HackFUD

David Berlind has written the best summary of the events which occoured over the last few months to do with the OpenDocument Foundation’s activities, which I also did an antiFUD article about a while ago.

Highly recommended reading. Click on the link above to read it. Thanks, David!

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And it’s back to business for me, after my trials and tribulations getting this site performing the way I want it to. Almost…

This time, here’s Bill Hilf, Microsoft’s…well, let’s let InformationWeek introduce him…

Microsoft’s leading light on open source issues. Since coming to Microsoft from IBM in 2003, Hilf has been inextricably involved with Microsoft’s strategy for dealing with Linux. He’s recently been appointed general manager of Windows Server marketing and platform strategy, which means he’s taking on an expanded role, but open source is still one of his core issues.

One of his core issues. Indeed. InformationWeek asks him:

InformationWeek: Are there any specific areas where you would see Microsoft placing things in an open source development environment as a way to further its own products or to better interoperate with things?

He replies with :

Hilf: When people buy commercial software, really what they’re buying is a guarantee. You’re buying a guarantee that what you have will perform, and has been tested and there’s someone you can call up, and if things go really bad someone’s liable if something doesn’t work. You’re buying this ecosystem of accountability. One of the challenges of open source and really the challenge with the open source business model is: it’s hard to replicate that ecosystem of accountability and that guarantee.

What he seems to be implying here is that if you use FOSS products, there’s no one to phone up and complain to if something with that product goes wrong. There’s no accountability. You can’t hold someone liable for something going wrong. What he’s also saying is that buying commercial (read : proprietary) software, then all these negatives Go Away. Not only that, but with the purchase of the commercial software, you’re getting a “guarantee that what you have will perform, and has been tested”, that you can hold the publishers of that software liable if something doesn’t work.

Oh, really? Yeah. Right.

Let’s deal with the issue of a piece of commercial software having a guarantee it’s going to work/perform, first. Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, lets get one thing straight…

Repeat after me :

“The Open Document Foundation has nothing to do with the Open Document Format”

“The Open Document Foundation has nothing to do with the Open Document Format”

“The Open Document Foundation has nothing to do with the Open Document Format” Read the rest of this entry »

Lee Gomes over at the Wall Street Journal has written a piece entitled “How Far Behind Is Linux?”

Nice title, but, how far behind what, precisely?

Let’s have a look at what he says. Read the rest of this entry »

I noticed a Technet Blog mentioning that OpenOffice is being made available free via the latest Sun Java update.

Reading further into the blog entry and the following fun and games begin:

Before you’re tempted to install this, maybe consider the following…

Read this for a business perspective which can help understand the “productivity software” claims, for sure a contradiction in terms!!!

Microsoft Office Word 2007 and OpenOffice.org 2.2.0 Mail Merge Comparison

“I was recently employed part time by a charity which uses OpenOffice. A longtime Microsoft Word, etc., user…Mailmerge!! It only took you fifty minutes! Congratulations. It’s taken me hours and hours of puzzling to the point of neurosis and I’m no nearer success.”

And thus begin the attempts at inserting Fear Uncertainty and Doubt. Note that the Mail Merge Comparison was performed by the same blog author on Tuesday, May 08, 2007. Also note that the comparison was between OpenOffice 2.2.0 and Word 2007… Read the rest of this entry »