Using OpenOffice.org?

Discussion in 'Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS), Office 365' started by Hello World, May 2, 2005.

  1. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Found an interesting blog on a Windows user converting to OpenOffice.org. Here's the Link
     
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  2. d-Faktor
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    d-Faktor R.I.P - gone but never forgotten.

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    funny, those are exactly the things i dislike about them.

    funny, that is exactly the thing that i have no problem with. they are running a business. why on earth should they be nice to competitors? dishonest? in hindsight, was netscape honest, just because in the end they turned out to be the underdog?

    beginning to use open source? they have been using open source for years. the most well known example is their tcp/ip implementation, which they got from freebsd using the bsd license, if i'm not mistaken.
    so what if they have a problem with the gpl license and its accolytes? the gpl license is like a virus. if you include gpl licensed code in your applications, then you are obligated to open your own code as well. again, microsoft is running a business and their business model is based on closed source. big deal.
    and what has the usage of patenting to do with a campaign against open source? everybody is registering shamingly vague patents, from ibm to apple, from novell to sun, microsoft is only an emerging player in this field. the u.s. patent system is flawed, microsoft and all the big players are just using it. and don't forget, they are also using it to protect themselves from being sued in the future.

    i don't like microsoft any more than you do, but you can hardly blame them for being a commercial company, let alone for playing the field with every means necessary.

    and you used to think i was a communist, freddy. tsk... :D
     
  3. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    LOL. I didn't say I liked the bugs and problems in their software, it's just that I don't dislike MS just because of them.

    As to the ethics part, well, I see things differently, but we both already knew that. I have no use for individuals who crush those weaker than themselves just because they can. Do you? I also have no use for individuals who take advantage of other people just because they can either. Do you? Why I should not apply that same type of thinking to businesses is beyond me. Can you think of a good reason why I shouldn't?
     
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  4. d-Faktor
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    d-Faktor R.I.P - gone but never forgotten.

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    indeed, indeed. what surprises me is that you are now displaying an opinion which i find uncommon for you (though i might be wrong there), and i'm displaying an opinion which i think is uncommon for me, and lo! and behold, the result is that we're again on opposite sides. :(

    yes, i can. it's called competitive free market economy, which has different dynamics and motives than social behaviour between individuals.
     
  5. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    I'm curious now. What opinion are you referring to? I have so few opinions on things that you'd think I would know what you're referring to but I don't. :biggrin

    I again disagree. Business decisions are made by individuals and are directed against individuals as all businesses are made of up people. I would never agree that I should screw my fellow man over just because the decision is made in a business setting. A person is either honest or dishonest. There is no middle ground in which a person can be honest and still be deceitful in business. An honest man is trustworthy no matter what the setting. His character does not allow him to change his ethics with the setting. The same is true for a dishonest man. His character will always come out no matter what the setting. Our actions always flow from who we are inside.

    I was very competitive when I was in high school. I loved winning and hated losing with a passion. Winning and losing was like living and dying. That said, I never cheated to win. I never played head games to win. I played straight up and honest in everything I did. I just redoubled my efforts if I was losing. And if I lost, I went and practiced and studied out what I did wrong until I became good enough to win.

    To be comptetitive is no reason to take an unethical route.
     
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  6. d-Faktor
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    d-Faktor R.I.P - gone but never forgotten.

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    why is being competitive in business synonymous to being dishonest, deceitful and unethical as a person?
     
  7. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    That's not what I said.

    They are synonymous if the competitive business practices are dishonest. They are not synonymous if the business practices aren't dishonest. The principles at stake are the same. Is it ever OK to cheat is what it basically boils down to.

    Let's look at certification as an example. A person who uses braindumps to get a cert is looking for an advantage in the business world, yet you condemn braindumping as wrong. Why? It's just an unethical action used in an attempt to get ahead.

    MS cheated in it's business dealings by saying they were required to include IE as a part of their OS when the only reason they did it was to harm someone else. You say that's OK. Why? It's just an unethical action used in an attempt to get ahead.

    Both examples I gave above are identical in principle. I see both in the same light. I don't condone one and exonerate the other. I'm consistent to principle.
     
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  8. superkarimo

    superkarimo Bit Poster

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    good link. some objective points made there
     
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  9. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    I guess it comes down to breaking the rules. Briandumps are cheating, sure, but they also break the non-disclosure agreement. There are rules in business too, such as contracts, insider trading, the law... Breaking them is dishonest.

    But supposing a company builds cars, and decides to build a model with a built-in roofrack because they felt that people felt it was useful. The companies that sell roofracks would be out of pocket but it's not dishonest.

    Personally, I'm all for getting everything in one box. When a novice buys a PC with windows on it, they shouldn't have to shop around for a browser and a media player too if they don't want to, surely?
    People with experience who don't like IE or whatever can change it.

    It's mad what Microsoft are expected to do. Where else does it happen in industry that somone is told to take bits out of their product so other people have a chance?
    What?
    My gran has got a radio by her bed with a built in clock, but the alarm clock manufacturers have been happy to let that one go...
     
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  10. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    When any company controlling 90+% of the market uses unfair business practices to crush opponents, that's when. It's called a monopoly, and monopolies crush innovation. There's a reason monopolies were made illegal.
     
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  11. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Yeah, it's a fine line between encouraging competition and allowing free trade. Glad I'm not a lawyer.
    I'm not here for an argument, just saying how I see it.

    Are we denied reliable electric cars because of the oil industry?
    Big buisness is big business because it's... big.
    Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes it's not.

    Over in the UK, Tesco, the supermarket is getting some flak because they are steamrollering the opposition, and certainly the small business. It's a change. It's bad for small business, but only because the public find it more convenient to do all their shopping in one place. The reason they are big is because the public use them lots.
    So far the courts have not denied Tesco in Cardiff the right to sell sandwiches because it will put the little tea shop down the road out of business.
    Recently a haulage company with a load of unsettled invoices barricaded Tesco HQ until thet got their money.

    I'm obviously not saying that's right, but why is I.T. different?

    Like I say, I wouldn't want to be the one to make the rules, but you vote with your feet. If people really cared, they would boycott MS products (yeah, right). The battles are fought by competitors in the courts and they don't necessarily relect the opinions of the mass public. We just want an easy life.
     
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