[KLUG Members] StarOffice 6.0 at a BIG DISCOUNT?

[Adam Williams]

>I'm not real clear on all the other differences between Star & Open
>Office, but I _think_ that Star comes with a database, 

No, I do not believe the Star Office for Linux package includes a 
database.  But it might.

>and Open does not?  

No, Open Office certainly does not.  Open Office and Star Office both 
support ODBC so why would they provide one?  (Subtle pitch for next weeks 
presentation).  They also support xBase natively and JDBC connectors.

>I'm not an office user, so please correct me if I'm wrong, and
>feel free help me and explain the difference between the two products.

Star Office includes (and Open Office does not):

1. A decent spell check,  the one in OO is quasi-busted.
2. Full dictionaries,  including foriegn languages.  These cannot be 
included in OO for copyright reasons.
3. Additional fonts that cannot be included in OO for copyright reasons.
4. Document templates that cannot be included in OO for copyright 
reasons.*
5. The Sun JDK/JVM for obvious reasons.

* The document templates can be copied into the OO install directory from 
an SO52 installation and they work just fine.  Whether or not this is 
"kosher" is an ethical dillema.  But nothing is to stop people from making 
their own templates and providing them to the OO project for inclusion,  
and this will certainly happen.