Microsoft: No Office software for Linux

[Renew Deal]

Microsoft is not going to release a version of its Office suite software for open-source rival Linux, although the company is actively studying how Linux works and how it can integrate with the platform, a Microsoft representative said Wednesday.

"The simplest way I can answer the question is that Microsoft is 100 percent focused on Windows," said Nick McGrath, director of platform strategy for Microsoft in the U.K. "We have no plans at this present moment in time to deploy or build a version of Microsoft Office on Linux."

McGrath participated in a roundtable debate on whether free software development leads to proprietary software or if the flow works in reverse at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo that started Wednesday in London. The lone representative from Microsoft, McGrath handled a fair amount of ribbing from emotional open-source advocates who used the forum to question how Microsoft plans to deal with what advocates say is increasing market share of the Linux platform.

Open-source software allows anybody who has a great idea to "stand on the shoulders of giants," whereas in the commercial world it has to be patented, the underlying infrastructure has to be licensed and the idea has to be tried, said Mark Shuttleworth of the Ubuntu Foundation.
<snip>

http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/10/05/HNnoofficeforlinux_1.html?source=NLC-TB2005-10-05

[FormerDittoHead]

1. What crap. Why does anyone listen to them?

>Microsoft is 100 percent focused on Windows

McGrath must not have seen this, but it wouldn't be hard to find:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/office2004/office2004.aspx?pid=office2004

[qnr]

2. I was thinking the same thing as soon as I saw that line n/t

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

3. Yeah, because there's no such thing as Office for Mac. Oh wait... (nt)

[qnr]

4. Or maybe, since they provided the money, they feel they own Apple? n/t

[Dogmudgeon]

5. Microsoft has only two Killer Apps left

1. Visual Basic
2. Word

Right now, I'm trying to get VMWare installed just so I can run those two pieces of software. (WINE apparently doesn't like either of them, but if you're a WINE guru, I'm all ears.)

Microsoft has also made it impossible to copy their warez; for all the moralizing about "stealing software", it also means that complementary and add-on products don't get sold, either. Which also means that as soon as the next recession starts hitting the business world, Microsoft will wonder where it is hemorrhaging from.

And those of us who have Rendered Unto Gates in the past but no longer have money to become, for instance, Dot-Net developers, are moving to Linux as fast as our penguinized webbed feet can carry us.

--p!

[qnr]

6. hmmmm, I don't use VB, but I'm curious, how close is Gambas?

terry@timestorm: /home/terry
18:28:00 $ gaze what gambas
gambas:
Gambas is a free development environment based on a Basic interpreter with object extensions, like Visual Basic (but it is NOT a clone !).
With Gambas, you can quickly design your program GUI, access MySQL or PostgreSQL databases, pilot KDE applications with DCOP, translate your program into many languages, create network applications easily, and so on...

http://gambas.sourceforge.net

[Dogmudgeon]

7. That's the first I've seen of Gambas

There are several VB clones now in development, so my "expertise" won't be lost. I'm learning Python mainly because it is the main programming language for the Linux world that isn't C, at which I'm a rank amateur.

Thanks for the link, though -- I'll certainly check it out.

--p!