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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.bhp.com.au!mel.dit.csiro.au!munnari.OZ.AU!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in1.uu.net!world!mv!news.missouri.edu!vortex.cc.missouri.edu!rhys From: rhys@vortex.cc.missouri.edu (Justin "Rhys Thuryn" McNutt) Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy Subject: Re: Historic Opportunity facing Free Unix (was Re: The Lai/Baker paper, benchmarks, and the world of free UNIX) Date: 22 Apr 1996 15:33:31 GMT Organization: University of Missouri - Columbia Lines: 36 Message-ID: <4lg8sb$isk@news.missouri.edu> References: <4ki055$60l@Radon.Stanford.EDU> <4l0fv9$1bfs@news.missouri.edu> <4l2u61$fdg@solaria.cc.gatech.edu> <4l4crd$nus@miso.cs.uq.edu.au> <4l69vn$jb@solaria.cc.gatech.edu> <4l6rkm$8he@uwm.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: vortex.cc.missouri.edu X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.development.system:21807 comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc:703 comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc:3340 comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:3182 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:17711 comp.os.linux.advocacy:46335 Stephan Pfab (pfab@alpha2.csd.uwm.edu) wrote: : Byron A Jeff (byron@cc.gatech.edu) wrote: : [snip lots] : : : : - Come up with a free/open file formats for documents, spreadsheets and : : other file formats. : : - Create a free application that operates in that format plus can import : : (and export) documents in common current formats (Word 6 in particular : ^^^^^^^ : : or even RTF) Make sure the application is available for all common : : systems. Standalone converts for this is fine. : : - Promote the hell out of it. : Ok, are you paying MS to get the W6-W7 ... formats (remember they are all : different) and distribute the binary (non-disclosure !) of your : conversion program as free-ware ? Sure. Makes the most sense, or as someone else suggested, try to figure it out yourself. If you can create a W6-TeX converter on your own, MS can't touch it, and you can release the source. Of course, this is *much* harder... :) : But, if you ask linux-users how much they would give you for a possible : "Yes, you can use your old Wordx-documents", : maybe you get enough to afford MS costs. If the utility existed, and you charged just $1 per user, do you know how fast you'd make back your MS costs? :) I'd buy ten copies myself! -------- If you can lead it to water and force it to drink, it isn't a horse. Got a Linux problem? Or can you help others solve them? Visit the Linux Common Problems page at http://vortex.cc.missouri.edu/~rhys/linux.html rhys@vortex.cc.missouri.edu