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Microsoft Office 2019 and 2021 for Mac view-only conversion

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Re: Microsoft Office 2019 and 2021 for Mac view-only conversion

#221
post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not even as a deterrence?

Go find some class action settlements. There’s a good chance the total damages (substantially) less than the profits from whatever behavior generated the lawsuit, and that’s not even accounting for interest. So, no.

And also not accounting for the other big factor: the probability of getting caught and reaching such a settlement/verdict. If the consequence is a thirty percent chance of paying thirty percent of the gains back in thirty years, malfeasance is just good business, not a credible risk. It needs to be unprofitable and pierce the corporate veil.

Re: Microsoft Office 2019 and 2021 for Mac view-only conversion

#222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s more malicious than that, they’re simply not renewing their code signing license hence making the software non-functional.

Which probably allows them to skirt legal liability... After all, a computer with the date set to 2021 will still function...

Until they shut down the server, which will almost certainly be soon after the certificate expires.

Re: Microsoft Office 2019 and 2021 for Mac view-only conversion

#223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are we acting like VS Code is nothing but a way to stop independent developers from selling their tools? Things like VS Code literally destroy the cottage industry and likely has held back our industry by several decades. MSFT needs to be at least six separate companies: Windows, Office, GitHub, Visual Studio, Xbox, and Azure. That would kneecap the company and destroy its parasitic blight on our industry for sev…

> Things like VS Code literally destroy the cottage industry and likely has held back our industry by several decades. VS Code was released in 2015, so even if its initial release somehow completely stopped the entire software industry, it would still not have held the industry back by several decades. > MSFT needs to be at least six separate companies: Windows, Office, GitHub, Visual Studio, Xbox, and Azure. That wo…

Is GitHub really profitable, considering how much Actions credits are given away to open source projects as well as free users? Same goes for Copilot.

Re: Microsoft Office 2019 and 2021 for Mac view-only conversion

#225
post #182

Been using LibreOffice for years. Everyone should. If we don't vote with our choices companies like Microsoft will keep pushing the envelope until you have to pay a monthly fee to turn on your own computer. https://www.libreoffice.org/

OnlyOffice is better than LibreOffice for people who want a more direct alternative to Microsoft Office https://www.onlyoffice.com/ (it's AGPL... there is an ongoing dispute with a fork now)

The fork is called EuroOffice and will be released next month. Onlyoffice is from Russian developers and includes binary blobs, it's not fully open source.

Re: Microsoft Office 2019 and 2021 for Mac view-only conversion

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are we acting like VS Code is nothing but a way to stop independent developers from selling their tools? Things like VS Code literally destroy the cottage industry and likely has held back our industry by several decades. MSFT needs to be at least six separate companies: Windows, Office, GitHub, Visual Studio, Xbox, and Azure. That would kneecap the company and destroy its parasitic blight on our industry for sev…

> Things like VS Code literally destroy the cottage industry and likely has held back our industry by several decades. VS Code was released in 2015, so even if its initial release somehow completely stopped the entire software industry, it would still not have held the industry back by several decades. > MSFT needs to be at least six separate companies: Windows, Office, GitHub, Visual Studio, Xbox, and Azure. That wo…

They said cottage industry, not software industry.

Edit: s/he/they/woops sorry

Re: Microsoft Office 2019 and 2021 for Mac view-only conversion

#228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s more malicious than that, they’re simply not renewing their code signing license hence making the software non-functional.

Which probably allows them to skirt legal liability... After all, a computer with the date set to 2021 will still function...

Yep. Scummy, even for Microsoft. Too bad their EULA blocks class action.

They were selling it until October 2021, so it's not some ancient system. By building a time bomb into it, they misrepresented what was effectively a $50/year subscription as if it were a $229 purchase. Should be a slam dunk case, but it won't be.

Re: Microsoft Office 2019 and 2021 for Mac view-only conversion

#229

This is the new way and we need to stop it now. Forget the 'is it legal or not' arguments, their lawyers will win. Just get mad and tell them this is wrong. Stop buying their #$@#$ software. Block them. This is what is wrong with cars too. Don't want to give them real time data on you and your passengers and instead try to disconnect the modem? Well, no car functionality for you even if it doesn't need it. -get mad-…

I think it's a vanishingly small number of consumers buying Office compared to businesses.
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