A Microsoft Office replacement

A Microsoft Office replacement - for resellers?

The news aggregator that everybody loves to despise is running a story on Using Computer Stores to Spread Open Source, but what caught my attention was a post asking:

How does the local computer guy, FireFox, GIMP, etc differentiate themselves not among the geeks, but among the general population? Being a marketing guy (hold the hisses) with a good dose of liberalism and technology I'm all for F/OSS, and I be happy to offer a few hours a week to good software I believe in. So, is there an opening on the F/OSS world for the marketing guy as well as the coder?

You see, each copy of MS Office (standard) sold wins the OEM AU$60, and MS Windows XP netts them $75, which means that if they just made $120-$150 selling a basic $1000 system, then they make twice as much if they then sell MS-Windows and MS-Office with the machine.

So... if you want to get them to distribute FOSS with the machine instead, you have to replace half of their profit as well. Showstopper?

I think not.

But is the answer better to implement as an Open-Source-style “community” response or as a commercial enterprise?

If commercial, perhaps this is something for those arch-CD-confettists, Canonical?

Read the post, read my answer, tell me what you think. Go ahead, post as an Anonymous Coward even — you know you want to! (-:

Comments

every-application-is-part-of-a-toolkit at work

I have a LibreOffice Impress slideshow that I wish to turn into a narrated video. 1. export the slideshow as PNG images (if that is partially broken — as at now — at higher resolutions, Export Directly as PDF then use ‘pdftoppm’ (from the poppler-utils package) to do the same). 2. write a small C program (63 lines including comments) to display those images one at a time, writing a config file entry for Imagination (default transition: ‘cross fade’) based on when the image-viewer application (‘display,’ from the GraphicsMagick suite) is closed on each one; run that, read each image aloud, then close each image in turn. 3. run ‘Imagination’ over the config file to produce a silent MP4 video with the correct timings. 4. run ‘Audacity’ to record speech while using ‘SMPlayer’ to display the silent video, then export that recording as a WAV file. 4a. optionally, use ‘TiMIDIty’ to convert a non-copyright-encumbered MIDI tune to WAV, then import that and blend it with the speech (as a quiet b

new life for an old (FTX) PSU, improved life for one human

the LEDs on this 5m strip happen to emit light centred on a red that does unexpectedly helpful things to (and surprisingly deeply within) a human routinely exposed to it. it has been soldered to a Molex connector, plugged into a TFX power supply from a (retired: the MoBo is cactus) Small Form Factor PC, the assorted PSU connectors (and loose end from the strip) have been taped over. the LED strip cost $10.24 including postage, the rest cost $0, the PSU is running at 12½% of capacity, consumes less power than a laptop plug-pack despite running a fan. trial runs begin today.

boundaries

pushing the actual boundaries of the physical (not extremes, the boundaries themselves) can often remove barriers not otherwise perceived. one can then often resolve an issue itself, rather than merely stonewalling at the physical consequences of the issue.

Plantagenet Penguinista

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