I was checking my statcounter statistics and well, I am kind of surprised that my little Linux Newbie Blog is racking it in specially for "Running MS Office 2003 under Wine". It's really strange and disturbing. Why want to run something inferior when you can have something that could do the same job?
Well, who am I to challenge the wishes of the market? If they want to run MS Office 2003 on Wine and Linux then fine. But what's bothering me really is that such a trend has bad implications for the alternatives that the Open Source world has to offer. I could think of a few random thoughts that could explain this.
1. Open Office may be stagnating, or simply innovating and improving more slowly than the boys and girls at Redmond.
2. People just don't see the point in wasting time learning something new.
3. Open Office looks cheap?
4. MS Office is a status symbol? Like, "If you really say that you are that good at what you do then why can't you afford MS Office?"
When you walk in a room full of suits and neckties and you present something, you'd want to capture the audience. You'd want to dominate. You remember the time when you were in high school and the kids were just talking to each other while you were presenting something that you worked hard to prepare for.
That's why PowerPoint has a very powerful point. Sure you could just Impress them. But impression is not enough. In my own experience I'd want to be powerful enough to subdue the audience's resistance to my ideas. I'd want them to get off their chairs and stand and inquire about the marvelous idea. I want to have the power to Mesmerize, Captivate and Manipulate. Because without this it would just be another canned presentation seen by numerous others within the office. Pffftt.
Let's face it, not everybody in the world is a computer spartan. A lot of people, (most people actually) want something to brag about. When they brag, they usually brag about everything, from where they got their nails done, their shoes and even their office suites. You simply can't expect people to throw their money at you if they see that you are Mr. El Cheapo Freeloader with the Clip on Tie. Hey, have a seat on my monobloc guest chair. We decorate our offices with powerful emblems that are designed to intimidate as well as make the guest or potential investor at ease.
I am small and I am a nobody but if any of the big guys at the OpenSource Office Suite world is out there, I would suggest for them to ditch at least the freebie appearance and impression. Use powerful words like Elite, Premium, Gold or whatever to make Open Office stand out and dominate.
Well, who am I to challenge the wishes of the market? If they want to run MS Office 2003 on Wine and Linux then fine. But what's bothering me really is that such a trend has bad implications for the alternatives that the Open Source world has to offer. I could think of a few random thoughts that could explain this.
1. Open Office may be stagnating, or simply innovating and improving more slowly than the boys and girls at Redmond.
2. People just don't see the point in wasting time learning something new.
3. Open Office looks cheap?
4. MS Office is a status symbol? Like, "If you really say that you are that good at what you do then why can't you afford MS Office?"
When you walk in a room full of suits and neckties and you present something, you'd want to capture the audience. You'd want to dominate. You remember the time when you were in high school and the kids were just talking to each other while you were presenting something that you worked hard to prepare for.
That's why PowerPoint has a very powerful point. Sure you could just Impress them. But impression is not enough. In my own experience I'd want to be powerful enough to subdue the audience's resistance to my ideas. I'd want them to get off their chairs and stand and inquire about the marvelous idea. I want to have the power to Mesmerize, Captivate and Manipulate. Because without this it would just be another canned presentation seen by numerous others within the office. Pffftt.
Let's face it, not everybody in the world is a computer spartan. A lot of people, (most people actually) want something to brag about. When they brag, they usually brag about everything, from where they got their nails done, their shoes and even their office suites. You simply can't expect people to throw their money at you if they see that you are Mr. El Cheapo Freeloader with the Clip on Tie. Hey, have a seat on my monobloc guest chair. We decorate our offices with powerful emblems that are designed to intimidate as well as make the guest or potential investor at ease.
I am small and I am a nobody but if any of the big guys at the OpenSource Office Suite world is out there, I would suggest for them to ditch at least the freebie appearance and impression. Use powerful words like Elite, Premium, Gold or whatever to make Open Office stand out and dominate.
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