.xls microsoft spreadsheets cannot be uploaded.

FWIW, I have tried using Staroffice in the past. I used it to produce the Messier Handbook. I tried it for two reasons:
1) I wanted to create a document which I could export to pdf so that it would print consistently for everyone.
2) I was a little curiuos about this open source stuff.
However, after using it, I have to be honest and say that I though that MS Word was far easier to work with than the word processor in SO. Simple things like not having headers and footers on the first page or keeping the document's structure intact. So many times I had to redo work simply because it would open the document differently to the way it saved it. And the headers and footers issue was painful. However exporting to pdf was really neat.

One question Al, what's the difference between Openoffice and Staroffice or are they much-of-a-muchness??

The official answer from sun.com:
StarSuite 8 software is a commercial product built on OpenOffice.org’s open source code to provide the best value, multi-platform Microsoft compatible office suite aimed at organizations and consumers. OpenOffice.org 2.0 is the leading open-source project aimed at users of free software, independent developers and the open source community. StarSuite includes licensed-in, third-party technology such as:

* Spellchecker and thesaurus
* Mail Merge Wizard does not have the ability to send mail merge documents as emails.
* Select fonts including Windows metrically equivalent fonts and Asian language fonts
* Select filters, including Asian word processor filters
* Integration of additional templates and extensive clipart gallery
* Migration Tools and Macro Migration Wizard. The converted macros does not run in OpenOffice.org
* Sun Java System Configuration Manager for Solaris, Linux and Windows In addition to product differences, StarSuite offers:
o Updates/upgrades on CD
o Sun installation and user documentation
o 24x7 Web based support for enterprises and consumers
o Help desk support
o Warranties and indemnification guarantee Training
o Professional services for migration and deployment

For a detailed comparison, please see. For more information on components and services available for the OpenOffice.org product, visit the OpenOffice.org Web site.
--
www.sun.com/software/star/openoffice/docs/SO_Comparison_OOo.pdf has a more detailed comparison based on the previous release.

about.openoffice.org/index.html#history has a little of the history of staroffice/openoffice which may be of interest in seeing why things are the way they are.

Oh and openeoffice is free (as in beer) while staroffice costs money for non educational use.

Hope that Helps a bit,
Cheers,
~Al

HOLD YOUR HORSES!!!!

People seem to have gotten a VERY wrong end of the stick here!

This is not about preventing people using MS Office or about making MS Office users stop being MS Office users!

I don't give a rats ass what software you use to CREATE your content. That is none of mine or anyone else business!

What I DO care about is the format you choose to PUBLISH your content with and that is a very different thing. If you go to my website ( www.minds.nuim.ie/~voyager ) and download a copy of the slides from some of my talks many of them were made with MS Power Point, if you download a copy fo my 4th year thesis it was made in with MS Binder* and MS Word. HOWEVER I have published all these documents in an open format, PDF. This means that regardless of how I made them the documents are viewable by all for all time!

All I am asking is that people convert their documents to an openformat before they publish them here. To do this you can use the free and very small and easy to download PDF print driver. I am also prepared to add any other open format to the list of allowed formats if it makes things easier for people.

To publish your content here you need to do two things:
1) convert it to a publishable format
2) fill in a form to upload it

That is not a lot to ask and is a hell of a lot easier than publishing content on most web sites!

This is not an anti-MS thing it is an accessibility thing. Content on this site must be accessible to all and not just to the purchasers of one product or another.

Sorry, forgot to add in the details of the little * I put next to MS Binder!

MS Binder is one of the reason I no longer store data in closed formats. Binder was a nice product that shipped with MS Office 97 that allowed you to build up a book from many individual MS Office documents and it would take care of sorting out the numbering etc for you. This was perfect for writting a thesis in. I had each chaper as a separate MS Word Document and I just added them all together in Binder when I need my full thesis.

Great, so what's the poblem? Well MS decided that they were diss-continuing Binder and with no warning it just dissapeared from Office in all versions after 97. So, a few months ago someone asked me for a copy of my thesis so I said "no bother I'll email it to you". I got back and email going "WTF is a Binder file?". I then decided to convert it to a PDF but I hit a snag, my PC at work had been upgraded from Office97 to OfficeXP which had no Binder. I could not open my own Thesis!!!! It took me a lot of time and effort to find an old machine that still had Office 97 to finally convert my thesis to a PDF.

The moral of the story, if you value your data don't entrust it to a closed format, you may never get the bloody data out again!

Will pdf work with spreadsheets?

Yup! If you can print it you can PDF it! It is a most excellent format. BTW PDF stands for "Portable Document Format" and that is exactly what it is, it is a way to send just about any document in a way that the reciever can read it regardless of what OS they are using or what software they decided to buy, that is a text book example of what computer scientists mean by "portability"

Can someone on dial-up realistically download the Openoffice program?

Nope.

Does your average Joe Soap who has a passing interest in astronomy an a very average knowledge of computers/software really be expected to avoid using Microsoft software?

Nope! But that's not what I'm asking! Use what ever software you like just convert your generated content to an open format for publishing. In the case of an MS Office document that is as simple as clicking print, selecting the PDF Printer (everyone shoult install a PDF printer), clicking 'print' and entering a file name when asked. That's it!

I could understand Bart that you may want to encourage opensource software, but to place a ban on software which the vast majority of people have, is not lookng at the bigger picture.

Software NOT EQUAL file format. I am NOT 'banning' MS software, just proprietart MS File Formats. This is a VERY differnt thing.

BTW, don't get me wrong, the ethics of MS are far from ideal. However, you don't cut off your face to spite your nose.

Interesting analogy but not what I'm proposing at all.

Not sure I should stick my snout in here as things look like they could get a little heated. Ah what the hell! Here goes anyway!

For free, anyone can download Excel, Word, Powerpoint etc, viewers from the Microsoft website, the link to the Excel one is here:
www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx...0&displaylang=EN

Does this make it open to everyone?

Now I'll duck!!!