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If the main problem you have with LibreOffice is "it sucks for editing MS Office files", that's a shortcoming of MS Office files. Practically speaking, if you
by nathan_long 14y ago
If the main problem you have with LibreOffice is "it sucks for editing MS Office files", that's a shortcoming of MS Office files.
Practically speaking, if you need to interchange files, you'd still need MS Office. But direct your grumbles at MS lock-in, not at LibreOffice.
- rthomas6 14y agoWhat MS lock-in? Nobody's forcing the world to use MS Office. They just already do. And since sometimes people will give me MS Office files, I need programs that can edit them correctly. I don't see how it's MS Office's fault that LibreOffice incorrectly formats Office documents. Microsoft doesn't seem to be taking steps to lock others out from editing Office format files.
- subsection1h 14y agoMicrosoft doesn't seem to be taking steps to lock others out from editing Office format files. Microsoft doesn't have to take such steps. It took them six full years (three versions of Office) to get Office to support the strict variant of the Office "Open" XML format that they created.
- nathan_long 14y agoWhether they are actively trying to lock you in, I don't know. But neither are they making great efforts at interoperability. I've had personal files becomes inaccessible before because they were in proprietary formats and the program no longer ran on my OS. That "lock-in" may or may not have been intentional by the software maker, but the effect on me was the same regardless. Now I use explicitly open formats and maintain my ability to change software.