EndNote vs. Zotero - but it's George Mason University being sued for over $10m.

[sensaes]

"Thomson Reuters, maker of the EndNote bibliographic software, is suing George Mason University and the State of Virginia...The issue is Zotero, an open source bibliographic tool that appears to rapidly increase its market share, as it is much lighter, platform independent, browser plugable and free. Of course, this is not the official reason,

Comments

[sensaes]

Mmm. Here's Crooked Timber's take on the story:

http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/30/gmu-sued-for-zotero/

Beware: Contains Wikipedia citation. ;o)

[sensaes]

*G* Sounds like Dr. Gonzo handling the case for the defence!

[lesbiassparrow]

I do not feel that people can say this often enough: people gladly switch from Endnote at the drop of a hat because it is crap. I use it and I do not think I have ever hated a programme so much; I'm just waiting to get enough loathing together to motivate me to shift to another piece of software.

[sensaes]

Well that's the thing about EndNote, really - it seems to polarize opinion so sharply that alternatives were inevitably going to spring up.

JabRef is one you might like to take a look at once your loathing reaches critical mass:

http://jabref.sourceforge.net/

[alv1e]

+1
I use jabref for a few years already and happy with the outcome. It is being developed even more. Never thought about commercial bibliographical software.

[dravogadro]

Thanks for the link. I heard Open Office is supposed to be coming out with its own pretty soon which I think will be interesting.

The irony

[trundle]

Am I the only one who was finally motivated to rush out and download a copy of Zotero in case it gets buried?

Re: The irony

[astartesyriaca]

Nope, it is on my 'to do' list for tomorrow now... I'm sure it will still be there.

[sensaes]

*Nods.* Threat awareness in business seems to work more slowly than, and is generally outpaced by, "competitive product awareness" (by users/consumers).

The fact that Zotero is open source and free must really bite.

[perpetua_redux]

Am I right that it can only be downloaded with Firefox?

[pansette]

Firefox, Netscape, or Flock, yeah.

[ladyshrew]

Actually, the real stupid to me is that they've just made even more people aware that they *can* switch to Zotero because a) it must be better if EndNote feels threatened enough to sue, and b) oops, now everybody knows that they can use Zotero and import their EndNote files. BAHAHAHA.

[sensaes]

Mmm. Unless they envision some sort of "dream scenario" endgame whereby they miraculously acquire the IP rights to Zotero. (Highly unlikely, but weirder things have happened as a result of legal action and subsequent settlements...)

[ladyshrew]

:-O

Can't stop people from dealing out whatever they've already gotten from zotero though, can it?

[sensaes]

Even lawyers have to make a living. Flogging irrational dreams to greedy clients is just part of the fun... ;o)