Apple software compatibility with open source file formats (Big Sur)
Hello.
As a tech enthusiast, I have acquired my own copy of the latest MacBook Air on its revolutionary ARM chip earlier this year.
As a FLOSS aficionado however, I have had to think twice in order to carefully consider my move before deciding to engage with this giant in the industry that is Apple. I know that there is a history of cooperation with the FreeBSD development community among other things.
I am delightfully pleased with the OS's smooth desktop environment, application integration, and overall ergonomy for which I feel Apple deserves its reputation.
However, I may have failed to anticipate quite a disappointment : despite owing a great amount to the effort of open source software and open standards (being a recipient of the UNIX trademark certification), Apple does not provide inter-operability with open formats such as ODT (despite there being the open document format specification), OGG and FLAC.
I wish I could use the OS and apps decently with my own files and preferences.
I wish I could edit my documents with the elegant Pages app.
I wish I could enjoy my music library with the smooth Music app.
In what concerns the most pressing.
Is there a workaround ?
I am afraid I will have to end up relying on KDE's Calligra and Elisa through the brew package manager, which would be quite an absurdity when equivalent software is native on Big Sur...
Is there a reason why Apple would not promote such inter-operability ? Lack of interest or motivation ? No developers to be assigned to the task ? Or is it the will to dominate a market...
Thank you for reading and perhaps providing an answer to help.
Sylvain
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.4