[techtalk] Alternatives to Star Office/MS Office

Caitlyn Martin caitlyn at netferrets.net
Wed Nov 24 12:10:07 EST 1999


Hi,

----- Original Message -----
From: Ian Hall-Beyer <manuka at nerdherd.net>.
>
> Note here that we're talking about what are probably the two most
> abusive applications for unix, resource-wise.

I think this is what most of us dislike about both StarOffice and Netscape.
They both are OK feature-wise and are user friendly, but they are both
resource hogs.
>
> We were contemplating moving over to StarOffice at work, until we saw
> how much CPU an idle instance on the Enterprise 3500 took (3-4%..
> multiply that by 50 users, and the problem becomes very evident, and
> that's only StarOffice). Not being prepared to invest significantly in
> our infrastructure (well into 5 figures, without breaking a sweat) to
> be able to run free software, we stuck with MS Office.

Well... there are other alternatives you can look at.  The newest option
(due out 1q2000) will be Corel WordPerfect Suite 2000.  There's also
Applixware.

If application cost is really the issue, KOffice looks like it will be quite
good by the time they officially release it.  I got it running finally, and
for development pre-alpha code, it's amazing how well it already works.
Lots of stuff is still missing, especially import/export filters, but heck,
it's still an unreleased, in development product.
>
> And yes, we actually have IE installed on one of the Sun servers.
> *beats hasty retreat to avoid being stoned to death as an infidel*

I would love to see IE released for Linux.  Let's face it, Netscape has it's
problems, and there are too many sites that KFM just can't handle.  Opera is
not free, nor is it open, so I don't see that it would be a better
philosophical choice that a Microsoft product.  I still will play with the
Linux port of Opera once it's available, just because I've always thought
Opera was rather well done, small, and efficient.

Does anyone have any news on the Linux port of Arachne?  Back to office
products for a sec:  has anyone tried Xess?

Oh, FWIW, I'm running COL 2.3 now.  Red Hat 6.1 was way too buggy for my
taste, and Caldera really seems to have gotten things together with 2.3.
COAS is even becoming user friendly.

Regards,
Caity




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