Re: Viewing Powerpoint without Powerpoint
Really? Don't open source applications exist so that people can use them as aNo. Many companies use open source software because it provides quick solutions, but open source software exists for its own sake. Or, perhaps more accurately, it exists because its developers enjoy what they are doing, and enjoy getting credit for a job welldone.
basis for programs that they can sell?
Basically, there are two rationales for it. First, the free software advocates believe that software that you can distribute freely and whose code you can modify is a philosophical freedom, like freedom of speech. When they talk about "free software," they don't mean software that doesn't cost anything; they mean software that is philosophically free. When you consider how important computers are in daily life, and how lack of software could inhibit a poor person's career or the development of an impoverished country, you can understand what a radical idea this is. Free software advocates are usually unconcerned with what effects these views have on business, just as many environmentalists are not too concerned about how their ideas might affect business. Both free software advocates and environmentalists would argue that a higher principle is involved than making money.
Second, open source advocates believe that software whose source code can be viewed by anyone is technically superior: that development goes faster, and that bugs are found and repaired more quickly. Open source advocates have much in common with free software advocates, and often release software under the same licences.Tto outsiders, the two positions look much the same. That's why "free software" and "open source" are often used as synonyms, as I have used them in the first paragrph here. However, open source advocates are also interested in transforming business with their model of software development.
In practice, most people's views are somewhere between these two positions.
Yes, I understand that, but I'm wondering what is lacking in this program if theNothing's lacking . In OpenOffice.org's case, the office suite could benefit from groupware, and that's being developed. But the applications in the office suite are completely functional.
intent is for other people to use it as a basis for their own products that they
will then sell.
Why should you trust that any program won't mess up your computer? I mean,
think about it for a minute.
It is thinking about it that makes me ask the question, Bruce.
What I meant was: do you trust Microsoft or Adobe's software not to mess up your computer? If you're like most people, you probably do. But why? Probably because they're well-known. However, if someone handed you a piece of software from a company that you'd never heard of, you might be more cautious about installing it.
Exactly the same standards can be applied to open source software. If you download Apache, Mozilla, or Red Hat Linux, you're dealing with organizations or companies that have a good reputation, and that you can investigate. However, you would probably want to think twice about installing a piece of open source software that you knew nothing about.
However, the difference is that, with open source software, a developer could see the source code and be satisfied that it was harmless before using it. He or she could even compile the code themselves to be especially cautious. You can't do that with an unknown piece of commercial software, because all you get is the binaries.
Why do you assume that I had "malicious code" in mind?Because of the question about messing up your computer. Anything that does that is malicious in some sense.
I might download it at some point and have a look. What is the motivation forNo cost. Free upgrades. No product activation. A chance to provide feedback that will be listened to. Good software. Philosophical freedom. Intellectual curiosity.
using it, though?
Choose as many of the above as apply to you.
So nobody gets paid for supplying Apache?A solutions provider might get paid for suggesting Apache or configuring it. But they don't get paid for Apache itself.
Yes, I read something about this on the Web site. I have to say that the WebThere is an FAQ that mentions some of the concerns you raise. But I agree that the web site could be much better designed. In fact, the OpenOffice.org discussion list has recently had a long discussion on the need to improve the web site.
site does not seem to be attempting to attract new users. If it were, it might
have addressed the questions that I currently have.
At the bottom of my questions, really, I think is another question:It compares extremely favorably to MS Office and Corel WordPerfect Office. However, each has features that the other doesn't. For example, MS Office has a grammar checker while OpenOffice.org doesn't, but OpenOffice.org has numbering and master documents that don't corrupt. In addition, some things are done in different ways. Overall, I find that OpenOffice.org Writer is superior to MS Word and that OOo Impress is superior to PowerPoint; I'm not enough of a spreadsheet user to compare OOo Calc to MS Excel.
is the suite as it exists so basic as to be less desirable than products that
developers create that add to it?
Since Writer is probably of most interest to people on this list, let me brag a moment and provide a link to my opinion on how it compares to Word:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=7120
--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield
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New day's a-breaking in my soul."
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Follow-Ups:
- Re: Viewing Powerpoint without Powerpoint, Bonnie Granat
References:
Viewing Powerpoint without Powerpoint: From: Bonnie Granat
Re: Viewing Powerpoint without Powerpoint: From: Bruce Byfield
Re: Viewing Powerpoint without Powerpoint: From: David O'Brien
Re: Viewing Powerpoint without Powerpoint: From: Bonnie Granat
Re: Viewing Powerpoint without Powerpoint: From: Bruce Byfield
Re: Viewing Powerpoint without Powerpoint: From: Bonnie Granat
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