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tx0105
June 2nd, 2011, 09:03 AM
I know this has been asked before (there's a 2 or 3 year old thread here) but I figured with the huge push for cloud based solutions in the last few years, it would be good to get some updated suggestions.

Anyways, I've been recently looking for a cloud based office based suite that isn't Google Docs. Call me paranoid, but I don't care for all talk about privacy concerns with Google Docs and the whole rights ownership they have over things posted on Google Docs. Maybe I'm off base, but either way, I would prefer a non Google solution. Presentation software is necessary as one of my uses for it will be using it as an alternative to dual booting into Windows for Powerpoint (Libre Impress is horrible with PP 2007/2010 files).

Anyways, if anybody has any suggestions, let me know!!

Macskeeball
June 2nd, 2011, 09:21 AM
I don't have any suggestions myself, but you might be interested in a recent episode of the Linux Action Show. http://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com/8506/build-your-cloud-pt1-las-s16e10/


Swooping from the clouds and getting in your face, we’ll give you solid alternatives to Google’s services that put you back in control!

Is it possible to build your own cloud? Is open source technology up to this task? Stay tuned and find out our ACTION recommendations for this mammoth task!

Plus so much more!

All this week on, The Linux Action Show!

That was part 1. Part 2 will be recorded next Sunday.

el_koraco
June 2nd, 2011, 09:27 AM
http://www.zoho.com/

It's in the repos.

tx0105
June 2nd, 2011, 10:14 AM
Thanks for the suggestion on the Linux Action Show episode. I actually listened to it recently and it was more about replacing Google Docs with something you host yourself.

I'm just looking for a web based office suite that doesn't have the same negatives as Google Docs.

Also, thanks on the Zoho suggestion. I tried it before and I had some issues. I couldn't work with a presentation I posted, and the Presentation app in the repos seems to not be working.

Does anybody know if there are any other alternatives? All I've really come across is Google Docs and Zoho, but there has to be something else out there.

Paqman
June 2nd, 2011, 10:17 AM
http://www.zoho.com/

It's in the repos.

Yep, the package webservice-office-zoho (apt:webservice-office-zoho) will integrate Zoho Office into your desktop. It's a really good solution for netbooks where you don't want to install a big hefty office suite. There's also the package desktop-webmail (apt:desktop-webmail) which does the same for Zoho email (amongst others such as Gmail)

Dragonbite
June 2nd, 2011, 02:33 PM
zoho.com
MS Office Live (http://office.live.com) though ironically it runs 1,000% better in Chrome/Chromium and Firefox than it does in IE. Seriously.
ThinkFree (http://www.thinkfree.com)

Or just look up in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Online_office_suites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Online_office_suites), which gives you a list of about a dozen to look into.

I think Feng is one that you could download the community version and install it on your own server if you are that cautious.

forrestcupp
June 2nd, 2011, 04:43 PM
MS Office Live is probably your best bet.

tx0105
June 2nd, 2011, 08:30 PM
Hmm, some great choices. I might just have to go with the Microsoft service, since at least that gives me the best chance of being able to view PP 2007 presentations.

Do any of these sites work specifically well with Linux? I saw that Zoho has some packages you could get that directly open docs, but the presentation link was broken.

Dragonbite
June 2nd, 2011, 08:44 PM
Hmm, some great choices. I might just have to go with the Microsoft service, since at least that gives me the best chance of being able to view PP 2007 presentations.

Do any of these sites work specifically well with Linux? I saw that Zoho has some packages you could get that directly open docs, but the presentation link was broken.

Like I mentioned, Microsoft's Office online works better in Chrome and Firefox than IE.

Of course one of the benefits of MS Office online is compatibility and if you upload and open the PowerPoint 2007 and it looks slightly off, try the preview view of it. I uploaded a Word doc and the Edit and Preview views were quite different. The Preview view could handle all of my formatting, while the Edit view only handled what IT could handle.

Plus, MS SkyDrive is integrated with Office 2010 so you can easily sync files between local and their SkyDrive.

I know there's an open office extension that allows uploading, downloading and synchronizing OpenOffice with Google Docs but I don't know if they have the same thing with other online applications.