Today,
out of curiosity, I downloaded the newest version of LibreOffice
(version 4.2.3). I had installed Apache OpenOffice 4.0.0 several
months ago but had not yet used it very much. Without going into all
of the details, these two open-source office suites are closely
related because they are each based on an the now defunct
OpenOffice.org open-source project which was originally based on the
proprietary Star Office suite. I did have Microsoft Office 2003
student and teacher version installed on my previous computer which
broke down 18 months ago but I knew that support for that aging
product would end this year and I never installed it on my new
computer. I never did like the licensing terms of the Microsoft
product which forbid “commercial” use since I like to dream that
I might derive income from my work someday. I had been considering
purchasing some version of the newest Microsoft Office 2013 offerings
but was again put off by the licensing terms and the cost of even the
home versions and I also wanted to study the new subscription based
options. Recovering from major trauma, I have not used an office
suite at all very much in recent months but wanted to start doing so
again. I did notice though that the Apache version that I had
installed (OpenOffice 4.0.0), while functional and usable, had some
issues. I discovered that a new version had been released (OpenOffice
4.0.1) to address various bugs and I was about to install the update
but I then changed my mind and decided to first give LibreOffice a
try.
Anyway,
even though I don't have much to say right now, and even though I am
afraid to say much of anything lest I suffer further major trauma, I
do have a new LibreOffice word processor to say it with. Now I can go
on and on even though I have little to say at the moment. Now I can
write down all sorts of witty little things and share my ideas with
others if I want to do that. Even if I do not wish to share my
writings, widespread secret surveillance and digital stalking by
authorities, corporations, and hackers probably ensures that my ideas
will be widely distributed and easily available to others anyway. I
am talented and creative and I must express myself if I want to enjoy
good mental health. I might go ahead and publish a copy of the text
from this word processor document on the Internet since it is the
first article I have written in a long time.
I
will even work extra hard and add another paragraph to this document
for all to inspect and catalog and maybe even use against me in some
new sinister plot against me later on. (Less than two years ago, I
became aware that authorities had been stalking me on the Internet,
apparently collecting everything that I had published over a span of
several years. [Maybe they were also collecting materials that I did
not publish.] They then cherry-picked certain materials without
putting them in context; treated creative and expressive works as if
they were sworn statements or assertions of literal fact; treated
statements of fact and expressions of sincere opinions as if they
were incoherent delusional rantings; and combined that information
with false and defamatory hearsay and tried to have me committed to a
mental institution. Not long after that very traumatizing experience
and fearing further abuse, I removed many materials from the
Internet, especially those where I discussed or documented my
interactions with authorities and I stopped publishing new material
for the most part. I ought to be brave and say much more about all of
this, but I don't care to experience more retaliation and be
institutionalized, even temporarily, right now.) By adding this
paragraph to my document, I increase the size of my document but that
is alright because I have a very large hard drive on my computer to
store documents such as this one. I could even write a complete book
and store it on my huge hard disk drive. I might even be able to fit
an entire encyclopedia on my enormous hard disk drive and still have
room for several post-it notes to spare. For now, I will use it to
store important documents like this one.
With
LibreOffice, I can organize the files that I create and save them in
various open source and proprietary formats. Can you imagine how much
fun I might have creating, saving and organizing many different types
of files? I can even open and save files using Microsoft Office file
extensions. Furthermore, I will not be hamstrung by license
limitations and proprietary restrictions as I would have been had I
purchased actual Microsoft software. My files will be less likely to
become obsolete and unusable as fast as I create them as they
probably would if I were relying on Microsoft or other proprietary
software. Files saved in open formats will probably be usable for
many years to come whereas it sometimes seems like Microsoft and
countless other corporate behemoths intentionally break stuff so that
we have to continuously spend big wads of cash purchasing their
newest software offerings only to find that the new versions won't
even touch the stuff that we created with previous software from the
same company. Or, maybe the files will work if we spend countless
hours teasing out the intricacies of compatibility packs and so
forth.
At
least Microsoft, for now, still offers the option of purchasing
software whereas other big and very bloated companies like Adobe now
only allow you to subscribe to their software, meaning that you will
upgrade whether you need to or not and thus you will fork out cash
each and every month rather than making a purchase every once in a
while that you can use until you can afford to buy a newer version if
desired or needed. Of course, you had better have a hefty amount of
cash in your bank account if you want to purchase and use proprietary
software such as Microsoft Office or the Adobe creative titles for
any commercial purposes, even if you are just an unemployed
individual trying to experiment with freelancing or are part of a
nonprofit organization that accepts donations. At least, that is what
I have surmised by listening to gossip from the Internet grapevine
that I am bodily attached to as well as by actually bothering to read
a few sentences from some terms of service agreements. Do you know
what I am saying? Check it out for yourself if you do not believe the
things that I have heard about all of this kind of stuff.
Of
course, LibreOffice might not save files in the newest, most
restrictive and most bloated proprietary formats that Microsoft has
yet devised. But who needs those sort of files anyway? Actually, the
world might be better off if, from now on, we ditched with the
proprietary stuff and just went full steam ahead with this open
source sort of stuff. Incentives of prestige and satisfaction for
doing good for the whole community and even some modest cash flow for
developers derived from voluntary donors will still exist for further
research and development of new and better products to meet ever
present and changing needs even if for-profit corporate entities
don't get to rake in boatloads of cash and impose all kinds of
asinine licensing limitations and all sorts of other arbitrary
restrictions on our use of products that we had to pay a lot of money
for. At least, that is what I imagine right now as I sip on a third
bottle of beer this evening and fool around with LibreOffice 4.2.3.
and compare my experience now with the experiences that I have had
using what seemed to be over-priced and very bloated proprietary
software offered by various corporations in the past. Do you know
what I mean?
Now
that I think about it, perhaps I have said too much already. Maybe I
do not not even know what I am talking about when I spew off about
various things. Perhaps it would be well if I closed down my new word
processor for now and got back to mindless and aimless Internet
searches for the latest celebrity news and gossip like everybody else
does before I make some really big and important companies mad at me
and prompt them to co-opt or sabotage the new software that I am
enjoying or cause them to identify me in particular and discover old
or devise new arbitrary restrictions to impose on me to limit my
productivity and creative output unless I give them considerably more
cash than I already have and shut up about all of this kind of stuff
and even then they will probably still want me to agree to yet
another byzantine terms of service tome and impose many arbitrary
burdens on me and fit me with a heavy yoke and whip me hard and steer
my life in a direction that they choose that will bring the most
benefit to them. So I might be better off if I just shut up about all
of this kind of stuff I have been talking about and write about
different things with my new word processor. By the way, did you hear
that Miley Cyrus claims she felt so sick yesterday and that she was
so disabled by this yukky feeling that she experienced that she had
to excuse herself? So, she like went ahead and just lounged around in
some hospital or something instead of performing in Saint Louis,
Missouri as scheduled. Do you know what I mean?
