Reacties op: Call for Microsoft Boycott provokes strong reactions

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:32:18 +0000

1) I can’t run OpenOffice for technical reasons (it doesn’t run on my OS/architecture combination), but you’re right, stuff like Abiword can read Word documents to some degree (they often fumble more complex parts of these documents, though!)

2) If you were to give them a document in a format MS Office cannot read, suddenly your format is “obscure” and “weird” and “why can’t you just use the formats everyone uses?” There’s no arguing with these people, IMHO!

By: Catharina

Catharina — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:24:53 +0000

Open Office has no problem with loading a simple Word document, so not sure what the problem is here. Fact is that it is the other way round: Windows users can not read the open document formats..

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 21:28:37 +0000

I would *love* not to care what people decide to use. If they want their system to get riddled with viruses and spyware, want their system to phone home privacy data to Redmond and want to keep paying for shallow eye-candy CPU-hogging updates, LET THEM! I’ll be laughing and pointing my finger while my machines are still running.

There is one problem with this.. What other people use restricts me as a free software user as well. I can’t use free software to communicate with proprietary software. Only one-way communication from free software to proprietary software works just peachy. This leads people to view free software as “bad”. “See, you can’t do anything useful with Linux! You can’t even load a simple Word document, while I can read everything you can give me!”

Try to explain to the average Joe why this is utterly stupid on the long term. That’s the difficulty. They often don’t want to understand. They want to switch off their brains and “just use” the system. Even some of the people I talk to who understand the issues simply continue using their proprietary software with its closed formats because it’s what they’re used to and it works for them.

By: Catharina

Catharina — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:03:18 +0000

No you could not.. Apple did not try to abuse the ISO certification procedures. Their system is much more safe than Windows. They make their own hardware and software, so it is a total different company. Personally I am just not interested in them, because their software is not free software.

Microsoft only makes software and they try to control the hardware market, so at most shops you still can not by a system without Windows and it and has been almost impossible for decades.

A computer system is much more than a tool. It relates to the right to free information, privacy and freedom. Can’t compare that to a hammer.. And even then; if you could choose for a free hammer that would work fine after two years of intens use, but you still could get a new free one, where would you go for your new hammer?

But with software it is not mainly about costs, but much more about freedom and openness.

And you say: “when I use a Windows system..” but the question is, why you use a Windows system?

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 16:17:35 +0000

In your call I could replace “Microsoft” with “Apple” and it becomes the same sort of allegation.
When I use a Windows system (any Windows system, doesn’t matter when it was released), why shouldn’t I use other software of the same maker?! That way I’m sure it all works well together and the user interface is the same, so I do not have to learn different kinds of codes or commands to do my thing!
A computer (system) is a tool, no more, no less. Treat it that way and you do not have to call on people to boycot a manufacturer.
I haven’t heard yet of any hammer factory to be boycotted because the hammer head came loose after two years of intense use… Instead the carpenter buys a new one when the old one is broken, or he fixes the head in his own way to the handle.
That is the law of cosumentism and hasn’t got anything to do with freedom of choice for a tool to my liking!