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Google Docs Replaces OpenOffice In Ubuntu Netbook Edition

Posted by timothy on from the hope-your-connection's-up dept.

uneuser writes "Digitizor reports that the Ubuntu developers have dropped OpenOffice from the default installation of Ubuntu Netbook Edition (UNE) 10.04 and replaced it with Google Docs. Documents in Ubuntu Netbook Edition will now be opened in Google Docs by default."

8 of 298 comments (clear)

  1. Remember folks, it's a NETbook. by BlueKitties · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think this is good, it leaves more space on your already small disk to do other things. This is a net-oriented device, afterall. If you want a full-fledged computer, then get a full-fledged computer. This sounds exactly like what a NETbook should do.

    --
    "Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad." [Ecclesiastes 7:3]
    1. Re:Remember folks, it's a NETbook. by ipX · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is a net-oriented device, afterall.

      Yes, with terrible wireless reception. :P

      If you want a full-fledged computer, then get a full-fledged computer

      It's more like... if you want full functionality, install the package yourself?

    2. Re:Remember folks, it's a NETbook. by Darkness404 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The thing is, I don't see really any benefit for this. Google docs doesn't exactly offer more features, most netbooks come with at least 20 gigs of storage (even the SSD based ones) and performance is only increasing. It might have made sense for some of the early netbooks, but with faster and faster netbooks, I just don't see the point.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    3. Re:Remember folks, it's a NETbook. by priegog · · Score: 5, Informative

      And to be perfectly honest (anal) about it, you CAN turn on "offline mode" in google docs so that you can access your files offline and create new ones. So, on the contrary to most people here, I don't quite disagree with the "online" side of it, but rather, with the "Google" side of it. Sure, probably everyone on /. has a Google account, but most normal people don't. My granny certainly doesn't (she has hotmail like most of the "vanilla" computer users out there), and she just bought her second netbook. Why should she be forced to create an account with some company to be able to use the office suite? I do agree with the people here who were suggesting abiword, if hdd space and cpu power REALLY were the reason Oo got shafted. This will just hurt Ubuntu

  2. how odd by wizardforce · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The developers have been removing applications that are irrelevant on a netbook.

    and

    While new ones have been added to provide better netbook functionalities:

    gbrainy added (gbrainy is a brain teaser game)

    Openoffice is "irrelevant" on a netbook but a game most /.ers have probably never even heard of made the cut? Something is wrong here.

    --
    Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
    1. Re:how odd by FlyingBishop · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Just for the hell of it, I opened up a terminal and typed `sudo apt-get install gbrainy.`

      If the program represented a significant change in space, it would have asked me if I wanted to.

      Need to get 363kB of archives.

      There are single fonts in OpenOffice that take up more space than that. Ubuntu installs it for me without even checking to see if it's okay, because installing it takes less time.

      I do think it would be a good idea to include Abiword, but I really don't care about OpenOffice. Both MS Office and OpenOffice need to die. They're huge resource hogs, and most of their resources are devoted to finding new ways to make my documents display differently every time someone opens them.

  3. why? by dirtyhippie · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Openoffice takes about 350MB of space, so it is a significant proportion of an ubuntu install, but c'mon. Despite the name "netbook", these devices in my experience spend a significant amount of time offline. This is bizarre choice - more discussion is here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1399012

  4. Bradley was spot-on... by Qubit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What the everlasting f*ck, guys?

    Here, let me go dig up the Ubuntu motto or whatever you're calling it now.

    The Ubuntu promise

    Ubuntu will always be free of charge, along with its regular enterprise releases and security updates...Ubuntu core applications are all free and open source. We want you to use free and open source software, improve it and pass it on.

    So they took a Free Software application out and replace it with a non-Free application from Google. What a great idea!

    Although an office suite isn't necessary for one to run Ubuntu, being able to create and consume office documents is admittedly a very common task. Making UNR able to interoperate "right out of the box" seems like a very high priority.

    Bradley Kuhn was spot-on when he recently said "It seems clear that one of Canonical's top goals is to convince every Ubuntu user to rely regularly on new proprietary software and services". Bradley's solution to the problem? Go back to Debian.

    My experience with Ubuntu has been, on the whole, a rather pleasant one, so I wish that Ubuntu would find a better solution to this problem. OOo might take up a certain amount of space on netbooks, sure, so perhaps they should install a stripped-down package that doesn't install extra fonts until you need them. Or maybe just prompt the user during the install, letting them know how much space OOo will take up?

    I've been willing to deal with non-free drivers and binary blobs in the past, as that has sometimes been the only way to get key parts of my system up and running. But when the only limitation to using a completely Free program is a few hundred MB of disk space, in nearly all cases one could (and should) just get a little more disk.

    Software Freedom is worth it!

    --

    coding is life /* the rest is */