[LINK] [NZ] AA dumps Open Office, buys Microsoft for Œ

[Stilgherrian]

On 18/7/07 11:44 AM, "Bernard Robertson-Dunn" <brd at iimetro.com.au> wrote:
> AA dumps Open Office, buys Microsoft for Œcompatibility¹
> Microsoft Office is not cheaper, but it is almost impossible to work out the
> actual cost of open-source, says CIO [snip]
> 
> ³Second, you have no idea where open-source products are going, whereas
> vendors like Microsoft provide a roadmap for the future.

And many open source projects also provide a roadmap for the future. Open
Office has a roadmap document, though it's currently broken on the website.

However in both cases, that roadmap can be changed without warning -- after
all, roadmaps are "only" intentions, not contractual obligations. FUD.

(In fact, you could argue that the open source project's roadmap is more
reliable because the discussions behind it happen in public, so anyone can
*see* what's being discussed as a feature. And, if a feature that you really
want is missing, you can hire a programmer to add it yourself. With closed
source software the answer is "bad luck, mate.")


> Wilson says Microsoft Office is not any cheaper, but that it was almost
> impossible to work out what open-source was actually costing because of issues
> such as incompatibility and training.

And, with Microsoft Office it's also "almost impossible" to work out the
costs of compatibility (tried sending someone a Word 2007 file when the
recipient only has Word 2003?) and training. Again, FUD.

In those, the only key points he's raised, the same concerns apply to
Microsoft Office as to Open Office. It looks pretty much like regurgitated
propaganda from Microsoft to me.

Stil


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