OpenOffice

Ending the Symphony Fork

February 1, 2012

What is a fork? A fork is a form of software reuse.  I like your software module.  It meets some or many of my needs, but I need some additional features. When I want to reuse existing functionality from another software product, I generally have four choices: If your module is nicely designed and extensible, [...]

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OpenOffice, LibreOffice and the Scarcity Fallacy

June 13, 2011

As you’ve probably heard, the proposal to move OpenOffice.org to the Apache Software Foundation was approved by a wide margin.  Volunteers interested in helping with this project continued to sign up, even during the 72-hour ballot, giving the project 87 members, as well as 8 experienced Apache  mentors, at the end of the vote.  The [...]

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Apache OpenOffice: How to Get Involved

June 3, 2011

A follow-up to my previous post on the  Apache Incubation proposal to move OpenOffice.org over to Apache and continue the project there.  In that post, I described how Apache projects are run via a meritocracy, that members gain additional rights and responsibilities based on the approval of their peers, etc.  But I have received a [...]

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An Invitation to Apache OpenOffice

June 1, 2011

As you have probably heard, Oracle has followed through with their earlier promise to “move OpenOffice.org to a purely community-based open source project.”  OpenOffice is moving to Apache. I’d like to offer you my own thoughts on this new opportunity and what it means.  I recommend also the insights of my colleagues Ed Brill and [...]

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At the Setting of the Sun

January 21, 2010

As my readers have no doubt heard by now, today the EC cleared Oracle’s proposed acquisition of Sun Microsystems.  This will undoubtedly have a significant impact on all Sun employees,  many of whom I have worked with toward common purposes, on standards or open source projects, and whom I am proud to call my colleagues.  [...]

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