What is the point?

[silvater]

According to PCLinuxOnline:
IBM to launch MS Office for Linux
" As part of its initiative to put Linux on the desktop, IBM Corp. wants to migrate Microsoft Corp.'s Office suite to Linux. Microsoft said it's not involved and suggests that IBM might do it by emulation. "

Why do people insist and why does IBM waste there efforts in trying to migrate MS office to linux, if there is such great amount of office packages in the community.
Many of the offices packges availbale offer the same features as Office. :confused: (Im confused)

Warning: Is not a thread against Microsoft!!

[Hayl]

they are doing it because internally, IBM uses the MS Office platform and they have stated that they are not going to be changing Office Suites.

[WayStar]

I suppose that emulation would be the only way to do it, though, since they can't exactly compile it from source. :)

I'm not sure what the big deal is with this, isn't there something called Crossover or some such thing that already achieves the running of MSOffice stuff?

-Waylena

[scinerd]

The biggest plus would being able to support the file formats and yes open office can open them but it's not alway perfect and it needs to be. You need the doc format for a number of things like some people will not take a resume unless it's in .doc format. I also heard you can't apply for a patent unless you submit the form as a .doc.

Also there would be no training needed since most people have used office in the past. There are other office programs that are very close but a lot of users are horrible with change. Most of users where I work can't fix a problem even if the error message tells them how.

It's also a stepping stone if you have a user who uses office as there primary app you can change the os then down the road slowly move them to a new tool like star office or Open office. It would still cut the cost of putting a computer on someone's desk.

[Icarus]

Originally posted by scinerd
You need the doc format for a number of things like some people will not take a resume unless it's in .doc format. Tell me about it :rolleyes:

I've gotten a few replys from resumes that were in the way of "We could not open you resume, please send it as a MSWord2000 .doc file"
This was from a company looking to hire a Linux Admin :rolleyes:


I think what IBM is doing is very good, for everyone. MS can look at it as more Office sales (as if 2 billion were not enough) and Linux users can look forward to being more compatable in the work place with others (it is no fun to stop what your working on and reboot to Windows because OpenOffice and MSOffice are not 'perfectly' compatable.

[El_Cu_Guy]

This was from a company looking to hire a Linux Admin

Think about it. What OS were they likely using on their client side?

[Icarus]

Originally posted by El_Cu_Guy
Think about it. What OS were they likely using on their client side? You need to think about it more then that, it's not what the client was using...it's who the client is

Most hiring is done by HR, the IS manager usually doesn't see the resume until after it goes through HR

Over all it makes perfect sense, and also re-enforces the need for a fully compatable Office Suite between Linux and Microsoft. We can try, beg, plead and bribe the MS Office users to switch to OpenOffice or StarOffice, but they have already invested A LOT of time and money with Microsoft Office...they are not going to switch, period.

Getting a MS Office clone in Linux (That works exactly like MS Office), even if it's through emulation, removes that very large hurdle/communication barrier. It may sound sick and perverse, but it's the truth

[o0zi]

Sick and perverse? It's just a piece of software;)
The way I see it, if they want to use a buggy, proprietary office suite, then let them, as long as they don't try to integrate it with the underlying operating system.
Nobody wants another Lindows...

[silvater]

I do understand from a business point of view that changes bring a rise in the cost, but probably savings in the long run.

In my opinion it is easier to take a project as open office and aid them to achieve the stability they are looking for.

If it is true that, linux suites do not always work with .doc This is the point where IBM has to concentrate their efforts, by doing so they will be covering their needs; In addition, helping the community.

From this we can see that the idea of helping improve an open source project, they will be doing an overall good.

From a programming point of view, I believe is much easier to work in project in which you posess the source code rather than fixing migration bugs. :(

[bandwidth_pig]

I myself would LOVE it if I could use MS Office on GNU/Linux. Main reason for me is I need Visio to do my job and there is no compatible GNU/Linux Visio option. There is software that performs a similar function, but you can't open the files on Windows, which is what I have to use at work. This would be a huge benefit to business. Huge. Open Office is good. But, MS Office has too deep of roots to turn back now. Companies have way too much into Office to ever leave it. For end user/home use, I use Open Office.

[Crito]

Linux developers should focus on making better products instead of similar and compatible products. Microsofties would then be demanding Visio be able to open Dia files.... or they might just switch to Linux and avoid the hassle. Seems to me that's why many people prefer Windows. It's not the pros and cons of the OS that matters; it's the apps they're running that do. Make better apps and people will drop Windows like a bad habit. Rather than making for an easy transition to Linux, file compatibility makes people wonder "why bother, all the apps I use run under Windows." You've got to make them say "if I just ran Linux I could use that killer app that doesn't work with Windows." Open Office is inferior to MS Office and always will be because it's imitative instead of innovative.

[Artimus]

There's no freaking way that the paperclip is going anywhere near my Linux box!

[mrBen]

IBM would be 100% more likely to port Lotus SmartSuite, given that they own it, rather than trying to port a Suite to which they have no right.

If they really wanted MS Office, they would use CrossOver Office.

Basically, it's not true.

[o0zi]

Well said :)
Seems we're just discussing a theoretical possibility here then..

[voidinit]

Originally posted by Crito
Linux developers should focus on making better products instead of similar and compatible products. Microsofties would then be demanding Visio be able to open Dia files.... or they might just switch to Linux and avoid the hassle. Seems to me that's why many people prefer Windows. It's not the pros and cons of the OS that matters; it's the apps they're running that do. Make better apps and people will drop Windows like a bad habit. Rather than making for an easy transition to Linux, file compatibility makes people wonder "why bother, all the apps I use run under Windows." You've got to make them say "if I just ran Linux I could use that killer app that doesn't work with Windows." Open Office is inferior to MS Office and always will be because it's imitative instead of innovative.

The problem with making better products instead of similiar products is quite self-explanatory. How do you make a word processor not similar to other word processors? How do you make a spreadsheet not similar to other spreadsheets?

When you think about what an abstract word processor, spreadsheet, and perhaps a presentation program are supposed to do, then you compare and contrast the available suites, you find out that they all do pretty much the same thing. You can't really make one better because they all accomplish the same task.

I'm sure you could make it easier or faster to use, but then again, that would all depend on the training of the end-user, not the software.

Basically IBM has made the right choice for the here and now. Office is the standard for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. IBM has gotten used to it and dealt with it. We need to do the same until the OSS community can take over the applications market as well :).

Once we have the majority of the OS market, applications will standardize.