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OpenOffice goes its own way
ComputerWorld ^ | 28 September 2010 | Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Posted on 09/28/2010 7:59:21 AM PDT by ShadowAce

After Firefox, OpenOffice may be open-source software's greatest desktop success story. For years though OpenOffice has stagnated. While under Sun's management, OpenOffice got off to a great start, the program hasn't been doing much of anywhere lately. That may be about to change under an independent non-profit group called The Document Foundation.

On the morning of September 28th, a community of developers and other volunteers announced that they were forming The Document Foundation to fulfil the promise of independence written in the original OpenOffice charter. According to the group, "The Foundation will be the cornerstone of a new ecosystem where individuals and organizations can contribute to and benefit from the availability of a truly free office suite. It will generate increased competition and choice for the benefit of customers and drive innovation in the office suite market. From now on, the OpenOffice.org community will be known as 'The Document Foundation.'"

And, what does Oracle, which acquired OpenOffice.org assets when its bought Sun have to do with The Document Foundation? At this point: Nothing.

In an interview, Michael Meeks, a Novell developer who works on OpenOffice said that Oracle has been invited to become a member of the new Foundation, and donate the brand the community has grown during the past ten years." In the meantime, The Document Foundation is using the "LibreOffice" for its OpenOffice code.

This is not to say that LibreOffice is an OpenOffice fork. Italo Vignoli, who is working with The Document Foundation, said, "We would be delighted if Oracle was a member of the consortium provided they respected the idea of an open environment to develop OpenOffice. We're not looking to fork the program. We're looking for continuity."

The beta code, which will also be available on September 28th,...

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.computerworld.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: openoffice
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To: Darth Reardon
it’s worthless for writing in LaTeX.

Latex? We got your latex right here!


41 posted on 09/28/2010 11:44:19 AM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: Still Thinking

That is awesome.


42 posted on 09/28/2010 11:47:53 AM PDT by Darth Reardon (Some politely call me free)
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To: Darth Reardon

I know! I haven’t seen a Windows7 one yet, but if he’s in that crowd it should be a nice-looking guy in business casual doing a facepalm.


43 posted on 09/28/2010 11:49:18 AM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: Still Thinking

Cappum!

*bang*

Noot wheet Ah Mint!


44 posted on 09/28/2010 11:58:30 AM PDT by GeronL (http://libertyfic.proboards.com <--- My Fiction/ Science Fiction Board)
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To: Still Thinking

omg, I thought my laptop might be enjoying it too much!


45 posted on 09/28/2010 12:00:34 PM PDT by GeronL (http://libertyfic.proboards.com <--- My Fiction/ Science Fiction Board)
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To: zeugma

I probably got it wrong exactly what the issue was, but she saw me do something along the lines of row insertion in Excel and marvelled at how much easier it is in Excel than in OpenOffice. She was a Java developer for several years before becoming a SAHM, so she knows her way around software development, and she was treated like crap on the OpenOffice discussion boards. There’s really no excuse for that, and it sounds like she’s not alone.

OpenOffice is a decent product that still needs to play quite a bit of catch-up to be a truly viable alternative to MS Office (imagine how much money companies could save by going open source on office software). Hopefully this development will improve things.


46 posted on 09/28/2010 12:12:20 PM PDT by Future Snake Eater ("Get out of the boat and walk on the water with us!”--Sen. Joe Biden)
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To: GeronL
Hunting Redneck: "911? I'm out hunting with my buddy and he got shot! I think he's dead!"

911: "Well, check and make sure he's dead"

Redneck: Bang! "OK, I'm sure!"

47 posted on 09/28/2010 1:44:31 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: Still Thinking

lol


48 posted on 09/28/2010 1:54:29 PM PDT by GeronL (http://libertyfic.proboards.com <--- My Fiction/ Science Fiction Board)
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To: Darth Reardon
OpenOffice is great if I have to exchange stuff back and forth with windows users, but it’s worthless for writing in LaTeX.

You might want to give LyX a look if you want LaTeX output.

Composition mode:

Output preview with xdvi:


49 posted on 09/28/2010 3:12:15 PM PDT by snowsislander (In this election year, please ask your candidates if they support repeal of the 1968 GCA.)
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