[KLUG Members] Re: Calling all Linux novices: -- MS Office on non-Windows platforms ...

[Robert G. Brown]

"Bryan J. Smith" <b.j.smith@ieee.org> who arrrnaged well-aligned and
rationally endian bytes to say....

>> who said "mission critical" anything is going to reside in Access?
>I used quotes didn't I?  ;-p

Yes, YOU used quotes, I suspect that the organization didn't, and
wouldn't. They mean it... with a straight face. THat's th gap between
the technical and cultural issues.

>> By far the greatest thing about running MS Office on Linux is that
>> when I'm talking to someone about Linux and they ask a question
>> like "Does Office run on Linux", I can say "yes", and CHANGE THE
>> SUBJECT,...
>Well, with Crossover Office, it is now there.....
Yes, Bryan, I understand that, I want to see something from readers here
that have tried or are using the tools you've mentioned, and others.

>But that doesn't remove the sheer "technical problem" plaguing most
>corporations.
I agree, I'm not looking to address those problems right away.

>> I share your sentiments about a prospective port of MS Office to
>> Linux,....
>Pretty much all MS code is byte endian and alignment ignorant.

.... block of dead-horse beating elided for brevity....

>Microsoft is even more unfriendly to Linux than Mac, so even if Linux is on
>enough desktops to eventually warrant a port, Microsoft's #1 goal, just like on
>Mac, will be to make it is inoperable with Windows users as possible.  Why?  To
>move them back to Windows.
Of course, this is not a real honest pott you're talking about. It's what we 
used to call a "Trojan Port". This was a common IBM tactic. They would sign
an agreement with a third-party vendor to port their product to one of the 
Mainframe platforms. Of course, it would never come out quite good enough, for 
one reason or another "You know, we had to use this interface (or THAT compiler
os yonder library) to get things to work just right... and see? We got it all 
to work... pity we had to cut performance by a factor of 12... but look! It 
works almost as well on our lrgest systems as it did on your MicroVAX! Isn't
that a great accomplishment? Of course, you COULD buy IBM Mangle Mmanager, and 
get..."

Let's stop there. This is not a real port. It is the very embodiment of
product corruption. Clearly, MS Office on the Mac suffers from this, based on 
your reportage. You expect MS will do the same as that to a Linux port?
The it's merely another "Trojan Port", which I why I would blow through the 
question as indicated in my last message.

>Just remember what the original thread was regarding.
Good heavens, why? This is much more fun! :)

>It was regarding the need for an Open Source office suite to read all MS 
>Office formats as good as Microsoft.  He expected instant reverse engineering
>with the latest formats, not recognizing the sheer effort required to do so.
With all due respect, Mr. Smith, this is a carefully constructed mis-statement 
of what was intended. I happen to know the person who made the statement in 
question, and fairly well, too. We've helped each other with problems, and 
I've seen his understanding of the industry, and watched him asimmilate 
knowledge and put it to work. He know this business a lot better than that.

Just don't tell him I said all those nice things about him, OK? :)

I read the same message you did, and knew it was a comment on the practicle 
intractibility and difficulty of pushing an organization down this path, 
essentially single-handedly. As such, the statements as written were accurate
statements of the challenges that have to be faced at the start of the process.

							Regards,
							---> RGB <---