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Open365 Is An Open Source Alternative to Microsoft Office 365 (open365.io)

Posted by msmash on from the foss-news-of-the-day dept.

Martin Brinkmann, writing for Ghacks: Open365 is an open source Office 365 alternative that allows you to edit or create documents online, and to sync files with the cloud. The service is in beta currently but you can sign up for it already on the official website. You may use it using a web browser, download clients for Windows, Mac or Linux desktop machines, or for Android. An iOS client is in the making currently and will be made available as well soon. Open 365 offers two main features that you can make use of. First, it enables you to synchronize files between devices you use and the cloud. Second, it allows you to view, edit and create documents in the cloud using the technology provided by the Open Source Office suite LibreOffice Online for that.

2 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. We don't want web UIs! We want native apps! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If there's one thing that should be clear by now, it's that normal users and advanced users don't want to use web-based UIs! They always give an inferior experience to native apps, regardless of the platform.

    Most of mobile's success is because of native apps, not because of web apps. And the native apps that have been implemented as wrappers around locally-running web apps have generally been disliked by users.

    People don't use services like GMail or Google Docs or Office 365 or Dropbox or Facebook because of the web UIs. They use them in spite of the web UIs! They want the unlimited email storage, or the ease of sharing files, or the ease of sharing private/personal info with advertisers.

    This is where the web technology advocates really strike out. Users don't use web apps because they want to; they use them because they want the back-end service, and there's often not a native client provided. When native clients are provided, we typically see users opting to use them instead of the shitty web front ends.

  2. Software as a Service avoids open source benefits by Eravnrekaree · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Free software foundation has written a recommended piece as to why you should avoid software as a service and that "open source" software as a service in no way protects users freedom or privacy. Online services should only be used when you want to share information with others. When you are working on data for your own use, their is no point in using software as a service, you give up rights when you do so.

    http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.en.html