4 ms·

What if I don't know how to install the software to begin with? Or maybe there was a power outage and I "lost" the latest version of that important presentatio

What if I don't know how to install the software to begin with? Or maybe there was a power outage and I "lost" the latest version of that important presentation I was working on, then closed out of the recovery window—how can I get back to where I was? What if I forget my online credentials? What if a document isn't formatted like I expect it to be, because I'm using the application wrong?

chrisseaton 6y ago
How do people use MS Office and Google Docs without encountering these kind of problems? Maybe they aren't problems in practice, or people just work around in practice. As I said, if a document doesn't look right then what am I going to do? Open a support ticket and wait for a new version of the software? Does anyone really do that? Note that the question I'm asking is the same question that the LibreOffice themselves are panicking about! https://lwn.net/Articles/825602/ https://lwn.net/Articles/825602/
- addicted 6y ago
  Microsoft sells an entire software system (actually multiple such software systems) that are expensive, and require CALs (per user licensing) and server licensing simply to deploy software. Microsoft also provides many different ways to install/deploy Office products for enterprises. In fact, one of the biggest selling point of the O365 enterprise tier is flexibility in deployment/installation options.
- jlund-molfese 6y ago
  Well, from my experience at Fortune 500s, they do encounter these problems, but they're supported by internal IT departments. As developers (I just assume everyone on HN is one by default), we aren't really the intended audience. If office products are essential to your job, having someone to support you when your presentation is messed up (or even blame) is really important. Collabora's support model allows companies to outsource that support responsibility, similar to http://electric.ai/ http://electric.ai/ Does it make financial sense for their users? I don't know. But I can see the value proposition for someone making office software purchasing decisions, especially if they're concerned about a lesser-known brand like LibreOffice, or think open source software is inherently less reliable.

chrisseaton 6y ago

How do people use MS Office and Google Docs without encountering these kind of problems? Maybe they aren't problems in practice, or people just work around in practice. As I said, if a document doesn't look right then what am I going to do? Open a support ticket and wait for a new version of the software? Does anyone really do that? Note that the question I'm asking is the same question that the LibreOffice themselves are panicking about! https://lwn.net/Articles/825602/ https://lwn.net/Articles/825602/

addicted 6y ago
Microsoft sells an entire software system (actually multiple such software systems) that are expensive, and require CALs (per user licensing) and server licensing simply to deploy software. Microsoft also provides many different ways to install/deploy Office products for enterprises. In fact, one of the biggest selling point of the O365 enterprise tier is flexibility in deployment/installation options.
jlund-molfese 6y ago
Well, from my experience at Fortune 500s, they do encounter these problems, but they're supported by internal IT departments. As developers (I just assume everyone on HN is one by default), we aren't really the intended audience. If office products are essential to your job, having someone to support you when your presentation is messed up (or even blame) is really important. Collabora's support model allows companies to outsource that support responsibility, similar to http://electric.ai/ http://electric.ai/ Does it make financial sense for their users? I don't know. But I can see the value proposition for someone making office software purchasing decisions, especially if they're concerned about a lesser-known brand like LibreOffice, or think open source software is inherently less reliable.