"Applixware Office and its core components fall into
that odd little area of software known as commercial Linux
software. There's no fooling around with GPL or BSD licenses here,
folks. If you want the software, you will need to cough up the
dough. This is an anathema to many dedicated free software folks,
and it is likely to drive many of them away. But, whether you agree
with VistaSource's strategy or not, you have to admire their
no-compromise stance on this issue in a time when many software
developers are pressured to open their source code.
What is a little harder to admire is the fact that you can no
longer seem to purchase Words as a separate component. It used to
be possible to pick up Words for $50 US. It appears that this is no
longer the case. You can now only order the Anyware Desktop suite
in its entirety, which runs for $99 US. Value wise, this is not
such a bad deal, since you are getting all of the office suite
components (Words, Spreadsheets, Graphics, Mail, Presents, Data,
and the SHELF/Builder) instead of just Words. But, if you are not
in the market for a full office suite this will be rather
off-putting. What is also very weird is the fact that you can't
seem to buy the AnywareOffice (the lite version of Anyware Desktop)
either.
Words as a separate product will be sorely missed by users
looking for a full-featured word processor. Because this is one of
the better word processor offerings I have seen for Linux to
date."
