Symphony 3.0 vs OpenOffice 3.1

[Yeti can't ski]

For me a choice between FOSS and proprietary programs with similar perfomance is non-choice. FOSS all the way.

And if they're still distributing this as a proprietary product, it means they're custom licensing the code from Sun.

This exactly what I thought. I don't see how Symphony could not be a derivative work of OOO, so if IBM is not open-sourcing Symphony it means that they got a different licence directly from Sun and are not distributing/developing it under the LGPL. Right?

I googled around a lot but, to my surprise, found very little material on Symphony's licensing policy. I may be paranoid, but I don't like so much the fact that Canonical is supporting a (another) proprietary project.

The fact is that inertia around OOO must be broken soon. Everyone's is waiting for clear signs about its future. I hope that with EU's antitrust greenlight Oracle will start to move and either foster the project or transfer it to someone who cares.

Sorry for the long post. In the meantime, I am trying to learn Lyx!

[forrestcupp]

Has noone noticed that the current symphony is based on openoffice 1.4 (reeeeally really old) while symphony 3 which will be released in February and is the topic here will be based on openoffice 3? Do you truly think it will have that many things in common with the old version? Come on ppl, do your research first, think, then speculate.

The reason they used openoffice v1.4 was because the old license allowed them to release their derivative in a proprietary format. So how could they possibly base their new version on openoffice 3 and still be proprietary? Do you have a reliable link that shows that they are using openoffice 3?

Also, Lotus Symphony 3 beta 2 is available for download, so people may not be basing their opinions on the old version.

[lykwydchykyn]

The reason they used openoffice v1.4 was because the old license allowed them to release their derivative in a proprietary format. So how could they possibly base their new version on openoffice 3 and still be proprietary?

They would have to make licensing arrangements with Sun (now Oracle, naturally). Since Sun always required copyright assignment for contributions to OOo, they can dual license the code under any licenses they wish.

Do you have a reliable link that shows that they are using openoffice 3?

from http://symphony.lotus.com/software/l...aHome.nsf/home

Lotus Symphony 3 Beta 2 represents a major new advancement for our Lotus Symphony users. Based on current OpenOffice.org 3 code stream. Lotus Symphony 3 Beta 2 offers loads of new features and capabilities and improved file fidelity. The Lotus Symphony team is excited to get it out to you and get your feedback.

[forrestcupp]

Thanks for the link. That might make Symphony worth using. I loved some of the features in the old version, but its bad points made it not worth it for me to use.

[gatorbrit]

Symphony crashed too often for me. I was running the latest version on a brand new PC with a fresh install of 10.04 and it just didn't seem stable (I was running 64 OS). I'm going to uninstall it.

[Yeti can't ski]

Well, it is amazing how the scenario changed since the thread was started. Oracle did acquire Sun, but in the end it abandonded Openoffice.org (at least as a true community project) and now the name of the game is LibreOffice.

http://www.documentfoundation.org/

Canonical has already indicated that it will replace OO with LibreOffice.

It is still beta, but I am using it regularly in my computer.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1585017

[devondashla]

Abiword!!!

[sandwormblues]

Outlaws rule the west. and Larry Ellison collects samurai swords. He's got an awful lot of them; i wonder if he is compensating for something?

what the heck are the university computer science departments doing? sitting on their thumbs? you'd think it would add to the prestige of any university to maintain an open source office software distribution. but instead the universities push corporate-run dog-and-pony shows.

the institutions of higher learning could make software companies obsolete if they just utilized a little free labor from people wanting diplomas. That, however, would require universities to become something more than institutions of mass brainwashing. Today, education is simply mass brainwashing. .

do you think the n00b world order wants an open office? outlaws rule the west my friends. and even in Britain and Mother Russia. yeah. even the b

Oracle headuarters is tall and made of glass i tell you. i say they are all vulnerable to ninja stars. but watch out for larry ellison. he's got swords.