Who doesn’t have a need to type, or organize, information in a digital form? The problem for many is that the most popular wordprocessing suite (wordprocessing, database, and spreadsheet) is Microsoft’s Office. Office, however, comes with a lofty price tag of $125 or more. For this reason, I recommend Open Office Suite, “the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more.” Open Office can not only do everything Microsoft can do, but it can also read most of the other office software formats, and of course best of all…it is FREE. In this article, I wish to provide to you the tools needed to install and begin using this outstanding software.
First, you can download the software HERE. Installation is simple, and the program itself does a nice job of walking you through the process. However, you can use this Step-by-Step Installation, to help along the way. Please note that although the process in the Step-by-Step is for version 2.4.1, the process is the same for the newest version.
Once the software is installed it operates like most any other wordprocessing program you may have already used. The following is a list of basic tutorials found on the Tutorials for OpenOffice website, which is a good starting point for those brothers who have little to no experience with wordprocessing.
- Writer (similar to Microsoft Word)
- Calc (similar to Microsoft Excel)
- Impress (similar to Microsoft PowerPoint)
- Draw
- Base (similar to Microsoft Access) —THIS IS NOT FOR THE BEGINNING COMPUTER USER!!
OpenOffice can be used by any Mason, or Lodge, to easily and freely document, organize, and edit any information needed by the craft. It’s usage can range from simple printouts of notices to more complex mail merges. Create labels, fliers, and envelopes all while having the computer automatically fill in pertinent information such as name and address.
The overall rating for OpenOffice — 5 out of 5 stars (basic functions)/3 out of 5 stars (complex functions)
- 5 out of 5 stars for Masonic usefulness (basic and complex functions)
- 5 out of 5 stars (basic functions) / 2 out of 5 stars (complex functions) for ease of use for those brothers with less technology experience but willing to try
Please watch for future articles that will utilize OpenOffice. First of which will contain directions and files for merging of Base (database) and Writer (word processor) for pre-formatted letters.
I just want to add that if you know how to use a Bit Torrent file, then download Utorrent (a free BT file sharing utility) and grab the rather large OO file that way, instead of tying up the servers.
Very good point Tom! I do suggest those people, especially those on slower connections, that understand Bit Torrent to download in that manner.
For those of you that do not understand Bit Torrent….well I guess that is an article to come soon
I feel a need to point a link to the classic essay: “Word Processors: Stupid and Inefficient”. http://ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu/~cottrell/wp.html
While I will probably never get people to abandon their word processors, any more than I will get people to abandon PowerPoint, it’s worth trying if only to improve the paltry quality of most electronic communication.
That being said, OpenOffice is a useful tool. It’s free, and it’s open source, both of which are good things.
47th,
Although ASCII does indeed give the author more control in the truest sense, I must approach this section with the assumption that the readers are at the beginners level. I, for one, know that there are two people (counting myself) that could use any form of markup in my lodge. As time rolls on I will begin to advance the topics and computer level so perhaps you can submit an article addressing the pros and how-to’s of text editors??
Thanks for the comment
-Shane
Gosh, 47th P – it’s always refreshing to read articles from the early days of computing.
Next up: How Excel keeps us from remembering how to do sums in our heads.
:-Þ