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Who's afraid of OpenOffice?
July 31, 2006

UK home computing magazine PC Pro has an interesting article about how the mag was only allowed to put Office 2007 on its cover disk on the proviso that it did not also include any open source software - specifically OpenOffice.org

"There can be no doubt that Microsoft is afraid of the open-source movement. Last month, as part of the conditions for allowing us to include Office 2007 on the cover disc, Microsoft Corp - in many ways a company distinct from the far cuddlier and more approachable Microsoft UK - wouldn't allow us to put any open-source software onto the same disc," writes PC Pro editor Tim Danton.

"For instance, Microsoft specifically named OpenOffice.org as a program we couldn't include on the cover disc. That's an incredibly short-sighted move," he adds. "If I was on the board of Microsoft Corp, I'd be demanding that magazines bundled both side by side so that people could make their own comparisons."

It's hard to disagree, although it is also worth noting the power that Microsoft has over the commercial PC press - somewhat understandably given its domination of the market.

While we're on the subject of UK PC magazines, I noticed the other day that Personal Computer World's current issue is a Linux special is Linux special and features a cover CD with (if my memory serves me correctly) Ubuntu, Novell SUSE Linux, and OpenOffice.org, so maybe there's some hope after all.

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Posted by Matthew Aslett on July 31, 2006 05:24 PM

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Comments

Horribly short sighted and I'd heard rumours about this - now it seems their true. One for the Sin Bin.

Posted by: Dennis Howlett on August 1, 2006 03:58 AM

Definitely one for the Sin Bin.

But Matthew -- I'm not sure that it's worth spending too much time "noting" the power that Microsoft has over the commercial PC press.

Perhaps in terms of PR access, although in the case of these magazines, the same would be true of Intel (maybe even more so) and some others.

But if you're thinking about the kind of power that comes with big ad budgets, forget about it.

Last time I looked, Microsoft was spending next to nothing in this sector of the media. In fact, it actively competes with these magazines via Windows XP Magazine, the contract monthly produced by Future.

I'm not sure if you're having a dig at Tim Danton here. Maybe, maybe not. FWIW, I think he did a pretty good job in his editorial. Writing about it was smart.

Sure, it would have been better if he had declined Microsoft's conditions.

But then again, I haven't heard of a single editor anywhere across EMEA who's done that in relation to Office 2007 cover mounts.

At least PC Pro went public -- and in a reasonably sane fashion. In my book, they deserve a *bit* of credit for that.

Peter

Posted by: Peter Kirwan on August 9, 2006 08:55 PM

No criticism meant of Tim Danton at all, as you say, he was right to bring it to attention and did well to do so in a way that he couldn't be criticised for over-reacting.

And as for power and advertising. The fact that Microsoft doesn't spend advertising in these mags doesn't surprise me - because it doesn't need to. It is guaranteed coverage thanks to its market share (insert monopoly jibe here) and the demand for its products.

I guess once we see a Linux or open source software provider demanding that kind of attention we can truly say Linux has arrived on the desktop.

Posted by: matthew aslett on August 10, 2006 09:28 AM

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Who's afraid of OpenOffice?July 31, 2006

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Who's afraid of OpenOffice?
July 31, 2006