care if they have access to source code, especially source code to a web site or web application. I only care about ownership of and access to my documents. After all, it is not like I am installing the software on my computer, now is it?
The article is just a "me too" from a Stallman fanboy trying to add and justify to the pronouncements of the Grand Poobah of FLOSS .
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
I haven't seen anybody hit my own personal reason to use Google's applications: collaborative editing. If I'm working on my own document, I want it right here under my control, so I'll use OpenOffice. (Actually, I'm more likely to use vi and latex.) But if I'm working with someone, who may not even be in the same country as I am, I'm going to go to Google. My alternatives are to email copies back and forth and manually deal with merges, or to set up a revision control repository of whatever flavor I like. That's more of a pain in my work day than I like.
This also isn't something where OpenOffice can improve. It requires having the infrastructure in place to conveniently share documents, and that's just not part of the OO paradigm. Sure, a repository makes it possible, but I don't want to run a repo, I want to work on documents! Google can do it "out of the box."
--Somebody infect me with a
This is like comparing a Ferrari to a vintage model T.
Give it time to mature before you compare it to anything that has had decades to advance.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
He must have been using Google Chrome.
...but not as fun.
"It doesn't cost enough, and it makes too much sense."
I'm happy, generally, with open office, with the exception of Impress. I am NOT happy with Impress. It's very slow (and I'm running on some pretty fast computers), even slide transitions get bogged down. It is not at all on par with Powerpoint.
What a lame comparison. Open Office is a huge (as in bloated) and slow software suite that makes me cry when I have to use it for something serious. I prefer to use Koffice even though it lacks some features I'd like. The fact that using MS Excel on a VM on my linux machine is several orders more productive than running OO natively, should be a good indication. Notice I did not mention MS Word and "productive" in the same sentence, for Word processing I resort to Abiword (or Kword if I want more DTP style). /.: PS3 vs MAME, MS Flight Simulator vs Hot air Balloons, Mars Rover vs RAV4.
So, in summary, OO compares (IMO) badly to its real competitors. Google Apps are a whole different paradigm, targeting completely different usage scenarios. It is not either Google or OO (or Koffice etc). You first decide if your needs require web or local applications and then you decide among the available software for the platform. The web apps will probably never have the same feature set as the local apps for probably good reasons.
Lame, lame article.
Next week on
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
Maybe people you know do use OpenOffice.Org, but they know that you use MS office, and convert their files before sending them to you.
People who don't know me, regularly send me PowerPoint and Word documents, and if you were to ask them, they'd probably tell you that I do use MS Office.
Computing site shocked to discover that FlickR performs poorly in comparison to photos stored on hard drive. FlickR declared backwards-ass waste of time.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Why spend resources on that when there are far too many other CMS systems out there already.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Comparing OO to Google apps may make more sense if we try to look at their features in a more abstract setup: type of storage, type of UI, ease of use, functionality, freedom and openess. Let us say we compare Google apps with storing OO documents in the cloud. Then, the main advantage of Google docs goes away and we are left with an application that runs only on a Web interface, whose code is not accessible to the user and that uses a closed format for documents versus an application that runs only on a classical interface, whose code is fully accessible to the user and that uses a fully documented and standards-approved format. Then, they only thing Google could claim in their favor is maybe ease of use. Is that enough? Not for me or for anyone who values freedom.
I have more MS office keys floating around than I know what to do with so I just go with that. If I had to use one it would be open office.
Why not combine the two? There must be some way to give it functionality to "Save to Google Docs." That would be very useful.
Given the extremely rudimentary functionality of Google Apps, I can't for the life of me figure out how there's even a discussion around it's potential use in business.
We use it all the time. Not for polished docs we're going to hand off to a client, but certainly for internal stuff. We share out docs with staff so application testers can submit comments, saves us writing a custom app to track change requests. For developing content quickly and gathering input from multiple users, it's really nice.
No, the formatting options may not be particularly deep, but I can dash off a quick letter and it looks fine. And that's particularly helpful when I'm starting it here and finishing at home. Saves me an rsync operation and version problems.
If there are cheaper, easier and more convenient ways to solve these problems I haven't found them. GoogleApps works for us.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
After all, they are still in Beta. :)
Yea, I noticed that. Whenever I have more than one app open, they will fight until one of them dies. It really sucks because it'll take my machine down with them.
From the article:
Because it's online. I work with people across the country and across the world. For many of these people, attaching a document to an email is asking a lot. Not to mention the version control headaches (documentA.doc, documentA2.doc, etc) that inevitably arise in document-sharing situations. Google Docs stops this kind of suffering. I've used it with technologically illiterate people to great effect.
In a quantitative comparison of features, yeah, OO has more. Clearly. *cough*. I don't think that was ever a question. If you're a power user, or you're trying to write complex documentation or something, then yeah, you probably need OO. But for sharing simple docs across geographically dispersed people, Google Docs wins hands down.
The question isn't proprietary vs FOSS vs web-based vs desktop. It's "what do you want to use it for". A Blackberry isn't a replacement for a laptop, but if all you want is mobile email, it's probably fine.
It's funny, but invariably I uninstall openOffice within hours of installing it, but I've been happily using g'Apps for months now. Maybe it's because I use MSOffice 2k and openOffice is just similar enough that I expect it to be exactly the same. G'apps are small enough that I'm OK learning them anew.
...for any kind of regulated business unless you plan to do due diligence on the security, confidentiality and availability of data held by Google.
Can you guarantee that Google won't pass your customers' personal data to a backup site that's not in your home country? Can you be certain that no Google admin will pass your confidential downsizing proposals to the media? Does Google offer guarantees that important correspondence is available within the timescales required by a regulator? Does Google guarantee to delete obsolete data in accordance with local data protection laws? Is the answer to these questions supported by an enforceable contract?
Google apps has its place for personal correspondence. But if your using the cloud to store corporate or customer data without answering questions like these, you're professionally negligent.
I use both for different circumstances. I use GoogleDocs for taking notes in lecture that can then be shared easily with others. For doing research, and any other information that I want to be able to access from anywhere (phone included). If/when I'm working on a major paper or something lengthy that I would be doing at home, I tend to use OpenOffice (also if my network connection is down in lecture). The best part is: they play nicely with each other.
Google App Poop was dead before it started. Lots of talk but no real use except for some tiny projects by college script kiddies programming in php/ruby maybe.
No matter how much kiddies argue otherwise, no self respecting company is going to put their knowledge on google servers. sorry, but get real.
Google provides a way to store your documents online, view the documents online, and make modifications to the documents if need be.
Open office is a fully functional office suite, allowing the creation of documents stored on your computer or network.
There is no reason why you wouldn't create documents using open office, then store it on google apps, allowing you to get to it from any computer.
Google Docs sometimes has a nasty habit of badly formatting tables.
Keitai shosetsu
I'd tried using Google Apps for some stuff in my HOA (Home Owners Association) to make up flyers to hand out and stuff like that. I can tell OpenOffice I want a 50 point font size for a big headline. I can't make a really large font size in Google Apps. Google Apps does not seem to have a WYSIWYG editing environment, so it's hard to tell if I'm fitting into a single page, into a single half-page, or what amount of space it's taking up. I have to keep telling it to "print" which then gives me a pdf dump that I can see in Acrobat to see my real-life formatting. It's a huge pain in the ass.
I ended up typing it up in OpenOffice and then uploading it to Google Apps for access by other HOA board members and shared storage. Weird, as uploading docs, it preserves the large font sizes that it does not allow me to choose during document creation directly on their site. I've ended up considering Google Apps to be an online storage area only, and not as a functional office tool.
And my biggest annoyance is just using the Google Apps tools. The user interface for spreadsheet is extremely different than the user interface for their "word processor". There's really no commonality in the user interface at all between tools. That annoys me. I'd like a little consistency, but Google doesn't seem interested in that at all.
One of these days I'll take some time to check out Adobe's online office tools. They can't be any less useful than Google Apps are.
Speaking of liver...
With all these different solutions, overloaded with features, one could think whatever you need, you will find it.
What I would love to see is a collaborative system for creating scientific papers: with bibliography management, figure and table management, conversion from and to word (and LaTeX?), some sort of equation editing...
Can anyone suggest something?
j.
I created a resume in OpenOffice, and saved it to a USB flash drive. I forgot to export the file to PDF or .doc after saving, and as I don't have a printer at home, I took my thumb drive into the library at my University to print the resume. Unfortunately, the Univ has MS Office on everything, without the necessary plugins to load .odt files, and I can't install anything on the Uni computers.
I then remembered that Google docs lets you upload and open ODF files, so that's what I did. I *was* able to open the resume and print it, but unfortunately Google messed up some of the spacing and margins, so that the resume didn't quite look right when opened in Google. A resume that doesn't look right isn't worth the paper it's printed on, because it will just make potential employers think you're incompetent or just don't care.
Luckily, this was just for a class, and was just the first draft, so it didn't hurt me this time. It'd be great if Google really could flawlessy open ODF docs. Until that time, you're idea of using Open office to create the docs, then store and use it with Google Apps/Google Docs, is a non-starter.
I'll chip in with mine:
It's like comparing a Model T -- which can collapse and fit into your wallet -- with a Lincoln Navigator.
Sure, you can use either of 'em to commute to work. But you're unlikely to have the Lincoln with you at all times, and similarly, you're unlikely to want to spend all day driving the Ford.
Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
My employer has already blocked access to Google Docs due to fear of storing confedential data at a third party. Without weighing in on whether this fear is well-placed or not, it is a fear that I expect many medium-to-large businesses have.
That said, I'm surprised that they don't sell a version of Google Mini that has a Google Docs suite. It seems like that would be the best of both worlds from a corp IT perspective: no need to install on individual clients, but no need to worry about outsourcing your data storage.
I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the power of the collaboration features in Google Apps. I love OpenOffice and I use it for everything that only I need to maintain, but when it comes sharing spreadsheets with friends, teammates, etc. Google Apps is in a totally different league. Try having 3 or 4 people edit the same spreadsheet at the same time on any other platform. To me that is the main reason to consider Google Apps over OpenOffice.
Isn't it? I mean, it's named .org, so it's a domain name (URL), right?
I _still_ refuse to call it openoffice.org out loud, because people have confused it with the website since the start. Before webapps were the buzzword, pointy haired bosses thought it was a web app just from the name. Until Microsoft starts renaming MS Office as Office.com (maybe there was an 8bit executable named office.com back in the day?), the openoffice folk need to stop being weird and use language the way the rest of society does.
Why bother when you can just use emacs?
My wife manages her entire teaching business using her iPhone and Google Docs. She creates schedules using Google Spreadsheets and can email them from her iPhone. If someone calls or needs scheduling changes, she can be anywhere, and change the schedule because of Google docs. If she needs a better UI then she uses Google docs from her laptop.
The downside is the total cost of ownership of the iPhone. It also requires MobileME to attach URL based documents from the iPhone when using Google Docs. That last point is dirty if you ask me. Apple shouldn't be charging for that; it should be complimentary; like a bag of peanuts on a flight.
Google apps doesn't crash my 5 year old computer, And! I'm able to run both a browser and a spreadsheet with memory to spare.
Sure it doesn't have the features of Open Office, but it's everything most people want Open Office to be, a small, working, stable everywhere acessible program, which is perfect whan you "juste need to write something down".
Next up: Comparing Open Office to notepad, leaves notepad wanting......
So I can download the code and install them on my server? Or did you mean ad free?
Apple v. Orange 2008. Completely different goals. You can't compare these based on their features. Google Docs is lightweight for a reason. OpenOffice is meant to compete with Microsoft Office, not Google Docs.
... let's compare the full-fledged open-source app which I never use because it requires a download to the great-because-it's-simple Web app I can access on every computer I use without a problem.
Shove it, Bruce. You don't know what you're talking about.
My life has gotten easier since I started using Web apps for simple tasks and not downloading a bunch of stuff I never use. End users want less clutter, not more.
ShortFormBlog: Writing a little. Saying a lot.
Our school has labs. These labs use deep freeze. When the power goes out, students lose data. Sure they can be smart and save their work to the network drive but many don't or forget or were just getting started or couldn't remember their password, or autosave only saves to a network drive after the initial "save as".........
Please spare me your "they ought tos......"* It happens and when it does those who were using google apps, lose little or no data.
Then there is the online collaboration stuff between teachers and staff from different schools who need to work together and whose IT departments don't.
Then there is the storage space that is far greater than any IT department has quota'd(sp?) before so we can share those large image files.
It's not about what OOO does better, which is most everything. It's about what Google apps does that no one else does. The technical superiority of OOO and MS Office are things that can be picked up later as Google improves the product. I for one can't think of anything MSOffice has done to improve my Word or Excel functionality since Office 95 so the gap on useful features is closing fast.
*unless you can tell me how to get autosave to save to a network drive if you haven't saved your work initially in Vista
OOo will always be better but Google Docs is much more portable if you don't have a laptop with you at all times and it makes sharing docs much easier. That is what people will use it for.
I can store my documents where I can get to them anywhere and I can save a backup locally.
I could do it the other way around but having them online and being able to share them and although I haven't used it yet, I believe google apps include a revision history.
Openoffice is great for authoring more technical documents, but google apps is outstanding for simple document management and online access.
It would be great if openoffice could save documents to the google docs account. Maybe it can and I don't know it yet.
I'd be willing to sacrifice a lot of functionality to get the portability of google docs... but I can't deal with how buggy it is.
I have never managed to get through a single session of usage of docs without it either crashing or coming up with error messages. Just loading the page with Chrome, google's own browser, gives me errors.
Seriously, it wouldn't take much above what they have technically to make inroads for people more interested in easy collaboration than having a featureful word processor, but no one's going to use a product that buggy.
This web-app business is another web-two-oh fad that will never work because nobody want the concept of it.
That depends on what "the concept" is. If it's social networking with pastel colors, I agree: that was a fad.
But I think the concept of web-apps is actually highly desirable. Being decentralized lets you (and others) access your documents from anywhere. This facilitates collaboration and reduced your dependency on your physical computer.
The only down side I see to a pure web platform is speed, which is a temporary setback. We'll get there. I imagine that eventually we won't be able to distinguish the connection between our computer and our ISP from that between our chipset and our NIC (for large values of eventually).
Both Google Apps and OpenOffice really aren't that useful for anything other than simple spreadsheet crap. Also i hear Google Apps will knock your girlfriend up and OpenOffice will drink your booze.
It's a trademark issue. These people had the trademark first, I gather. OpenOffice.org's web site has this to say about the question: Because of trademark issues, OpenOffice.org must insist that all public communications refer to the project and software as "OpenOffice.org" or "OpenOffice.org 1.x," and not "OpenOffice" or "Open Office."
How can a post be modded "overrated" or "underrated" when it hasn't been rated yet?
That's right... I'm surprised that no one has referred to it.
If the convenience, simplicity, and collaboration features of Google Docs were not enough, there's also something for those too afraid to be caught in a google-down situation ("OMG, but I need that sheet/doc/presentation NOW...")
Google Docs HAS offline capabilities! See here: http://docs.google.com/offlinehelp?hl=en_US
Although they are not fully implemented -- stress BETA here -- they already fix one of the major fears of web apps: the web itself is down... well, not anymore!
Now, if only they would fix the PRIVACY (should I say confidence) problems... that would be nirvana :)
Why is this even a fair comparison?
If you're talking in terms of features and usability, Google Apps is to OpenOffice what WordPad is to Word. If you want an easy way to store and access documents from anywhere and you don't care about anything more than simple formatting, Google Apps wins hands down.
Homonyms are fun!
You're driving your car, but they're riding their bikes there.
So, basically, this is like comparing an ipod with a speaker.
Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
Woooh, a USB drive is all you need to edit your documents?
Cool! I want one too! Who needs keyboards, screens, etc. anyway?
That was the stupidest thing I have read, ever. It is like Sarah Palin wrote it. If FLOSS or whateverthefuck we should call it want to be taken seriously, these cheerleading lightweight crap pieces aren't going to do it.
Open Office, sorry-- openoffice.org, while I am grateful for it, has serious problems. How about an honest article looking at the problems? I am glad people have made an open source office suite available, for free. I remember the days when you couldn't spell check in crappy outlook express without buying word. It is free, it is reasonably good, but it isn't great. I'm tired of flagship open source software being almost great. I'm even more tired of pundits pretending it is great.
What is next, an article at how Amarok is so much better than mp3tunes? So much better it is like tying a water buffalo down and beating it with an iron skillet?
Plus, it won't run goddamn AntidoteRX! ;)
I'm amazed the number of people saying 'why not use both'. Answer : Because you need to look in two places every time you want a document. (or you need to waste your time synchronizing)
Don't forget that this is a forum full of geeks.
The vast majority of users would be better off with a simple text editor and a table manager.
I'd recommend Google docs for the following reasons:
- No worries about backup
- No client install required, no upgrades
- Documents available from anywhere. No need to set up VPN etc.
- Good collaboration and integration
Frankly, if you are considering the (very slow) open office, I would suggest an old version MS Office instead. It is much faster, everyone knows how to use it, simple deployment and same functionality. You might save a few sheckles on cost, but you will spend more money looking after it. And of course (in my expereince) it isn't that reliable.
I'm a Google fangirl, but that doesn't mean that I've boycotted all products for which Google provides an alternative. (Well, not anymore).
Personally, I tend to use Google Spreadsheets most of the time, simply because the sorts of things I'm likely to need a spreadsheet for are the sorts of things I'm likely to want access to wherever I am.
I use Open Office for my main word processor for the simple reason that it's so much easier to format my documents with it than it is in Google Docs. That, and I find Open Office's Formula very useful for maths based stuff.
I haven't found the need to do any presentations for a while, so I can't really comment on that, but I'd presume I'm more likely to do that in Open Office, based on the assumption that I'm going to be bringing my laptop with me wherever I do a presentation.
I'm a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar...
-Lucy-
Granny Smiths declared far superior to Valencia oranges.
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I'm sure that Google is a reputable company. But does SAS70 guarantee that all local data protection requirements have been met? The whole world isn't the USA, and most European companies are prohibited by law from processing or storing customer data in the USA. And is Google's compliance contractually enforceable? These things can't casually be taken for granted in a corporate environment.
Easy to find out, just ask google for "clubbing a staked-out bunny" - it provides around 90 results, all of them apparently copies or links to the article we are discussing here. So "who EVER says that?" - just Bruce Byfield, it appears.
It's interesting... I believe we are watching a new term being born! When I posted my original comment (grandparent to this comment), Google had only FOUR hits for the term. Now, the next morning, as I post this... Google has 235 hits for the term including a hit on "dailylife.com" under the "Natalie Portman" topic http://www.daylife.com/topic/Natalie_Portman/articles/custom/date/1?end=20081112&start=20081111
I'm going to start using that phrase in day-to-day conversations and see if I can get it as popular as "Bob's your Uncle"
Karma: Excellent. 15 moderator points expire sometime.
Sometime back in 2001 I wrote a Web enabled spreadsheet so that customers can directly pull banking transactions to the spreadsheet instead of a browser.
I hope OpenOffice incorporates such nifty features.