OpenOffice.org To Be Given Back To the Community

[Sporkman]

Oracle has stated they will give back the OpenOffice.org productivity suite to the community. Edward Screven, Oracle's Chief Corporate Architect, said the company intends upon 'working immediately with community members to further the continued success of Open Office...

http://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/04/15/194235/OpenOfficeorg-To-Be-Given-Back-To-the-Community

[BigCityCat]

I was thinking this was an April Fools joke.

[handy]

I told you he wasn't all bad...

[earthpigg]

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Oracle-Announces-Its-Intention-to-Move-OpenOfficeorg-to-a-Community-Based-Project-NASDAQ-ORCL-1428324.htm

Given the breadth of interest in free personal productivity applications and the rapid evolution of personal computing technologies, we believe the OpenOffice.org project would be best managed by an organization focused on serving that broad constituency on a non-commercial basis,


"We intend to begin working immediately with community members to further the continued success of Open Office. Oracle will continue to strongly support the adoption of open standards-based document formats, such as the Open Document Format (ODF)."

translation:

Oracle does not feel that Open Source is a viable business model, so they are ceasing commercial funding of the Open Source project in question, hoping it's quality relative to other offerings will decrease over time as a result, which will drive firms to purchase one of Oracle's proprietary offerings.

Reason #314321342 why the EU or US trade commissions should have banned the purchase of Sun by Oracle.

Probably of very little value or relevance, but LibreOffice just got bumped to the top of the list of "Projects I will voluntarily work on if I ever become sufficiently skilled." The odds of me actually filling out more than about 1 bug report a year similarly just got bumped up.

edit: Posts like this are why I e-mailed an Oracle employee that shares my real-life name the other day, to give him a heads up that some day an Oracle PR or HR person may discover that "earthpig" is associated with "his" real-life name. (It isn't hard to google and find my real name.) I am not an Oracle employee, to the Oracle PR or HR person that may come across this, him and I just coincidentally have the same real-life name. :)

[pi3.1415926535...]

Though it does seem that Libre Office may be given the Open Office name.

[danbuter]

Not surprised at all. I'm far more worried about the crap that Oracle is pulling with Java, though.

[Simian Man]

I don't know which name is worse honestly :/

[jerenept]

I don't know which name is worse honestly :/

StarOffice pretty much takes the cake.

[Thewhistlingwind]

"Given back to the community" is newspeak for "abandoned" right?

[earthpigg]

"Given back to the community" is newspeak for "abandoned" right?

It is in the Official Earthpig Translation, anyways. :)

[TheNessus]

I have no problem running XP in virtual box solely to use a decent word processor - MS office 2010 that is. I never liked OO.o or other forked versions like LibreOffice. Abi Word is nice, though very limited.

[Aquix]

I hoped this would happen. I'd like it if the name was given too so we can leave LibreOffice in the woods. OpenOffice, without the .org, is a much better name. Do that and create a new modern looking logo and I think we'll have a winner.

[beew]

I hoped this would happen. I'd like it if the name was given too so we can leave LibreOffice in the woods. OpenOffice, without the .org, is a much better name. Do that and create a new modern looking logo and I think we'll have a winner.
Why do some people have problems with the name LibreOffice? Is it because it sounds French and the unilingual English speakers (Americans probably) feel uneasy about it? I find it very nice.

[earthpigg]

Why do some people have problems with the name LibreOffice? Is it because it sounds French and the unilingual English speakers (Americans probably) feel uneasy about it? I find it very nice.

i love it, and english is the only language i speak.

it does have a bit of a political connotation, though, in the american context.

it reads and sounds sounds kinda sorta like...

liberal - left-leaning
liberated - in the feminist context
libs - liberals
etc

im cool with all of them folk and was familiar with the term "software libre" before hearing of LibreOffice, so im cool with LibreOffice.

i can understand why some dislike it, though.

ponder calling something BNPowerpoint in the UK, or PNFEnterpriseOffice in France or KPDatabase in Germany for a moment... heh. the only difference is that we may not use acronyms as frequently in the states. :)

[Johnsie]

Oracle is one of the biggest financial contributors to open source software. They have also made alot of contributions to Linux development:

http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/linux/026042.htm
http://oss.oracle.com/

There are alot more evil companies to be going after.

[alaukikyo]

I have no problem running XP in virtual box solely to use a decent word processor - MS office 2010 that is. I never liked OO.o or other forked versions like LibreOffice. Abi Word is nice, though very limited.

may i ask what you can't do in libreoffice that you so in your so called *decent* word processor.

[Johnsie]

You cant do vba or work with legacy vba that you may need to use for work. You also dont have a suitable outlook alternative. Most companies use an exchange/outlook setup to handle email because it is very, very good at handling a company wide address book. Evolution can do exchange, but it does it badly. I use both OO and MS Office in work. A lack of suitable exchange client is one of the things that prevents many of our workstations migrating to Linux. There are also major issues with database editing in OO ie. the lack of a good Access alternative. We world with alot of big databases and need to be able to generate reports and do all kinds of sortation and de-duping.

[jerenept]

Oracle is one of the biggest financial contributors to open source software. They have also made a lot of contributions to Linux development:

http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/linux/026042.htm
http://oss.oracle.com/

There are a lot more evil companies to be going after.

**Coughgooglecoughcough**

[TheNessus]

may i ask what you can't do in libreoffice that you so in your so called *decent* word processor.

compatibility with MS word/excel/pp is very lacking. And sadly, I can't go around sending people stuff in open source format. Also, libre/OO.o are both extremely ugly, they look like from the 80's, and yes, that bothers me. The menus are hell and toolbars too. I find both uncomfortable for writing. I find Abi word more comfortable and pleasant to use, and wish it was more advanced.

[Aquix]

Why do some people have problems with the name LibreOffice? Is it because it sounds French and the unilingual English speakers (Americans probably) feel uneasy about it? I find it very nice.

I have nothing against Liberty or the idea behind Libreoffice, it just doesn't sound right when you say it, or looks right on paper. Not compared to Open Office.

[grahammechanical]

There could be another take on this. The bosses of Oracle may have realized that most, if not all, of the most useful developers of OpenOffice have joined the LibreOffice group, including some that they employ. May be they do not want to pay people to develop a product that they can't make money on.

Keep the name. I do not mind if it looks French. And my cockney upbringing will make sure my pronunciation of the name will not sound French.

Regards.

[neu5eeCh]

may i ask what you can't do in libreoffice that you so in your so called *decent* word processor.

Vertically center text without a frame.

In Wordperfect, I can accomplish this with one click. In MS Word & Textmaker, I can accomplish it in two.

Not OO, not Libreoffice, neither can correctly convert documents whose text has been vertically centered by any of these other word processors. That's a very basic and glaring incompatibility.

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=36117

[neu5eeCh]

Speaking of TextMaker, just bought an upgrade for $15 dollars. If you've got an older version, they're offering a promotional.

[ikt]

Vertically center text without a frame.

Most of us use the old "center horizontal and keep pressing enter" method :P

[KegHead]

Hi!

Hope this is of interest:

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/225357/oracle_gives_up_on_commercial_open_office.html

KegHead

[Enigmapond]

Yes this has already been posted here a number of times. My thoughts, Too Late. They made a decision that now they are regretting and since then LibreOffice now kicks them right out. I expect next they will be contacting The Document Foundation in the hopes they can work together now...

[neu5eeCh]

If I had to bet, I would go along with the general assumption that Ellison couldn't monetize OO. He couldn't care less about "the community". It's not clear why he would even continue to "contribute"? Maybe he thinks OO, if it crimps the competition (MS), will benefit Oracle?

//They made a decision that now they are regretting...//

I doubt it. I'll bet Ellison is glad to wash his hands of it. More likely, look for a new proprietary Office Suite; but don't hold your breath.

[pookiebear]

You cant do vba or work with legacy vba that you may need to use for work. You also dont have a suitable outlook alternative. Most companies use an exchange/outlook setup to handle email because it is very, very good at handling a company wide address book. Evolution can do exchange, but it does it badly. I use both OO and MS Office in work. A lack of suitable exchange client is one of the things that prevents many of our workstations migrating to Linux. There are also major issues with database editing in OO ie. the lack of a good Access alternative. We world with alot of big databases and need to be able to generate reports and do all kinds of sortation and de-duping.


I wish exchange would get caught pretty soon. Mac's email server which comes with server edition of osx is very nice and is a whole lot cheaper. Only thing holding it back is that you can't install it on a non mac hardware. Hosted exchange for under 15 users is cheaper now than buying your own server. Plus you dont have to maintain it. over 15 users and bandwidth is too much for normal business ISP offereings. But you are correct that non of the email clients are like outlook. Outlook can hook to anything and does free/busy calendaring properly in more cases that any other email client. Plus what you said about the global addressing.

Solution : If you could get a mac email server clone setup in open source bundled with a outlook clone email that was open source then bundle that with open office (or clone) as one nice package with an installer that didn't have you editing text files, then you would have a winner for sure. I haven't written a program in 17 years or I would be writing the server and outlook clones. I would make the outlook clone look like the outlook 2003 though since it was the last one that my users actually liked using. They all hate the way the 2007 and 2010 versions look.

[Sporkman]

Why do some people have problems with the name LibreOffice? Is it because it sounds French and the unilingual English speakers (Americans probably) feel uneasy about it? I find it very nice.

It looks weird and is tougher to pronounce than "open office".

[pi3.1415926535...]

Oracles new marketing strategy, as far as I have seen is to show how many big businesses they already serve, something like 98% of the Fortune 500 according to one of their ads. I am not sure how disassociation's themselves with OO.o will help with this, as many businesses do use OO.o.

[James7]

Why do some people have problems with the name LibreOffice? Is it because it sounds French and the unilingual English speakers (Americans probably) feel uneasy about it? I find it very nice.

Well, I am not American but I am a native speaker of English (although I am not monolingual). I think 'LibreOffice' is a great name, but I think you're right about the uneasiness of some monolingual English speakers.

[irrdev]

For everybody who hasn't heard about it already, Oracle has given up on developing OpenOffice (http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2011/04/oracle-gives-up-on-ooo-after-community-forks-the-project.ars) due to the mass exodus of community developers to LibreOffice. This begs the question: is this a win for the strength of the OO.org community and open source? In the context of Oracle, many users will probably say yes, but compared to Sun's previous commitment to OO, I think that it will hurt the project in the long run. I do know one thing: now that OpenOffice no longer exists, please, PLEASE rename LibreOffice to OpenOffice. Sorry, but the "Libre" just doesn't sound right... and I am fluent in French.

[pi3.1415926535...]

Personally I think that this will not have much effect on the project.

Also, I believe that the name "LibreOffice" is fine, I think that it may even be better than "OpenOffice.org". It does not fluency in French to pronounce it. Personally, while speaking English pronounce it with the two syllables "lee" and "bray", while pronouncing office "off" "iss".

[reyfer]

Actually, Libre is used both in French and Spanish to mean "free" as in "freedom" (not related to price), so to me it seems more adequate than "open"office.

[nmaster]

perhaps because of the drink "cuba libre" (rum and coke) i would actually prefer the name to be "OfficeLibre". its sounds more natural to me :)

[Random_Dude]

perhaps because of the drink "cuba libre" (rum and coke) i would actually prefer the name to be "OfficeLibre". its sounds more natural to me :)

If you're thinking in a language with latin roots, then it makes perfect sense that the "Libre" comes after the "Office". Never though of it actually...

As for Oracle giving up OpenOffice, what are the advantages? I only see the disadvantage of loosing a big company supporting an open-source project.

Cheers :cool:

[Johnsie]

Oracle are a big financial contributor toward Linux and Open Source. Sometimes financing a project can be a good thing, as long as it's managed well.


http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/linux/026042.htm
http://oss.oracle.com/

Open Office has alot of potential. I use it alot when working with data, especially big mailing lists. When someone here has a document they can't do something with they send it to me and I do some OO magic. Hopefully the project will continue to develop, but I think it needs the backing of a big company to succeed.

[howefield]

Threads merged.

[Simian Man]

I seriously dislike any project name with "Open" or "Free" in it, because to me it signifies that the developer's goal is to make a product with a license that they like rather than a good product. It sounds amateurish and lousy. "Open" is pretty bad, "Free" is worse, but "Libre" is the absoulte worst.

[user1397]

I seriously dislike any project name with "Open" or "Free" in it, because to me it signifies that the developer's goal is to make a product with a license that they like rather than a good product. It sounds amateurish and lousy. "Open" is pretty bad, "Free" is worse, but "Libre" is the absoulte worst.Running out of names eh? What about Office Abierto :lolflag:

[kaldor]

I don't know which name is worse honestly :/

OpenOffice actually sounds good and it just flows off the tongue.

LibreOffice feels unnatural and a bit cheesy.

StarOffice just sounds cheap.

[ErikNJ]

I don't care what LibreOffice is called. The funny thing is, me being in the US, I think Spanish when I hear "Libre" - not French (since Spanish is spoken in my area in addition to English).

Anyway, this is Oracle's politically nice way of saying they're abandoning the project. Of course, it makes sense being that most everyone else has moved on to LibreOffice.