Sun buys maker of StarOffice

Anonymous Coward writes "CNet reports that Sun has bought Star Division- the maker of StarOffice for Linux and other OSs. " Purchase price unknown, but it fits into Sun's strategy quite nicely.

Comments

Good!

[InfiniterX]

This is a Good Thing(tm). Now that there's a company like Sun backing them up, it'll go a lot further. With Linux office suite being the only missing piece of the puzzle, hopefully Sun can get things moving.

I'm not saying that StarOffice is a perfect product - it's still a little rough around the edges. But it'll be a whole lot easier to pitch this to the typical PHB now that there's a billion-dollar company behind the product. `

Re:Good!

[Brian Knotts]

Now, don't get me wrong; I think StarOffice is a pretty good piece of software. In fact, I got my company to buy it for me.

That said, I will be switching to KOffice as soon as it is ready. Why? I just don't like using proprietary software. I will use it, if there is not a reasonable free substitute. But, my goal is to use all free software ASAP, for a number of reasons, including:

• Platform independence (try running StarOffice on linuxppc lately?)
• Multiple sources for bugfixes
• Extendability/Customizibility
• Sense of community
• License flexibility/ability to share
• Reasonable cost
• The draconian laws the proprietary software vendors are getting passed (see the WaR3Z d00d smack down story)

And, while I certainly have some hesitation, for ethical/moral reasons to do business with proprietary software vendors, for the most part, it's the practical reasons above that make me prefer free software. The only proprietary software I envision myself using next year will be a couple of Linux games. And, I believe that will resolve itself in the not too distant future.

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Not worried.

[mrsam]

Besides Applixware, there's also StarOffice, plus there's a suite coming from the KDE folks.

But hey, if Sun wants to make some folks in Redmond to start packing their shorts, this is a definitely a way to do it. Imagine what pumping a few million dollars worth of R&D into StarOffice would do? Heh, heh...
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Re:Off Topic

[Jburkholder]

Well, I didn't think it was *that* bad.
Yeah, it was out of commision fo an hour or so, but wineHQ has been MIA since yesterday.

Not a good thing - Sun hates OS specific stuff.

[To Mega]

Look at what happened to Lighthouse Design software, the makers of a quality suite of applications for NEXTSTEP. Bought by Sun and quickly collapsed into JavaSoft, never to be heard from again. If Lighthouse's software was available for Mac OS X Server - woah! That would just kick.

Although a(nother) powerful company behind a popular Linux application definitely swings more momentum towards it, Sun's public persona seems to be platform specific - the Java platform, that is. Is there any (end user) software coming from inside Sun that isn't Java? Is there any that runs on multiple platforms like StarOffice does (other than the Java environment itself)?

Unfortunately, you know that old story - big company buys small company with the talent for getting quality things done quick. Getting absorbed into a gigantic infrastructure seems to take a toll on results.

So - I hope that Sun keeps Star separate, I hope that Sun doesn't trash everything that isn't Java, and I hope that quality software results.

Illegal aliens

[daviddennis]

This is way offtopic, but since it's already been moderated down, I see no reason not to respond.

You're referring to Costa Mesa in Southern California's Orange County, right?

Unfortunately, I fear that without illegal aliens, there would be nobody to empty your trash, wait on you in fast food restaurants or fix your car. (Most car repair shops I've seen are run by a english-speaking front man who hires spanish speakers to do the actual work).

Illegal aliens may not speak my language, but they're incredibly hard workers and deserve a chance at success. I support them in their courageous efforts to make a life in a new, bewildering country.

D

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Re:This is old news..

[Eric Green]

I always read the Register, because I don't have time to go search for computer news and their little niblets are entertaining. But I do admit that I don't rely on them for accuracy (grin).

-E

Re:Deja Vu

[IntlHarvester]

Unfortunately, outside of fantasy land, Windows users have a choice of 4+ office suites backed by major vendors (MS, Corel, IBM, and now Sun). Unix has been slowly dieing on the desktop for years, and the selection is thinner. (Of course, Linux is changing this fast.) And you still have to pay for upgrades, etc.

Maybe I'm dumb, I don't see how the Unix I/O philosophy really helps office suite users. Furthermore, it seems that the MS COM stuff is much more pervasive on Windows than any equivlent on Unix.

(Don't take this as an anti-Unix rant - it's just that if you spend a good chunk of your day inside of a commercial office suite, right now you're much better off in Windows or MacOS than unix. What I would like to see is the KDE and Gnome efforts at Office apps come to open source fruition.)
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