Joao Santos wrote: > Wow. > > Well, I'm just a normal user (student, high school) who wants to keep > it legal. That's why I'm asking questions. I very much like the > opensource alternatives, but some questions appeared in my mind: are > those alternatives legal? Aren't they just "free copies"? Isn't that > an infringement of somekind? These kind of questions.
It is a free version of Sun's StarOffice and entirely independent of any Microsoft product. > > Thanks for the answer, although, I didn't ask for the "attack" on Bill > Gates. What? His errors justify our own? Because he stole we can too? > Not to justify, but to point out Microsoft hypocrisy. They make a lot of noise about protecting their IP, when they don't show any such consideration to many others. > No problem, though ;) Thanks alot for taking the time to answer me. > > - João > > > On 10/18/07, *James Knott* <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> wrote: > > James Knott wrote: > > Joao Santos wrote: > > > >> Hello, > >> > >> My name is Joao, and I was wondering if you could answer me > this question: > >> > >> Can Open Office (and other free/opensource software) be accused > of stealing > >> the intellectual property of other programs (in O.o.'s case > Microsoft > >> Office)?? > >> > >> Does OpenOffice infringe the intellectual property of Microsoft > Office? if > >> not, why not? > >> > >> I would be thankful if you could answer me this question. > Thanks alot. > >> > >> > >> > > Microsoft has often made such claims, but has yet to show any > evidence > > of it. Until they're prepared to specify what, if anything, is > > infringing there's nothing to worry about. > > > > BTW, MS has a long history of creating "FUD" to discourage > people from > > using competing products. This is undoubtedly more of the same. > > > > You may want to read this article about MS & Linux. > > http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS9559417024.html > > > > > > I forgot to mention, MS has a long and expensive history of infringing > on other companies technology. They are one of the worst in this > respect. This goes right back to when Bill Gates sold DOS to IBM > before > he owned it and then bought QDOS which infringed on CP/M, which then > became MS-DOS & PC-DOS. You can even go back to his days at > Harvard, > when he'd dumpster dive, to get his hands on other people's code and > then, contrary to Harvard rules against commercial use, used a > computer > there to develop BASIC for the Altair 8800. He then accused > hobbyists > of stealing a paper tape of BASIC and distributing it, apparently > forgetting that many who received a copy had paid for Altair BASIC but > never received it. Steve Ballmer is a loud mouth idiot and it's long > past time for him to put up or shut up. > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
