free knowledge tools...open office

In 2003 I attended ETD2003 in Berlin, Germany and noticed some of the presenters were using presentation tools that were not quite MS Office (the presentation handouts had slide miniatures that were more square than rectangular). When I asked what was up, the presenter told me about Open Office. OpenOffice.org is a free productivity suite compatible with all major office suites. Although you get get a Windows version, this might be the moment for you to try linux by picking up one of those no-OS pc's at Walmart for about $400 complete, add linux, Open Office for Linux, and web and email clients for linux. What has this to do with building a Culture of Peace? A whole community supports open alternatives as a way to share knowledge and literacy without a profit motive....the kind of culture that the global village needs!