Where Do I Go Now That Oracle Owns OpenOffice.org? 510
eldavojohn writes "So I noted that there was better support for my processor in the latest BIOS for my mainboard. After downloading the update, there was a .doc file containing flashing instructions. No matter, I have OpenOffice.org installed on this machine and just opened it up. And, as should be no surprise, there was an Oracle logo splash screen while OpenOffice.org 3.2 started up. At my job, I've had a less than favorable history with Oracle that I'm not going to get into — rather let's just say I never want anything to do with them again. Including installing any of their software on my machine. So I'm facing a dilemma. I've looked into the forked LIbreOffice but that's still in beta and I'm a little wary of depending on that. Has anyone used LibreOffice (it's installing as I type this) extensively? Does it handle complex Powerpoint files okay? Is there some alternative out there that I'm completely overlooking for open source? Can anyone convince me that there's no reason to fear the Oracle OpenOffice.org? Will it remain the de facto standard? Will it eventually lock me into a commitment with Oracle? If you get by without one of these heavyweight monster editors, what do you use and how do you handle doc, ppt, (etc.) extensions?"
Write to the manufacturer (Score:4, Insightful)
Ask them to stop using Word documents for instructions.
Ask them to use PDF or HTML.
Re:Write to the manufacturer (Score:5, Insightful)
Meanwhile, at some water cooler in some province of China:
Exec1: Some random guy who at some point bought _one_ of our mainboards, making us around 0.1 cents of profit, who may or may not buy more of our products, asks us to change our process.
Exec2: *rotfl*
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
CEO:
"We don't make our money from selling profits, we make it from buying companies, stripping the assets, laying off the workers, borrowing to the hilt, going bankrupt and doing it all over again. So fuck you guys and your "worrying about customers, employees, docs, pdfs, etc".. Don't you know we are living in a post-productivity world? It's all about the churn now, and by the way, I've just churned your asses, and security is going to be escorting you all to the front door".
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
....I've just churned your asses...
Sounds kinky.
Re:Write to the manufacturer (Score:4, Funny)
Guys, we are all right here at the water cooler btw. Why are we texting on
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Don't you know we are living in a post-productivity world? It's all about the churn now,
Speak for yourself. Maybe you are living in a post-productivity USA, but that's not "the world". Meanwhile, my country of residence is making its money by selling machinery and cars to the rest of the world. And I'd bet that countries like China, that actually produce stuff and sell it to countries like yours, would equally disagree.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Excuse me, Happy McFun, but did you not read the half dozen posts before mine?
Jesus Christ, your "country of residence" may have come a long way in the production of cars and heavy machinery, but apparently you've got a ways to go yet in the subtlety and satire department.
But don't worry, you can always learn from all the books, movies, and music we export to you.
Re:Write to the manufacturer (Score:5, Funny)
but apparently you've got a ways to go yet in the subtlety and satire department.
Actually we are pretty famous for our complete lack of humor.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Write to the manufacturer (Score:5, Interesting)
"I visited some technical factories in China earlier this year and they have gotten to the point where they know they have a high, high turnover rate. The average worker jumps ship in 18 months to get a much, much higher salary."
This means nothing but that those companies will need to be much less labour intensive. To-date, due to very low wages they chose man labour against automations every day; luckily for them (and for companies selling these kinds of automations) they have a big and obvious path for optimization by automation (in some cases you can find the same kind of factory that currently uses 1000 workers in China totally automated in Japan with just 2 or three workers).
Re:Write to the manufacturer (Score:4, Insightful)
it will increase our market target by 10% which is the penetration for Linux on our products
Wait, what has a 10% penetration for Linux?
And nothing in the server world counts, because no one's hooking a monitor to those machines and trying to read a PDF or a .doc.
Can we at least pick semi-realistic examples?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
"Can we at least pick semi-realistic examples?"
They *are* more than semi-realistic examples on two hands:
1) The general idea is that execs shouldn't laugh at a proposition of changing their procedures; they should make the numbers and see if the change holds water. Does it seem semi-realistic enough?
2) Increased sellings of SIL-based server-class motheboards coupled to the time when they released their drivers sources to the main kernel line.
And then, for an anecdote, I buy preferentially both computers an
Don't forget the user "education" factor (Score:3, Insightful)
If you're a Linux guy that's bought a motherboard and IS UPGRADING THE BIOS... then let's assume for the moment that you can figure out how to open up a Word document.
If you can't, then please pack the motherboard, return it to the
Re:Write to the manufacturer (Score:4, Funny)
"Use .doc format or your children won't see adulthood."
Isn't that going a bit far, even for Microsoft?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
If it's a document that will need to be edited by someone else, then I can understand using Word.
But for a document intended for end-users, it's surprising they didn't use PDF.
Re:Write to the manufacturer (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd agree if a) PDFs were easily convertible to other formats, b) they rendered at something a bit snappier than "as slow as they possibly can and still have anyone read them," c) were easily editable, d) weren't the current favorite attack vector for malware writers.
Seriously though, there's no valid reason that manuals must be displayed exactly as they would in printed form. All I need is the information. Put it in a .txt file if there aren't any images or complex formatting required, or put it in HTML if there are. Fuck a bunch of pretty and uniform, I want useful.
Re:Write to the manufacturer (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think PDF was ever intended to be an editable format, that's trying to pound a square peg in a round hole. It's supposed to be a distribution format. The fact that the format offers script execution is pretty baffling.
Re:Write to the manufacturer (Score:5, Insightful)
The fact that [PDF] offers script execution is pretty baffling.
No, it's not. Adobe need to keep adding new features to the format (whether they're a good idea or not) in order to give them an excuse to sell people newer versions of Acrobat and the like.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
PDF (Portable Document Format) was supposed to be effectively 'on screen postscript' to allow you to view content in a platform independent format which would render identically on any system.
Re:Write to the manufacturer (Score:5, Interesting)
Because Adobe keeps threatening to sue Microsoft [infopackets.com] if that feature is added.
Re:Write to the manufacturer (Score:5, Interesting)
And after, that stop acting irrationally. Sure, ignore Oracle products if you wish, if you ask me that's a good thing. However, refusing to use a FLOSS computer program just because it's written by Oracle (btrfs), or just because it has the Oracle name on the splash screen (OpenOffice.org) is simply stupid. Yes, Oracle are going to fuck up OpenOffice.org, and yes, we're moving to better alternatives (LibreOffice), but there is no need to rush, unless you want to help with writing bug reports. Unless you plan to do just that, jumping to install LibreOffice before distros switch is irrational and stupid. It's too early to worry about that.
OpenOffice.org is not a product, it's a computer program, that happens to have a Oracle splash screen on it. You aren't buying it, and the code is still virtually unchanged since the acquisition by Sun, so you can't claim that by using it you're supporting Oracle in any way. RELAX.
Re:Write to the manufacturer (Score:5, Funny)
Then get them to email the PDF to you, but make sure they include a message to let you know what it is, something like:
"Here's the file you were after, hope it helps"
Re:Write to the manufacturer (Score:5, Insightful)
I feel sorry for those who are more concerned with removing "evil" software than getting any useful work done. To those who refuse to run effective software on the theory that dire consequences will happen in the future I merely note that we're all dead in the future anyway.
Just instructions? Could be worse (Score:3, Insightful)
A lot of mainboards can only have their BIOS updated through a Windows utility, and so far I've never seen one of these utilities that works in WINE. Some mainboards can only be configured with a Windows utility (most Toshiba laptops for instance, but if you bought a Toshiba laptop that's just the beginning of your problems...)
Be Patient (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Be Patient (Score:5, Informative)
LibreOffice still depends on Java, which is also Oracle branded. OpenJDK doesn't release binaries, and Oracle still controls OpenJDK anyway. So Oracle seems pretty unavoidable right now.
Re:Be Patient (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Be Patient (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Be Patient (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Be Patient (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Be Patient (Score:4, Informative)
All the Go-OO patches should have been merged into LibreOffice and the Go-OO project is discontinued (e.g. developers are now hacking LibreOffice).. But if you insist on having something that is called stable, as opposed to running the LibreOffice beta, go a head a download latest Go-OO release (http://go-oo.org/)...
But remember to upgrade when LibreOffice releases a stable!
Re:Be Patient (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Be Patient (Score:5, Informative)
LibreOffice is unstable on OS X... crashes regularly under 10.5.8
Re:Be Patient (Score:5, Insightful)
LibreOffice is stable. It was a fork of a stable OOo, and I've seen no problems at all.
I cut over to it from OO and everything I need it for (documents and spreadsheets) work just fine. Even those that are sent to me from Word users.
Why fret about the Beta designation when it is just a stable as the version it was forked from?
Re:Be Patient (Score:5, Informative)
You mean except for all of the actual executable code being Oracle's?
Except for it being opensource so its not, and it was managed by Sun which is not Oracle. Oracle bought Sun, rebranded OpenOffice from Sun to Oracle (as should be expected) and that's about it.
Switching to LibreOffice should be the same as the original Sun OpenOffice except rebranded by the Document Foundation, and they are patching in enhancement by RedHat and Go-OOo that were never accepted by Sun.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
O_o Oh?
Re:Be Patient (Score:5, Informative)
Apparently not http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go-oo [wikipedia.org] and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LibreOffice [wikipedia.org] indicate there are several differences. Also libreoffice is based upon version 3.3 of open office plus Go-oo enhancements hence the beta.
The reason to start steeping back from the Oracle version, is they are likely to push Oracle Office cloud and make Open Office undesirable to get more people to their cloud lock in. Of course if you are already heavily into Oracle cloud lock in, bonus, if not then transitioning to libreoffice makes sense.
You can also give http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Lotus_Symphony [wikipedia.org] a shot as the current version is based upon open office. Interestingly enough software development is done IBM China Development Laboratory, located in Beijing, so there is very likely to be a huge surge in the number of users in the not to distant future.
The advantage of open source is made very apparent as a result of Oracle machinations, choice. Of course what will be the macro language in the future will also be an interesting question, Ruby would be nice.
Re:Be Patient (Score:4, Interesting)
You can also give http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Lotus_Symphony [wikipedia.org] a shot as the current version is based upon open office. Interestingly enough software development is done IBM China Development Laboratory, located in Beijing, so there is very likely to be a huge surge in the number of users in the not to distant future.
I wouldn't be so sure about that one. I'm thinking that IBM based development of Symphony in China as a measure of cost reduction, not because they are targeting a Chinese audience. Further, even if their target is a Chinese user-base I don't think Symphony will take off there; things like linux-based Ylmf OS [ylmf.org] (which is developed by a Chinese company for a Chinese user-base) have trouble gaining traction. China already has Kingsoft WPS Office [kingsoft.com] which is free for personal use. (The English version [kingsoftna.com] is a 30-day free trial.) The only Chinese I know that don't use Kingsoft WPS Office are the ones doing graduate study in the US. They're using bootlegged copies of Microsoft Office instead.
libre office (Score:2, Interesting)
just go where 90% of developers have allready gone: http://www.documentfoundation.org/download/
Should be fine... (Score:4, Interesting)
Seeing as libreoffice is just a fork of openoffice (they're probably almost identical in code right now), you can probably rely on it just as much as openoffice now, and possibly even more in the future.
Re:Should be fine... (Score:4, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Should be fine... (Score:4, Insightful)
Considering one of the things they did was pull in the go-oo patches that include better docx support, I doubt that is the big fear. It's mostly only RMS that think closed source lock-out is a way to promote freedom.
Re:Should be fine... (Score:4, Informative)
So while I agree that ATM OO.o and LibreOffice is virtually the same, have they said ANYTHING about MS Office compatibility on their roadmap?
Yes, see the latest announcement [documentfoundation.org]. It specifically mentions VBA macro support, which is even dirtier than just supporting MS formats. At the same time the announcement mentions reducing Java dependency which is probably a good thing. Java probably wasn't integrated by Sun to fulfill a real need, but as a Java marketing method.
Re:Should be fine... (Score:4, Interesting)
Considering that even Microsoft has trouble supporting VBA (i.e. the lack of VBA in various versions of Office on Mac), I wish the LibreOffice people luck in their efforts :)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
That just means that the kernel maintainers don't want any bug reports from you since you are running a kernel that contains code that they do not have access to the source of. When you install a closed-source driver you become dependent on the supplier of that driver since only they have have full access to the source code for your kernel. If you trust that supplier that's cool but the kernel maintainers can't help you.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
if you weren't slow, you'd have done some research, and worked out the taint name is used for a lot of things and predates the binary drivers.
But I suppose being an idiot isn't your fault, probably genetic.
Re:Should be fine... (Score:5, Informative)
He's not just some guy, he's David Arlie. He's done work on Xorg stuff, including the nouveau driver. You should be honoured that he called you an idiot, especially since it's his second comment on Slashdot, after the first posted in 2005.
I'm not getting into the argument, just thought I'd point it out, considering that he is kind of a public person in these circles.
I'm guessing his dog must have died and he had to vent, taking these factors into consideration.
Re:Should be fine... (Score:4, Insightful)
He's not just some guy, he's David Arlie. He's done work on Xorg stuff, including the nouveau driver. You should be honoured that he called you an idiot, especially since it's his second comment on Slashdot, after the first posted in 2005.
So what you're saying is... he's not just any pompous windbag going off on some random guy on a messageboard with the kind of insult most of us outgrew in the 7th grade, but a specific pompous windbag with some kind of claim to nerd street cred in a particular nerd subculture going off on some random guy on a messageboard with the kind of insult most of us outgrew in the 7th grade?
That's informative, but I still don't think the aforementioned random guy should feel honored. You've got somewhat odd criteria for choosing your objects of worship.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You know, I'm not taking sides here but I feel the need to point out something too. It doesn't matter how high in the geek celebrity circle someone is, calling another person an idiot because they aren't aware of the facts, in itself indicates a juvenile mentality. Calling someone ignorant, on the other hand, would not only be more correct, it would be less childish and offensive to boot, and would allow for a reasonable request to become educated on the matter.
Yes, Mr. Arlie is an Xorg driver genius, but h
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
It always cracked me up because I would always think to myself "Yep, tainting my damned kernel with a driver that actually has good 3D performance."
Re:Should be fine... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Should be fine... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Should be fine... (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Should be fine... (Score:4, Insightful)
Not intended != Not suitable.
OO / Libreoffiec (Score:4, Informative)
For now would have thought Libreoffice's support for Powerpoint etc would be on a par with OO as the fork is based on the 0O 3.3 code base...
Antiword (Score:3, Informative)
As long as images aren't an issue, you could use Antiword [demon.nl] to convert it into a (somewhat) styled text file. That's what I did when I ran into the same thing with BIOS updates.
Microsoft Office (Score:5, Funny)
If you don't want to deal with Oracle. Then buy Microsoft Office. You never said you didn't want to deal with Microsoft too.
Re:Microsoft Office (Score:4, Funny)
And if you don't want to deal with Microsoft either, you can buy a Mac mini and iWork!
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Hey! Remember before there was Word and even Linux, we used to use WordPerfect under DOS? They're still around [slashdot.org]!
Anyone actually use it and have crap to say about it? ^_^
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Then we have a few people that interact a great deal more with other companies, local government and etc. For them we have to buy license of Microsoft Word, because abovementioned external parties continue to mindlessly send us stuff in Word format, often @#%$@#%&^%$#*& .DOCX format, and the users aren't happy with Word Viewer
Re:Microsoft Office (Score:4, Informative)
Obviously this is a joke but... I just got done editing a file using Office 2007 SP2.... on my Arch Linux box using Crossover. Office 2010 isn't supported yet, but I have a feeling it will be in the first half of next year. I also use Openoffice on a daily basis for making drawings with OODraw. I did a master's thesis and all my law-review related work in OOWriter. Unfortunately, right now I need MS Office for compatibility since my daily use involves ping-ponging documents back & forth with other people using track changes.. an area where OO still sorely lags even using the ODF document formats.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Have you ever heard of LaTeX and subversion? Just checking...
He probably has....but everyone else he works with probably hasn't nor are they willing to spend all the time on the learning curve to use it.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
If I had points I'd mod you insightful. While the OP doesn't state it, I would assume that MS would be off the table, given that Larry Ellison is trying to be Bill Gates. But, if it's solely an Oracle problem, Office has nothing to do with that.
OP does state it, quite clearly in fact: " Is there some alternative out there that I'm completely overlooking for open source?"
Unless Microsoft recently released the source code to their office suite this option has been pretty clearly disqualified. RTFA.
Try Google Docs (Score:5, Informative)
Try Google Docs or Zoho. Google 'em.
Re:Try Google Docs (Score:5, Informative)
Not exactly Open Source as the submitter asked for.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
It's possible the submitter requests open source because he doesn't trust running closed source software on his machine, which would make Google Docs kosher, as it's 100% web-based.
It can't be that different already, right? (Score:2, Informative)
Does it handle complex Powerpoint files okay?
Heh. How different would LibreOffice have managed to become in like the month and a half it's been split from OpenOffice.org?
About stability, I think most of the changes that have been integrated so far has already been somewhat tested by being included in distribution patches or similar, but I admit that I probably don't really know enough to make much of a statement.
Re:It can't be that different already, right? (Score:5, Informative)
The first thing they did is add all the patches that where already in used by the folks from http://go-oo.org/ [go-oo.org] . These are all the patches that the Linux-maintainers has created/collected but where never accepted by the OpenOffice maintainers, which is actually quiet a lot. Because the acceptance process is so slow.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, given licensing, etc., there *could* be an immense change. I don't think there has been, but that's not a given. Particularly with Oracle talking about putting out a non-free version of the JVM. (That's one thing I thought was totally standardized.)
Given the recent news, I can understand being hesitant to trust anything with Oracle's name on it, or around it. This despite my being quite willing to trust similar products with Sun's name on them.
OTOH, I don't feel any pressing need to switch from Op
Close your eyes while logo is displayed (Score:5, Funny)
LibreOffice has the spanish word "libre" in it. I can't use that either because I strongly condemn the actions during the Spanish Inquisition.
Java, OpenOffice, MySQL are all GPL or better and no one can change that.
Don't be launching VirtualBox either. (Score:2)
Larry pisses his logo on everything first.
Then later he'll set fire to it, cut it into pieces, and throw it in a barrel of quicklime. He's the serial killer of good technology.
Re:Don't be launching VirtualBox either. (Score:5, Funny)
and throw it in a barrel of quicklime
There was a bit of dust on my screen next to the l, so that looked like you said he threw it in a barrel of quicktime. Somehow, the sentence still seemed plausible, it just looked like you'd confused CEOs...
Re:Don't be launching VirtualBox either. (Score:5, Interesting)
The point of Open Source is... (Score:4, Insightful)
...that you can use whatever software you like. If you were happy with the last Sun release of OpenOffice, then download and use that instead. It should be fine for a couple of years* and by then it should be clear which OSS office software is appropriate for you.
*It's not uncommon for Microsoft to go several years between releases of MS Office, so two years with Sun's last OpenOffice release isn't unreasonable.
LibreOffice relies heavily on Java, (Score:4, Insightful)
and as such it remains vulnerable to potential legal attacks from Oracle which now owns the Java technology [linux-magazine.com]...
Disaster awaits if something isn't done about this...
Re:LibreOffice relies heavily on Java, (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:LibreOffice relies heavily on Java, (Score:4, Funny)
they may as well close down java.com and close up their database business while they are at it, nobody would trust working with oracle owned properties for anything of any consequence
Give them time, they seem to be working on it full time at the moment.
Re:LibreOffice relies heavily on Java, (Score:4, Informative)
They don't care about all those users, they just want money from Java-users. They don't care if they loose or piss off the smaller users, the really big enterprise users can't switch in 10 years time anyway. That is where the money is, usually banks and other big companies/institutions.
Lotus Symphony (Score:3, Informative)
The problem is what it pulls in (Score:2)
The problem will come if OpenOffice starts to demand Oracle's proprietary version of Java, and then Oracle starts to tighten the screws on Java.
I'm much more worried about MySQL under Oracle's control. Oracle has every reason to make MySQL worse, especially the versions that scale up.
Lockin? (Score:2)
You can always leave later. Your data won't always be perfectly portable, but you can keep old versions of Staroffice around and export to various formats.
IBM Lotus Symphony ... ? (Score:2)
You could try this: http://symphony.lotus.com/software/lotus/symphony/home.nsf/home [lotus.com]
Although, if you've had bad experience with Oracle, maybe you've had bad experience with IBM, as well.
Ratonale? (Score:3, Insightful)
At my job, I've had a less than favorable history with Oracle that I'm not going to get into — rather let's just say I never want anything to do with them again.
I'd like to think people who deal with technology are rational, so if in your dealings with Oracle you have learned of some objective reason why people should avoid OpenOffice.org now, I believe you should share it, if your contract allows.
If there's no objective reason, then quite simply keep using OpenOffice.org and keep an eye on the situation between Oracle and LibreOffice.org.
In our daily lives we use the services of companies that have wronged us by means of poor policy, or unprofessional employees, but if we took a hard stance every single time and dropped everything, even at no clear alternative, society would not last for long.
If you live in US, did you stop using oil fuel and oil based products (i.e. basically almost everything around you) when the BP oil spill happened? I guess not.
Oracle Logo ? (Score:4, Funny)
Your problem is the Oracle Logo... go to gnome-look.org and find a new splash screen that suit you.
The MrBabyMan of Slashdot? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you weren't a Slashdot celebrity, that ridiculous submission would have been rejected as whining over a complete non-issue. Grab the OOo source, and build your own copy that doesn't display the Oracle logo. Problem solved. (Or just look away when the splash screen appears).
Re: (Score:3)
Don't worry about it (Score:5, Insightful)
All Oracle did was buy Sun. There isn't some sort of magical evil contagion that instantly infected OpenOffice.org; the software is no different than it was before the sale.
Now, Oracle could potentially direct OpenOffice.org development to go down the path of evil. They could change the license under which OO.o is distributed to an unacceptable one. They could do all sorts of things! But they haven't had time to do it yet, and by the time they get their evil ducks in a row, LibreOffice will be up and running.
Little-known fact: many (most?) Linux distros are already shipping a non-pure OO.o. There is a collection of patches that were never part of the official OO.o, called Go-oo [go-oo.org], and distros have been shipping Go-oo instead of the pure Oo.o.
I fully expect LibreOffice to merge all the Go-oo patches, leaving us with two office suites: Oracle OO.o, and LibreOffice. And I think it is very possible that the community will line up behind LibreOffice and leave Oracle OO.o completely irrelevant and unloved. (Consider the situation with Xfree86 and X.org. In that case, the switchover happened in a stunningly short period of time.)
The worst-case scenario is that Oracle adopts some license that keeps LibreOffice from merging Oracle patches, and then Oracle funds a development team to make giant improvements to Oracle OO.o; then the community might have to choose between the free LibreOffice and the Oracle offering. But even there, I am not actually worried. The current state of OpenOffice is usable. Even if Oracle poured huge resources into OO.o development, what could they really offer to tempt us away from LibreOffice? A toolbar with giant icons? A dancing paperclip? Meanwhile, if all that LibreOffice does is simply to fix bugs, improve speed, and rewrite to end Java dependencies, I for one would be completely happy.
If you use OO.o on Windows, just don't take any updates until LibreOffice is ready, and you will be fine. Or better yet, simply start getting your installers from the Go-oo web site. If you use Linux, you almost certainly can simply trust your distro to do a good job of keeping your office suite relatively evil-free.
Oracle may be evil, but they aren't magically evil. Don't worry about this.
P.S. After writing this post, my 'o' key on my keyboard is overheating. I'd better not use it for a while or it might stp wrking.
steveha
No Oracle at all? (Score:4, Insightful)
I guess that means no java for you either :)
Make it a pic of your cat instead. (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm not usually the one to post these types of 'fix it yourself' OSS comments...
Download the source
replace oracle logos with something else
compile
problem solved (profit?)..
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Go-oo have announced that they are going to close down their project and support LibreOffice, but in the mean time until LibreOffice comes out of beta Go-oo is a viable choice if you want a stable release with no Oracle logo.
Re:Open Office a de facto standard? (Score:5, Insightful)
OOXML is a documented standard, ISO/IEC 29500.
lol
Re:Open Office a de facto standard? (Score:4, Informative)
Koffice has just split! (Score:5, Informative)
http://lists.kde.org/?l=koffice-devel&m=128782551919625&w=2 [kde.org]
"Dear fellow members of the community,
As you might be aware, after months of discussions, it has been concluded that
the best solution is to split the community.
However, the split is going to happen at application level. The maintainer of
each application will be asked to consult his fellow developers to decide in
which group, A or B, the application will lived. The other group is free to
fork the application under a different name. It is also possible for the
developers to change the application name and ask that the current name is not
used by any of the group. This can be used as an opportunity for a fresh
start.
Currently, to the best of my knowledge the groups are composed of the
following applications:
Group A: KWord
Group B: KPresenter, Krita, Karbon, Kexi
Since the license give the right for a fork, I can already mention that Group
B will come with a fork of KWord, under a name that has yet to be decided.
Group A is free to fork any application of Group B under a different name.
Maintainers have until Sunday October 31th to decide with which group to go.
Applications that have not choosen a group will have to be renamed by each
group.
The KDE e.V. board will be asked to decide what happen to the KOffice name,
the KOffice website, the KOffice mailing list, KOffice.org, KOffice wiki and
the KOffice bugzilla product. The recommendation from members of the CWG is to
retire the name KOffice altogether, which will allow both side to start on a
fresh start and leave the past behind. Then the application maintainers and
developers of each group will have one week to find a new name for their
suite, and move to another place in the KDE subversion tree and to rename or
remove the applications that are in the other group.
In the meantime, I am suspending the KOffice release process, meaning that I
will release Beta 3, but that the date for the following release is undefined.
The reason is that I do not feel confident that the splitting will happen in
time before the RC1, and I do not think it is a good idea to ship a RC release
that will get different applications than the final release. If the splitting
takes more time, I will proceed with one more beta. I also advise each group
to ensure that they have a release coordinator.
I will urge readers of this letter to:
1) refrain discussion around the splitting outside the mailing list, or to do
so in private conversation
2) acknowledge, that at this point there is no sense in trying to place the
blame anywhere, we just have to accept the fact
3) remain civilised and polite in this difficult moment
--
Cyrille Berger Skott"
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
That's a very cryptic mailing list message - presumably deliberately so - but this reply [kde.org] appears to be fairly accurate about the missing details. Basically, Nokia wanted to use the core of KOffice in the office application on their Meego mobile platform, so they created their own fork that massively restructured KOffice and changed its APIs. Apparently they then tried to use their fork to ram in patches that the KOffice developers had rejected [kde.org]. Some of the other developers weren't happy about this state of [kde.org]
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
This post is full of FUD. As the KOffice marketing dude, let me clear it up.
It's true that the KOffice community is splitting up. Right now it looks as if group A is going to be more or less one person, and group B the rest of the community. I won't write any more about that and I'll let you speculate freely on it.
Nokia has *not* forked anything. At the point when the feature freeze came along before the release of KOffice version 2.3, Nokia wanted to continue developing some features. As good citizens in t
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
> They have an MS-Office for linux now?
Yeah. Emacs!