>         I definitely agree that M$ WORD will be the yardstick, whether we
like
> it or not. I have made futile attempts to convert our office to Star
Office ,
> and that only sadly underscores the point that linux is still not ready
for the
> desktop , from users perspective. While KDE has gone a long way to bring
linux
> on the desktop , there is still a lot of work to be done. KOffice will
> certainly do a hell lot of good in trying to persuade corporations.
>         But we cant always be dictated by past , or else we wouldnt be
having
> linux itself isnt it. I guess the shift has to be slow , but we can set an
> example by showing how wonderful this is. One common concern that I have
come
> across in whatever forums I preach linux is that of customer support. When
a
> company buys xyz product from so and so company , they know they can call
up
> that company to help them in case of trouble. Now will there be such an
> authority for koffice?. I couldnt answer this question to my own
satisfaction.

This is not a new issue with KOffice. It's been the issue with all
OpenSource software
for years. And yes, it hasn't prevented Linux from being more and more used
all over
the world, not only at home but also by companies. And always, people are
surprised
how good the support is.

I just got a mail from somebody having problems with KDE. Upon my answering,
she replied :
"Wow, that's very impressive, if only Microsoft could be as fast as you are
for answering !".

Second example : if you ask Reggie for a missing feature in
kword/kpresenter, he might 
implement it in the next 10 minutes after receiving your mail. Try this with
Microsoft. Ok, don't flood Reggie with feature requests, though, or he'll
kill me :-)

I've been doing user support for kfm/konqueror for one year now, and I can
tell you
that none of them gets this kind of support from a company.

So who can the companies call up in case of trouble ? Nobody. They have to
write
a mail instead. To koffice@kde.org or submit@bugs.kde.org.

--
David Faure
faure@kde.org - KDE developer
david@mandrakesoft.com - Mandrake
david.faure@cramersystems.com - Cramer Systems