wozz writes "Walnut Creek will be bundling Applixware with their FreeBSD Power Desktop " Good news - wonder if there are any other similar deals in the works.
They just lost their most important reference customer, Sun (for obvious reasons). Their stock has lost 50% since late august. This BSD piece looks like quite a desperate move to save it in the "low end" market segment.
The free support offered by Applix for those who buy this package. It doesn't make much of a difference for many of us, who are used to downloading everything, toying around with it at our own risk and enjoyment. It does make more of a statement for the more widespread acceptance of BSD/Linux on laptops (aand desktops). Redhat's free install support for those who buy the box may not seem like a big deal to some, but it really goes a long way.
Joe Q Random: "Why would I try this - there's not even anyone to call if I have a problem" John Q Hacker: Joe: "But I wan't get to them - it's not working..."
Support is a major selling point for many people - even for those who are somewhat technically competant, but just want it to work *now*, and can't get a hold of the info in any other way but the phone...
The increase in the number of companies that are selling pre-loaded Linux/BSD boxen is definitely a step in the right direction - sometimes you just want the right tool for the job, and you want it working, without having to worry about hardware / partitioning issues... You can always play with the other stuff later, but let's get up and running.
Just my $ 1/50
--
"It's tough to be bilingual when you get hit in the head."
I work for the US Forest Service which -- until this October -- has been using ApplixWare for its OfficeSuite. We're currently on version 4.37, and the program still sucks. The reason behind our use of it was that the FS is using IBM 6500s and PCs and ApplixWare could work on both.
Enough of the rank and file in the Forest Service, however, complained about how absolutely crappy the system is that we're now switching over to Microsoft Office. I'm no fan of Microsoft, but I don't mind not having to use Applix anymore.
I agree with all your complaints, but the worst part to my mind is that Applix more or less decided to use all their own shortcut keys for common operations. You wanna paste? Try F5, or F6, I don't recall.
Applix mail is atrocious, too. It's slow, the interface is horrible (click here, then type here -- hands always moving from keyboard to mouse and back), and it's just a hassle to use.
I have avoided using AW as much as possible -- it's just too obnoxious to be worth the trouble.
Now I've just got to get another PC. I've been waiting to run FreeBSD in my mix for a long time, but had nothing really to use it for. Applixware is as good a reason as any, I presume.
Now the important question. Which has better FreeBSD support? Gnome or KDE?
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They just lost their most important reference customer, Sun (for obvious reasons). Their stock has lost 50% since late august. This BSD piece looks like quite a desperate move to save it in the "low end" market segment.
The free support offered by Applix for those who buy this package. It doesn't make much of a difference for many of us, who are used to downloading everything, toying around with it at our own risk and enjoyment. It does make more of a statement for the more widespread acceptance of BSD/Linux on laptops (aand desktops). Redhat's free install support for those who buy the box may not seem like a big deal to some, but it really goes a long way.
Joe Q Random: "Why would I try this - there's not even anyone to call if I have a problem"
John Q Hacker:
Joe: "But I wan't get to them - it's not working..."
Support is a major selling point for many people - even for those who are somewhat technically competant, but just want it to work *now*, and can't get a hold of the info in any other way but the phone...
The increase in the number of companies that are selling pre-loaded Linux/BSD boxen is definitely a step in the right direction - sometimes you just want the right tool for the job, and you want it working, without having to worry about hardware / partitioning issues... You can always play with the other stuff later, but let's get up and running.
Just my $ 1/50
"It's tough to be bilingual when you get hit in the head."
Enough of the rank and file in the Forest Service, however, complained about how absolutely crappy the system is that we're now switching over to Microsoft Office. I'm no fan of Microsoft, but I don't mind not having to use Applix anymore.
I agree with all your complaints, but the worst part to my mind is that Applix more or less decided to use all their own shortcut keys for common operations. You wanna paste? Try F5, or F6, I don't recall.
Applix mail is atrocious, too. It's slow, the interface is horrible (click here, then type here -- hands always moving from keyboard to mouse and back), and it's just a hassle to use.
I have avoided using AW as much as possible -- it's just too obnoxious to be worth the trouble.
Sam Jooky
Where's my Burrito? Where's my Burrito? Where's my Burrito?
http://www.worldwidemart.com/sapienza/s alad
Now I've just got to get another PC. I've been waiting to run FreeBSD in my mix for a long time, but had nothing really to use it for. Applixware is as good a reason as any, I presume.
Now the important question. Which has better FreeBSD support? Gnome or KDE?
-Brent--