11 ms·

>Imagine taking enough of that money to support these 40 LibreOffice developers and maybe say 20 more. There are infinite ways to spend every dollar, why is Li

>Imagine taking enough of that money to support these 40 LibreOffice developers and maybe say 20 more. There are infinite ways to spend every dollar, why is LibreOffice funding worthy? In other words, why is LibreOffice's popularity so low that it cannot find a way to fund its operations? Which then raises the question - why do you want to fund an unpopular project?

komali2 6y ago
I think the idea is that 1% of a b52 bomber might take LibreOffice to an unparalleled place for a libre project.
- macspoofing 6y ago
  I get the 'idea'. There are more things to fund then there are funding dollars available ... by many orders of magnitude, so you have to make decisions. One of those decisions is whether or not to pay for a certain numbers of b52 bombers. Another, completely separate decision, is whether to fund a very specific niche open source project. Linking those two is disingenuous. If you want funding for LibreOffice, make the case to your representative. Make the case to others so they make the case to your representative.
- buzzerbetrayed 6y ago
  But why is LibreOffice so special? Surely there are thousands of other projects that would also love 1% of the b52 bomber budget.
- ihattendorf 6y ago
  Sure, but it could also take other projects to unparalleled places. Why does LibreOffice deserve that money over other projects?
jacobsenscott 6y ago
As schools move more and more online they are locking into proprietary office programs that suck funds from schools, and students can't afford. Sure, as long as they are students they can use the school's software for free, but once they graduate they can't. So in effect the government is already funding google docs and office 360. I would prefer the government fund opensource software that anyone who pays taxes can use for free.
- macspoofing 6y ago
  >So in effect the government is already funding google docs and office 360. Government buying services, or software, or anything, isn't really like 'funding', it's paying for services rendered. >As schools move more and more online they are locking into proprietary office programs that suck funds from schools And who is to say that LibreOffice is a good alternative. I'll tell you right now, it's not - which why it isn't really being used. It's a pain in the butt to deploy, and support at scale (from identity management, to sharing and collaborating, to security fixes and patches). >I would prefer the government fund opensource software that anyone who pays taxes can use for free. Sure. I have a preference for a lot of things too but we live in a democracy, so nobody gets to dictate their preferences. But feel free to engage with your local school board and make your case. Feel free convince your peers to make the case with you.
- stu2b50 6y ago
  While not open source, you can definitely use Google docs for free student or not.
  - MarcellusDrum 6y ago
    But it is a proprietary, private owned software. That can change anytime. Maybe not in the next 10 years, but it can and I suspect that it will.
    - stu2b50 6y ago
      Maybe, but >So in effect the government is already funding google docs Is just purely incorrect currently.
jbay808 6y ago
I think the cost should be compared to whatever they pay Microsoft for Office subscriptions for the federal government.
jm4 6y ago
It's not really worthy of funding anymore. Certainly not by the government. It's just not competitive with other options. I used to be a longtime Libre Office user. Back then, MS Office was expensive and only available on Windows. Even the Mac version wasn't completely compatible. MS Office is better than it's ever been, with a variety of licensing options that are affordable. And if you're a student you can get it for peanuts or free. Being able to use the same tools on desktop, web and mobile with everything accessible in OneDrive is a no brainer and outstanding value for the high end price of $99/yr for a family plan. If you're on a less expensive individual plan, a student plan or a discounted plan through your employer's HUP benefits, it's really kind of an easy decision.
- pfranz 6y ago
  As a counterpoint, I imagine the amount of money the US government already spends on MS Office could fund development of something as good or better than Office, while giving it away free to the rest of society improving productivity. Although, I wouldn't bet on the management of that project playing out like that.
  - macspoofing 6y ago
    >I imagine the amount of money the US government already spends on MS Office could fund development of something as good or better than Office No, it can't. Microsoft lives and breaths Office 365 because that is a core part of their business. There is zero chance that a government will care as much about this as Microsoft does, or the 10,000 other companies that are trying to supplant incumbents. Add to that the fact that funding will be uneven, because if the tool achieves a 'good enough' status, why keep funding it when you have all those other interest groups vying for money. The project will be susceptible to lobby and interest groups. Maybe a Senator will see it as a job-works program and move development to Alaska to provide Alaskan programmers jobs. Time and time again these massive government-run software project collapse on their face. In the commercial space, government just cannot compete with private industry ... at all. And this is not a libertarian disparagement of government. Government has a proper function, and competing in software with commercial offerings is not one of them. >while giving it away free to the rest of society improving productivity Says who? In fact, this is guaranteed to not be the case, because who is to say that funding a word processor is a productive application of capital when you're not responding to market forces.

komali2 6y ago

I think the idea is that 1% of a b52 bomber might take LibreOffice to an unparalleled place for a libre project.

macspoofing 6y ago
I get the 'idea'. There are more things to fund then there are funding dollars available ... by many orders of magnitude, so you have to make decisions. One of those decisions is whether or not to pay for a certain numbers of b52 bombers. Another, completely separate decision, is whether to fund a very specific niche open source project. Linking those two is disingenuous. If you want funding for LibreOffice, make the case to your representative. Make the case to others so they make the case to your representative.
buzzerbetrayed 6y ago
But why is LibreOffice so special? Surely there are thousands of other projects that would also love 1% of the b52 bomber budget.
ihattendorf 6y ago
Sure, but it could also take other projects to unparalleled places. Why does LibreOffice deserve that money over other projects?

jacobsenscott 6y ago

As schools move more and more online they are locking into proprietary office programs that suck funds from schools, and students can't afford. Sure, as long as they are students they can use the school's software for free, but once they graduate they can't. So in effect the government is already funding google docs and office 360. I would prefer the government fund opensource software that anyone who pays taxes can use for free.

macspoofing 6y ago
>So in effect the government is already funding google docs and office 360. Government buying services, or software, or anything, isn't really like 'funding', it's paying for services rendered. >As schools move more and more online they are locking into proprietary office programs that suck funds from schools And who is to say that LibreOffice is a good alternative. I'll tell you right now, it's not - which why it isn't really being used. It's a pain in the butt to deploy, and support at scale (from identity management, to sharing and collaborating, to security fixes and patches). >I would prefer the government fund opensource software that anyone who pays taxes can use for free. Sure. I have a preference for a lot of things too but we live in a democracy, so nobody gets to dictate their preferences. But feel free to engage with your local school board and make your case. Feel free convince your peers to make the case with you.
stu2b50 6y ago
While not open source, you can definitely use Google docs for free student or not.
- MarcellusDrum 6y ago
  But it is a proprietary, private owned software. That can change anytime. Maybe not in the next 10 years, but it can and I suspect that it will.
  - stu2b50 6y ago
    Maybe, but >So in effect the government is already funding google docs Is just purely incorrect currently.

jbay808 6y ago

I think the cost should be compared to whatever they pay Microsoft for Office subscriptions for the federal government.

jm4 6y ago

It's not really worthy of funding anymore. Certainly not by the government. It's just not competitive with other options. I used to be a longtime Libre Office user. Back then, MS Office was expensive and only available on Windows. Even the Mac version wasn't completely compatible. MS Office is better than it's ever been, with a variety of licensing options that are affordable. And if you're a student you can get it for peanuts or free. Being able to use the same tools on desktop, web and mobile with everything accessible in OneDrive is a no brainer and outstanding value for the high end price of $99/yr for a family plan. If you're on a less expensive individual plan, a student plan or a discounted plan through your employer's HUP benefits, it's really kind of an easy decision.

pfranz 6y ago
As a counterpoint, I imagine the amount of money the US government already spends on MS Office could fund development of something as good or better than Office, while giving it away free to the rest of society improving productivity. Although, I wouldn't bet on the management of that project playing out like that.
- macspoofing 6y ago
  >I imagine the amount of money the US government already spends on MS Office could fund development of something as good or better than Office No, it can't. Microsoft lives and breaths Office 365 because that is a core part of their business. There is zero chance that a government will care as much about this as Microsoft does, or the 10,000 other companies that are trying to supplant incumbents. Add to that the fact that funding will be uneven, because if the tool achieves a 'good enough' status, why keep funding it when you have all those other interest groups vying for money. The project will be susceptible to lobby and interest groups. Maybe a Senator will see it as a job-works program and move development to Alaska to provide Alaskan programmers jobs. Time and time again these massive government-run software project collapse on their face. In the commercial space, government just cannot compete with private industry ... at all. And this is not a libertarian disparagement of government. Government has a proper function, and competing in software with commercial offerings is not one of them. >while giving it away free to the rest of society improving productivity Says who? In fact, this is guaranteed to not be the case, because who is to say that funding a word processor is a productive application of capital when you're not responding to market forces.