Re: tlug: Office suite for use under Linux

[Frank Bennett <bennett@example.com>]

Dear all,

It looks as though the issues lurking in this thread have pretty
well played themselves out; as the one guilty of inflicting the
original question on the list, I'd like to call a truce.

In fact what emerges most clearly from the exchanges is that
those who have contributed to it are already in agreement on
almost everything that matters: Linux is a useful OS; Linux could
use more and better OA software; and improved data exchange with
other systems is important to the future of Linux.

What is peculiar about the incentive structures in the Linux and
the other non-proprietary software communities is that its
members have an interest in seeing these problems addressed
exclusively through internal improvement of the OS.  No one in
the Linux community is much interested in _impeding_ the
widespread use of other systems.  This contrasts with the vendors
of proprietary operating systems, for whom the decision to
support or cold-shoulder other systems is based on considerations
of customer base and market share.

I say this only as an observation, not out of advocacy; it helps
explain why the values of everyone contributing to the recent
exchange are in fact so closely aligned, and I find that
interesting.

Cheers,
-- 
Frank G Bennett, Jr         @@
Faculty of Law, Nagoya Univ () email: bennett@example.com
Tel: (0171)323-6351         () WWW:   http://rumple.soas.ac.uk/~bennett/
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