Roy Schestowitz wrote in <3807846.UQlSlmRNAC@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> on Mon May 15
2006 07:08:
> __/ [ Linonut ] on Monday 15 May 2006 12:01 \__
>
>> After takin' a swig o' grog, Michael B. Trausch belched out this bit o'
>> wisdom:
>>
>>> Of course, people also have the option of getting StarOffice --
>>> which costs a great deal less per license -- and shares a code base with
>>> OpenOffice.org. Even better, it's free to college students and is
>>> perpetually licensed from that standpoint -- so it's not like
>>> Microsoft's educational versions of products, where when you're no
>>> longer a student, you're not supposed to be using it any longer.
>>
>> Hmmm, I didn't know that. Seems like a dirty little trick to me.
>
> Interesting choice of words though. You actually *are* supposed to use it
> (the longer the better), but you must pay. Microsoft intent is *not* for
> you to /stop/ using it. Also see this outrageous (to me at least) story:
>
[snip]
Well, sort of. They want you to buy the regularly licensed version of
Microsoft Office -- essentially upgrade the license to use the software --
after you're no longer a student. In the past (though I'm not sure if this
is their current practice) they would brand their educational software as
an educational version, and you were supposed to physically upgrade the
software after your right to use the software under an educational license
expired.
No matter how you view the structure of it, however, it's just as nasty. I
rather like that StarOffice's educational license doesn't contain language
requiring this type of activity -- it merely states who's eligible for the
no-cost download of the software, and if you're eligible to download the
software at that time, it doesn't make reference to future instances where
you may not be. That probably means that I can't upgrade to new versions
after I'm finished with school, but that's fine -- if that's the case, I
can always go back to the OpenOffice.org software or pay the $70 for a
regular, non-academic license to an upgraded version. I certainly don't
mind that.
- Mike
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