Linux, we have a PR problem (ITnews) [LWN.net]

Linux, we have a PR problem (ITnews)

Posted Feb 17, 2008 7:58 UTC (Sun) by muwlgr (guest, #35359)
In reply to: Linux, we have a PR problem (ITnews) by hazelsct
Parent article: Linux, we have a PR problem (ITnews)

Yes, OO.o is compatible to MS O. in significat extent, but when you are deeply relying on
internal and external programmability of the latter, the former just could not serve as a
drop-in replacement to you.

Other MS lockin-traps, as was mentioned many times before, are Exchange+Outlook and Active
Directory. That's why most of us (industrial, not home users) would not collect enough
political and technical will to jump off the Microsoft's needle in years and years ahead.

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Linux, we have a PR problem (ITnews)

Posted Feb 18, 2008 15:30 UTC (Mon) by hazelsct (subscriber, #3659) [Link]

Like I said, NARROW CIRCLES!  For the 90+% of the users of Word, who don't do any programming
at all and just need to use it to type a letter or a pretty invitation, this is completely
irrelevant.  The moment they hear there's a free alternative, they either download it and
never think about M$ again, or they instinctively think "it must be too good to be true" and
don't try it for that reason.

Either way, the ignorance or the gut reaction against it are indications of the depth and
breadth of our PR problem.  If these non-programming masses got it (thanks to better PR on our
part) and used OOo, then its market share would climb so the corporate types couldn't avoid it
any longer.  Then MS Office would be relegated to the ranks of propritary Unix: specialist
tools with narrow and dwindling market share and declining technical advantage relative to the
ascendent commodity (in this case free) alternative.