A new free Office Suite
October 6th, 2007 | 
Author: 
If you’re tired of buying MS Office consider trying out some of the free choices available. I used to think that everyone knew about Open Office, but as I have said before, the literature course I am taking has really opened my eyes. A fellow student was lamenting about needing an office suite, but couldn’t afford to buy MS Office. Now usually when I suggest open source software people turn up their noses. They seem to think that since it’s free and non-Microsoft it must be inferior. I guess they’d rather be without anything if they can’t buy Microsoft or spend their time trying to get an illegal bootleg copy. I told her about Open Office and her eyes seemed to double in size. So I was pleasantly surprised when she told me that not only had she downloaded it, but had installed it on her children’s computer. Even more surprising was that her daughter’s teacher somehow caught wind of her installing a free office suite and contacted her to find out where he could get it. This past week I have been following IBM’s introduction of a free office suite called Lotus Symphony. The suite is in beta, but I plan to give it a try. It’s available for Windows including XP and Vista, as well as some Linux platforms. I do not know if it is open source though. So why aren’t more people informed about alternatives? Maybe people have all been brainwashed to think that all software worth having is expensive. So please get the word out there especially to schools, students, people on fixed incomes, and anyone else that will listen.
Edit: I’ve edited for some typos. I had to have Lasik enhancement surgery on Friday afternoon and my vision isn’t that great right now. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Posted in Software
Are you sure you can download that new free office software without being an IBM customer or buying Lotus Notes? It didn’t look to me like you could get there when I tried a while back…
But the more competition we see, the better the features should get for all of them. It’s a great day for free/open source!
Bob,
I downloaded it yesterday. It took me through some registration and I had to diable my pop ups for a bit, but yes it is available.
Ellen
Just a minor, geeky quibble: “free” software is not necessarily the same as “open source” software.
First off, there are two versions of “free” software. There is software that is free in the sense that it can be procured without spending any money. There is also software that is free in the sense that users have freedom; they can do as they please with the software. Users can redistribute it as they please. Users can compile it to a different target platform as they please. Users can change the source code as they please.
The term “open source” typically refers to the fact that the source code is available for any users of the software. Just because software is open source, though, doesn’t mean that it’s free! You might have to pay to get a copy. You might not have the right to alter it. You might not have the right to share it with your friends. The only thing you’re really guaranteed is that you’ll be able to look at the source code.
Just a minor, theoretical quibble.
Also, I totally agree with you that people assume “free” software must be “low quality” software. Open Office is the perfect example of FOSS (Free, Open Source Software) that disproves that notion. Let’s keep spreading the word!
Andrew,
That’s what I love about having a blog, being able to get feedback. I am not familiar with all the terms and defintiions of open source versus free. That’s why I included the statement that I didn’t know if it were open source. Thanks for the clarification.
Ellen
Ellen:
I was just referring to these sentences:
But for what it’s worth, I’m both a know-it-all geek and an avid fan of your blog. I’ll always be here to “clarify” (make self-important know-it-all posts).
Keep up the great work!
Thanks Andrew
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