I see why a lot of people don't want to have MS Office on Linux. I also know through experience why many posters think it would be a blessing. You see, I've been writing papers, stories, and manuals in Word for 8 years. I have been experimenting with Linux for about 3. Granted I haven't a recent install of StarOffice, KWord, etc. to play with.
But while we may not need/want Office, Linux desperately needs a *comparable* office suite with perfect conversion filters. (Making Microsoft reveal its format details would be a good idea.) I personally dislike Wordperfect, and I could not manage to make StarOffice install on Linux. I don't really care if the Linux office suite is Appleworks or whatever, but it must fulfill these requirements:
-it must be a word processor in concept, not a LaTeX type-thing. In other words, a reasonably familiar interface: menus, toolbars, rulers, document-writing space.
-it must have an interface as wonderfully customizable as Word's. You can rewrite the toolbars and menus in that thing to be *exactly* what you want. If you can find the function in a menu or have a macro for it, you can make a button for it. Moveable toolbars are NOT good enough.
-it must be equally capable. Detailed page layout options. Foot and endnotes. Show paragraph marks and things. It *MUST* have tables as good as Word's. Text boxes, overlays, graphics toys and other tools so that you can do page layout. Spell and hopefully grammar checking, maybe a thesaurus. Whatever the heck there is in Excel, Powerpoint, etc. (You can see that I worked in Word mostly.)
As so many have said in here, letter-to-grandma word processors do not cut it for any but the most casual non-programmer user. We *need* something as capable as Office/Word that is not too foreign. Without it we cannot switch.
While I don't *insist* on having MS Office, Photoshop, etc, I understand your point completely. I learned it the hard way, one time when my windows install was dead, but linux was working, and I had the beta of linux Framemaker (or something Adobe) installed. I badly needed to write a paper for class. University paper, with proper fonts, spacing, margins, title page -- and footnotes. Even if I could stand in-text citations, this was a prof who wanted footnotes.
I could not find/figure out the footnote function in Adobe whatsit, and it was an intolerably ugly program besides, as well as being totally unfamiliar. And it had a wholly incompatible-with-anything file format. And I already knew that I couldn't stand Wordperfect, AbiWord was far too basic, KWord didn't exist, and I had not been able to install StarOffice. It isn't an RPM or anything remotely standard, but a scary scary batch file that must be installed from root to run in multiple accounts, and that does not create any kind of icons to run it from the desktop or menus! That is *not* a friendly install. Or a logical one.
I gave up and reinstalled Windows so that I could do my paper on time, because I have at least 8 years of Word expertise. So long as there is not a comparably easy to install and use office suite, one that can convert my files, I *cannot* switch to Linux completely.
I don't need applications to be exact clones of Windows, since I'm the type that analyzes the menus, not someone who clicks in a recognized sequence. What I do need is equal capabilities, a reasonably similar interface (I am not going to learn LaTeX soon/ever), one that is completely customizable -- that is one of Office's best features for me -- and excellent conversion filters. Letter-to-grandma word processors do not cut it; I *need* something as capable as Office/Word that is not too foreign.
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I see why a lot of people don't want to have MS Office on Linux. I also know through experience why many posters think it would be a blessing. You see, I've been writing papers, stories, and manuals in Word for 8 years. I have been experimenting with Linux for about 3. Granted I haven't a recent install of StarOffice, KWord, etc. to play with.
But while we may not need/want Office, Linux desperately needs a *comparable* office suite with perfect conversion filters. (Making Microsoft reveal its format details would be a good idea.) I personally dislike Wordperfect, and I could not manage to make StarOffice install on Linux. I don't really care if the Linux office suite is Appleworks or whatever, but it must fulfill these requirements:
-it must be a word processor in concept, not a LaTeX type-thing. In other words, a reasonably familiar interface: menus, toolbars, rulers, document-writing space.
-it must have an interface as wonderfully customizable as Word's. You can rewrite the toolbars and menus in that thing to be *exactly* what you want. If you can find the function in a menu or have a macro for it, you can make a button for it. Moveable toolbars are NOT good enough.
-it must be equally capable. Detailed page layout options. Foot and endnotes. Show paragraph marks and things. It *MUST* have tables as good as Word's. Text boxes, overlays, graphics toys and other tools so that you can do page layout. Spell and hopefully grammar checking, maybe a thesaurus. Whatever the heck there is in Excel, Powerpoint, etc. (You can see that I worked in Word mostly.)
As so many have said in here, letter-to-grandma word processors do not cut it for any but the most casual non-programmer user. We *need* something as capable as Office/Word that is not too foreign. Without it we cannot switch.
Until I get one, I'm using Office.
While I don't *insist* on having MS Office, Photoshop, etc, I understand your point completely. I learned it the hard way, one time when my windows install was dead, but linux was working, and I had the beta of linux Framemaker (or something Adobe) installed. I badly needed to write a paper for class. University paper, with proper fonts, spacing, margins, title page -- and footnotes. Even if I could stand in-text citations, this was a prof who wanted footnotes.
I could not find/figure out the footnote function in Adobe whatsit, and it was an intolerably ugly program besides, as well as being totally unfamiliar. And it had a wholly incompatible-with-anything file format. And I already knew that I couldn't stand Wordperfect, AbiWord was far too basic, KWord didn't exist, and I had not been able to install StarOffice. It isn't an RPM or anything remotely standard, but a scary scary batch file that must be installed from root to run in multiple accounts, and that does not create any kind of icons to run it from the desktop or menus! That is *not* a friendly install. Or a logical one.
I gave up and reinstalled Windows so that I could do my paper on time, because I have at least 8 years of Word expertise. So long as there is not a comparably easy to install and use office suite, one that can convert my files, I *cannot* switch to Linux completely.
I don't need applications to be exact clones of Windows, since I'm the type that analyzes the menus, not someone who clicks in a recognized sequence. What I do need is equal capabilities, a reasonably similar interface (I am not going to learn LaTeX soon/ever), one that is completely customizable -- that is one of Office's best features for me -- and excellent conversion filters. Letter-to-grandma word processors do not cut it; I *need* something as capable as Office/Word that is not too foreign.
Until I get one, I'm using Office.