#########################################################################
OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER
Volume 02 - Issue 8 - 2/2005
Please send news clippings to:
newsletter@marketing.openoffice.org
#########################################################################
Highlights in this Newsletter
#########################################################################
* Winner, OpenOffice.org 2.0 Splashscreen competition (Announcements)
* 2004 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards (Awards)
* OpenOffice.org database application: A first look review
(Studies & Reports)
* Analyst: MS Office Formats Not Open (Competitive/Market Info)
* StarOffice 8 goes beta (Competitive/Market Info)
#########################################################################
Want to help OpenOffice.org? Find out hot to contribute or see our
To Do List!!
http://www.openoffice.org/contributing.html
http://development.openoffice.org/todo.html
#########################################################################
Announcements
#########################################################################
Winner, OpenOffice.org 2.0 Splashscreen competition
---------------------------------------------------
"All,
Thousands of OpenOffice.org community members participated in the voting
for the OpenOffice.org 2.0 splashscreen. People could vote for their
favourite three choices from the eleven splashscreens shortlisted form
over 340 submissions from 103 artists and designers.
We are pleased to announce that Brendan Wheelan was the outright winner
with his splashscreen design:
http://www.openoffice.org/editorial/bwhelan.html
Brendan, a professional programmer, has since worked with the
development team to finalise the artwork to be included in
OpenOffice.org 2.0 Beta, including the splashscreen, about box and
installer graphics.
The splashscreen competition not only provided a successful
splashscreen, but created awareness of the OpenOffice.org Art Project
(http://marketing.openoffice.org/art/) that is responsible for the
creation and maintenance of graphics and art pieces for the
OpenOffice.org community.
Thank you to all the artists who participated in the splashscreen
competition. We look forward to any other ways you may wish to
contribute to the OpenOffice.org Art Project.
Congratulations Brendan, and a big thank you also to all the community
members who participated in voting for the splashscreen.
Regards
Jacqueline McNally
Lead, OpenOffice.org Marketing Project"
Funding for remaining HSQLDB work
---------------------------------
Funds are needed for the remaining work to be done on HSQLDB to produce
a better/best database for OOo, see:
http://hsqldb.sourceforge.net/web/openoffice.html
Please publicise this page to mailing lists and web resources in which
you participate.
Quote from Eric Bachard on MacOS X port
---------------------------------------
"After some progress, I'm very pleased to announce I have for the first
time started an OOo version (1.9.71s1 here) on Mac OSX (X11/Mac
OSX10.3.4)!
The first try wasn't very beautyfull, because I've made the first start
with only openoffice-core....I have put some snapshots here:
<http://eric.bachard.free.fr/mac/MacOSX_m71s1/>
But with Florian Heckl tip about the packaging , I finally obtained
a full 1.9.71-1 version on Mac OSX, as .pkg packages !
About the build, the process is complete, excepted for binfilter***
So, I couldn't resist to put some other screenshots here :
<http://eric.bachard.free.fr/mac/MacOSX_m71s1/png/>
in.png format (following Kazunari Hirano's advice ) more easy to
use for everyone.
Sure, a lot of work is to do before a completely functional (stable
over all) version of OpenOffice.org2.0 can be used on Mac OSX, but
with this, an enormous progress is done !
This work is not only my work, but the result of help and sharing of
knowledge by/with a lot of people like Kevin Hendricks, Pavel Janik,
Rene Engelhard, Eric Hoch (of course), Torsten (b_osi), Maho Nakata,
Jim Watson, Florian Heckl and all the others. Sorry for the one I
forgot the names. And many thank's to Sun for all.
I sincerily hope this "proof of concept" will concince that *it is
possible !*
So, what about the Next Step ? (not a play on words :-) ) ... change
the look and feel of OOo, transforming this great software in a "real"
Mac OSX application"
Talks in Istanbul, Turkey
-------------------------
[Source: Gorkem Cetin]
"Louis [Suarez-Potts] will be giving some talks in Istanbul, Turkey
on March, 4 and 7.
Subject: Free Software, Free Communities: Building a successfull community,
Place: Bilgi University,
Date: March, 4.
Subject: OpenOffice.org: How to run a successfull community project
Place: TUBITAK/UEKAE
Date: March, 7
I'll be giving another seminer in parallel on March, 5 in Istanbul with
the subject of "Usability of open source software: criterias and
considerations", giving a few examples (fame and shame) from
OOo project."
http://open.bilgi.edu.tr/freedays/program.php?lang=en
Announcement Archive
--------------------
All new and past annoucements can be found in the announcement list
mailing list archive at
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce
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The Mozilla Links newsletter
---------------------------
"The Mozilla Links Newsletter is a publication covering topics about
the Mozilla open source project, the Mozilla Foundation, other Mozilla
independent projects, marketing, and mostly anything related to the
Mozilla project."
To subscribe visit:
http://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/newsletter/
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News from the Native-Language Confederation
#########################################################################
La MaratOO'o 2.0
----------------
"On the 19th and 20th of February will take place la MaratOO'o 2.0 (more
or less: "the MarathOOon 2.0" ;-)) at Universitat de Valencia, Valencia
(Spain) were we will try to finish the Catalan translation for OOo 2.0."
More information (in Catalan):
http://ca.openoffice.org/
Update from the French Native Language Project
----------------------------------------------
"We are preparing the Libre Software meeting which is a pretty large 4
days event in july. A special communication targeting mayor and
territorial collectivities is worked out between several of us (Mozilla,
Mandrake...).
We are participating to the QA l10n of the beta release (I'm currently
translating the base tests) on linux and win plateforms, hoping for PPc
and Mac ports to be tested too.
We are also working with Brigitte (French l10n responsible) to correct
the statistical functions translation in the online help, based on the
feedback of a professional.
Our lab project is hosting several initiatives that are at their very
begining and need some times to see if they are viable :
. localisation in those languages : Fongbe (Benin), Wolof (Senegal),
Bamanan (Mali), Moore (Burkina Faso)
. NetBSD port (Isabelle Hurbain wich is doing the port will be helped by
Eric B. to follow the dev process in place in OOo).
Of course, all this work will join the concerned projects (l10n and
porting) once they are really engaged.
I'm also trying to put in place a specs and issues monitoring for 3.0
developments with a dedicated group.
Three important projects are now well developed and we need to advertise
them more in our group :
- Dmaths (tool for math users and teachers)
http://www.dmaths.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=9
(english link)
- Dsciences (tool for science users and teachers)
http://jpmartinlinux.free.fr/
- OOoHG (tool for history and geography users and teachers)
http://ooo.hg.free.fr/
Those sites will work on a common graphical interface they'll agree on
and will be referenced on the first page of FR site for a better
interaction.
At last, a French grammar project is begining, leaded by Laurent Godard
(for Indesko) and the 'automatic language processing' departement of
Grenoble university. This is focused on french grammar but the engine
will be free and could be (in the long goal) integrated in OOo.
Well that's all, don't hesitate if you have any questions or suggestions
about this work in progress, this is meant to share informations and
experiences."
Update from the Norwegian Native Language Project
-------------------------------------------------
" * Translation Progress
The Norwegian translators are working hard these days, updating their
translations to OpenOffice.org 2.0. We hope to provide test versions
quite soon, and expect to deliver the translations for the final
version on schedule.
* OpenOffice.org Conference
The biggest news is probably the upcoming national OpenOffice.org
conference in March, organised by the Norwegian OpenOffice.org
foundation. The conference is targeted towards users and potential
users in schools, businesses, etc. Here are some highlights from the
program:
- Strategy on switching to OpenOffice.org.
- An economical view on switching from MS Office to OpenOffice.org.
- Training needs.
- How to solve compatibility issues.
- Large-scale installation and deployment.
The conference is to be held March 11th, at the Rainbow Hotel Arena in
Lillestr\370m, just outside of Oslo. The attendance fee is NOK 600. The
full program (in Norwegian) is available here:
http://developer.skolelinux.no/brev/2005-03-11-nasjonalkonf-ooo.html";
[Courtesy of Gaute Hvoslef Kvalnes, Project lead, Norwegian
native-language project]
Success Stories
#########################################################################
United States
=============
L.A. mulls open source
----------------------
"Three Los Angeles council members want the city to switch to an
open-source platform to save millions of dollars in software costs.
Council members Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greul and Jack Weiss introduced a
motion yesterday asking the city's Information Technology Agency about a
transition from proprietary software licenses to open-source platforms
and programs. The money saved could be used to hire more police personnel,
the council members said."
http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2005/0131/web-lalinux-02-03-05.asp
[Contributed by Anthony Long]
LA Investigates Open Source To Cut Costs
----------------------------------------
"For example, Kamensky said city officials could save US$5.2 million by
switching to OpenOffice, an open-source desktop Trade in your old desktops,
laptops and servers and get great deals on HP technology. computer suite
that includes word processor and spreadsheet programs, rather than
purchasing a Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft Office
product at $200 per license for 26,000 desktops. The savings would go to a
special fund to hire more employees for the police department, a major
focus for city officials right now, he added."
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/LA-Investigates-Open-Source-To-Cut-Costs-40828.html
LinuxWorld preview: Open source rules, SCO fades and apps abound
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Steven Thompson, CTO of building products corporation Omega Products
International, is implementing SuSE Linux, in a departmentally-phased
approach and only buying new software that is Web-based and certified
with a Mozilla/Firefox client. "We are switching the entire company over
to OpenOffice this year, [and] 45% of desktops have been switched to
date," he said."
http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid39_gci1052513,00.html
Sun Microsystems Hosts Annual Worldwide Education
And Research Conference
-------------------------------------------------
"During the event, Mayor Newsom will announce an alliance between
the city of San Francisco and Sun that will offer free access to
Sun's StarOffice(TM) productivity suite software to all students
and teachers throughout the city. More than 200,000 students in
all public and private K-12, community colleges and universities,
and more than 5,000 teachers in these same institutions, will be
able to benefit from the word processing, spreadsheet, presentation,
drawing and database capabilities of StarOffice. The value of this
alliance is estimated to be more than $5,000,000. For a limited
time, students and teachers in the city of San Francisco can
download the free software by registering at
http://www.sun.com/edu/edusoft.";
Austria
=======
Vienna takes the boldest step of all - asking the users
-------------------------------------------------------
"Some of that revolutionary yet pragmatic spirit can still be found in
the city's IT department. Rather than mandate a switch to Linux and
OpenOffice.org (OOo), the department is letting the people decide. They
have a choice between Microsoft Office or OOo on Windows, or they can
move to Linux and OOo. IT will support any choice but will charge more
for the Microsoft alternatives -- and will train those who want to make
the switch."
http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/other/0,39020682,39185491,00.htm
India
=====
7,000 OpenOffice.org users at Indian bank
-----------------------------------------
"One of India’s most savvy IT users, HDFC Bank, has deployed Linux
as the platform for two applications—a proxy server and PKI (Public
Key Infrastructure). The bank has been using OpenOffice on more than
7,000 desktops for about two years. It has also deployed Linux-based
desktops for the use of its outbound telemarketing team."
http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050228/opensource01.shtml
Banking on Indian ISVs
----------------------
"Microsoft’s intention to create ‘Office for Banks’ is part of the
company’s efforts to thwart the success of alternative office suites
available from vendors such as Sun Microsystems (StarOffice) and
C K Technologies (Shakti Office) in the banking space. HDFC Bank uses
StarOffice while Bank of Baroda uses Shakti Office."
http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050228/market01.shtml
Awards
#########################################################################
2004 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards
---------------------------------------------
The polls are closed and the results are in for the 2004 LinuxQuestions.org
Members Choice Awards. I'd like to congratulate each and every nominee.
Winners will be receiving an email in the next 48 hours or so and will
be able to pick their award up at LinuxWorld. We'll also be sending
out small logo's that can be put up.
Browser of the Year - Firefox (77.12%)
Distribution of the Year - Slackware (19.36%)
LiveCD Distribution of the Year - Knoppix (57.69%)
Database of the Year - MySQL (53.51%)
Desktop Environment of the Year - KDE (58.25%)
Window Manager of the Year - Fluxbox (31.14%)
Office Suite of the Year - OpenOffice.org (84.85%)
Word Processor of the Year - oowriter (63.75%)
Spreadsheet of the Year - oocalc (57.57%)
Audio Multimedia Application of the Year - XMMS (45.83%)
Video Multimedia Application of the Year - mplayer (49.85%)
Security App of the Year - nmap (37.14%)
Hardening App of the Year - SELinux (68.65%)
Editor of the Year - vi/vim (36.37%)
Web Development Editor of the Year - Quanta (50.88%)
IDE of the Year - Kdevelop (37.77%)
Mail Client of the Year - Thunderbird (47.60%)
Open Source Game of the Year - Frozen Bubble (25.52%)
Commercial Game of the Year - UT2004 (38.86%)
Windows on Linux App of the Year - Wine (42.59%)
File Manager of the Year - Konqueror (30.59%)
Messaging App of the Year - Gaim (56.00%)
Graphics App of the Year - GIMP (72.82%)
MTA of the Year - PostFix (45.57%)
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/t286716.html
[Contributed by Joost Andrae]
Studies & Reports
#########################################################################
Interoperability statement 'Orwellian'
--------------------------------------
"Con Zymaris, chief executive officer of Cybersource, said a statement
that for anyone to claim that "proprietary, locked-in Windows is more
interoperable than open, standards-oriented Linux" ranked with
statements like "Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength" found in
the Orwell classic 1984."
...
"Zymaris cited the case of OpenOffice.org and Mozilla Firefox, both of
which were available on multiple platforms, allowing interoperability
beyond the realm of a single vendor. Both programs were also standards
compliant, adhering to the OASIS (Organisation for the Advancement of
Structured Information Standards) draft standards for XML document
formats (OpenOffice.org) and the modern W3C HTML and CSS specifications
(Firefox)."
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Breaking/Interoperability-statement-Orwellian
/2005/02/11/1108061861567.html?oneclick=true
OpenOffice.org database application: A first look review
--------------------------------------------------------
"This story will discuss the OpenOffice.org Base and how it can be used
in your business. I'll touch on the similarities (plus differences)
with the OpenOffice.org database program and Access. I'll continue with
a little commentary on migration issues. We'll finish up by building a
basic contact database, a form, a query, and a report using the
wizards. If you are already an OpenOffice.org believer, you can just
skip down to the "build a quick database application" section to see
how it works."
http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/01/25/1758245
Interviews
#########################################################################
Interview: Brendan Whelan, OpenOffice.org 2.0 Splashscreen Designer
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"Early 2005 we held a competition for a fitting splashscreen to grace
the new OpenOffice.org 2.0. Millions, tens of millions, will see it
each day as they start up their OpenOffice.org 2.0, so the splashscreen
competition was quite important. Of the hundreds of submissions, we
chose ten. We then held a vote among all community members (registered
members of OpenOffice.org), and the winner was Brendan Whelan."
http://www.openoffice.org/editorial/bwhelan.html
Interview: Ian Lynch, creator, INGOTs free software service certification
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There is a Native American proverb that says, "Tell me and I'll forget,
show me and I may not remember, involve me and I'll understand." These
words are the mission statement of a new scheme for certifying IT
capability -- the International Grades in Office Technology (INGOTs)
program. To obtain their certificates, students must demonstrate an
understanding of free and open source software (FOSS) issues by actually
contributing to the OpenOffice.org project. INGOTs creator Ian Lynch
contributes to the OpenOffice.org as education lead. We have asked Ian
to explain the main features and advantages of the program."
http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/01/19/1728201
Interview: Novell's Linux leanings and the interweaving of
NetWare and SUSE
----------------------------------------------------------
"We're the number two contributor to OpenOffice. And really what we've
added to OpenOffice is usabilitiy and interoperability. The reason
we've done that is, for example, if I send a document such as this
presentation here, if I send it in an OpenOffice format there's a 92
per cent chance that [the recipient] won't be able to open it. So we
have to make sure that as we use OpenOffice in Novel, the default file
format is the default file format for the rest of the world, which
unfortunately is Office."
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/69050/interview-novells-linux-leanings-and-the-
interweaving-of-netware-and-suse.html
Resources
#########################################################################
OpenOffice Writer vs. TextMaker: Which Linux Word Processor
Should You Use
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Linux offers two good word processors: OpenOffice Writer, installed by
default with most Linux distributions, and TextMaker, for download from
a third-party site. Compare their strengths and weaknesses here, to see
which one best meets your needs."
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=366535
OOoFf! Phoenix announces open source technology to take your breath
away
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The OOoFf! package includes the necessary software for installation on
personal computers running Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh and Linux
operating systems. OOoFf! contains both OpenOffice.org 1.1.3, a
complete Microsoft-compatible office suite, and Firefox 1.0, one of the
fastest, most secure Internet browsers on the market - bundled together
for hundreds less than Microsoft alternatives."
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/software/2005/0502150831.asp?A=LIN&S=
Open%20Source&O=FPIN
Running open source without dropping Windows
--------------------------------------------
"Many free and easy-to-use open source applications, including the
newly updated Mozilla Firefox Web browser and the steadily improving
OpenOffice.org productivity suite, enable company executives to
experiment with open source software while allowing users to stay with
Microsoft Windows."
http://searchcio.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid19_gci1047632,00.html
A small business consultant's must-have Linux apps
--------------------------------------------------
"As a consultant to small businesses and non-profit organizations that
are too small to have any IT staff of their own, I need to be able to
support a diverse array of desktops and servers, platforms and file
formats. I've been able to do it exclusively with Linux since 1998.
Here are my must-have Linux desktop applications."
"Most of my small business clients haven't moved to Linux (yet!).
OpenOffice.org provides the file format compatibility I need to
interact with them. OOo opens and saves non-native file formats with
aplomb. The basic office documents and spreadsheets that small
businesses use daily are no problem for OOo's filters. In more than six
years of exchanging documents with clients, not one has ever even known
I wasn't using the same office suite as they, unless I told them!"
http://os.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/01/17/1645245
The star of the open world: Examining office alternatives
---------------------------------------------------------
"Both products are built on open standards, and both have overcome the
most significant barrier to widespread adoption, which is compatibility
with MS-Office software. However, there are differences between
the offerings."
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/software/2005/0501280835.asp?A=BAP&S=Business%20Applications&O=FPIN
Customer & User Feedback
#########################################################################
The Shuffle Continues
---------------------
"Word Processing - OpenOffice.org. Once again, I'm pleased to be able to
spread the word about this fine product."
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/wlg/6346
Microsoft Office is too dangerous to leave with users
-----------------------------------------------------
"Just as eliminating MSN Messenger and replacing MS-Outlook with
Thunderbird (or presently Evolution) improves your corporate security,
so does replacing MS-Office with OpenOffice.org or another office suite.
Careful planning will avoid rubbing your users up the wrong way. Any
change produces resistance, and by minimising the changes (converting
beloved templates, making conditions under the new suite better,
sending copies home especially with people who only have MS-Works or
MS-Word there etc) you can maximise acceptance.
Make OpenOffice the default or only office suite on new installs. Use
it yourself, for everything; train your technical people up on it so
they become used to using and installing it by default and your other
users will see the "elites" using it.
Since OpenOffice is now available to more than 10% of all desktops
and the file format is about to become a European standard, it is now
more socially reasonable to send office documents in the OASIS format
adopted by OpenOffice."
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/31395/
Linux as a Publishing Platform
------------------------------
"Using Linux, OOo, Scribus and The GIMP lowers the barriers to taking
your book to publication."
http://www.linuxjournal.com/comment/reply/8098
OSX Writing Applications: Regulars and New (Mellel)
---------------------------------------------------
Graham K. Rogers details word processing applications for Mac OS X.
http://www.extensions.in.th/post/ooffice2/mellel.html
Native OpenOffice for Mac Still a Long Way Off
----------------------------------------------
"Developers of OpenOffice.org for Mac OS X are no longer pursuing a
native Aqua port of the open-source Office-compatible suite.
The developer group said that it has been more than 18 months since the
last engineering work on porting OpenOffice.org to Mac OS X's native
Quartz/Aqua windowing system, and there are no plans to do so with the
upcoming Version 2.0."
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1753272,00.asp
Developer and Administrator News
#########################################################################
Top 10 XForms Engines
---------------------
"OpenOffice has long had some kind of forms functionality, though fairly
well hidden. The most recent beta releases use XForms technology,
including storing XForms markup in the OpenDocument format. The Writer
application from OpenOffice, and by extension StarOffice, functions as
both an XForms design environment and an XForms engine."
http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2005/02/09/xforms.html?page=2
The Future Is Open: What OpenDocument Is And Why You Should Care
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Quiz: Complete the sentence,"OpenDocument is ..."
(a) An open, XML-based file format.
(b) An open standard, supported by the OASIS and ISO standards
groups.
(c) The default file format for the upcoming OpenOffice.org 2.0
and KOffice 1.4.
(d) A top prospect for an official format for the European Commission.
(e) Our best chance to fight vendor lock-in associated with
proprietary formats.
(f) All of the above.
The correct answer is (f) All of the above."
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20050130002908154
Configuring and Running X11 Applications on Mac OS X
----------------------------------------------------
Apple Developer Guide to setting up X11 on the Mac, with
applications including OpenOffice.org.
http://developer.apple.com/darwin/runningx11.html
Digital-Rights Management A Key Theme At RSA Conference
-------------------------------------------------------
"At the RSA Conference in San Francisco this week, Authentica, Liquid
Machines, and Microsoft were among the companies offering new or
enhanced versions of DRM software.
Centralized management of access rights was a popular theme among the
product announcements. Authentica introduced its Active Rights
Management platform, an integrated management app that provides
access-rights protection for E-mail, Microsoft Office documents, PDF
files, and other types of documents."
http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=60401472
Donated Software to Develop Swahili Office Suite
------------------------------------------------
"In a twist on traditional donations of ICT to developing countries,
a Spanish software company has donated a copy of Microsoft Visual
Studio .Net to Tanzanian developers, according to reports by ZDNet UK.
The package, which is used for software development, will be used to
debug and optimise a Swahili version of the open source office suite,
OpenOffice.org, called Jambo. Swahili is the first language of an
estimated 70 million people and this will be the first office suite
developed for it."
http://www.digitaldivide.net/news/view.php?HeadlineID=177
Volunteers To Translate Linux Documentation
-------------------------------------------
"When the translations are completed, they will be integrated into
popular Linux applications, including KDE, Mozilla, OpenOffice.org,
and Lsongs, Linspire said."
http://www.computer-security-news.com/artman/publish/linux-docs-1311.shtml
Tips, Tricks & How-Tos
#########################################################################
OOo Off the Wall: Fielding Questions, Part 2 - Cross References and
User-Defined Fields
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"Tips and workarounds to get you through the sometimes frustrating
process of creating cross-references in Writer documents."
http://www.linuxjournal.com/comment/reply/8112
Basic button-pushing with OpenOffice.org macros
-----------------------------------------------
"OpenOffice.org is gaining popularity in the corporate mainstream, yet
one of its most powerful features, macros, can be pretty intimidating to
new users. Let's see how easy it is to create an OpenOffice.org macro
and connect it to a simple pushbutton."
http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/02/17/2131238
"Excellent Typesetting"
-----------------------
Jack Lyons, in his newsletter "The Editorium" for Microsoft Word users,
has published an article titled "Excellent Typesetting", with detailed
instructions on how to use OOo to do typesetting better than MS Word,
starting from a MS Word document.
http://lists.topica.com/lists/editorium/read/message.html?mid=1718286586&sort=
d&start=200
[Contributed by Jean Hollis Weber]
Hacking Open Office
-------------------
"In this article, I'm going to explore some of the ways that
OpenOffice.org's Writer application (I'm using version 1.1.2 on Linux
and 1.1.3 on Windows XP) is open to customization and configuration.
I'll walk through some of the techniques I used to set up the first
templates I built with the application in my quest for an
interoperable, XHTML-ready system of templates and styles which will
work across Microsoft Word and Writer."
http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2005/01/26/hacking-ooo.html
Competitive/Market Info
#########################################################################
Golden's Rules: Linux scales up in 2005 with new products, converts
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"StarOffice, which enables companies to migrate Microsoft Office users
to the commercial version of the open source OpenOffice, has really
matured. The latest version of StarOffice addresses the peskiest issue
that everyone always brings up when considering this switch -- migrating
complicated macros and VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) scripts that
some percentage of the user base depends upon. StarOffice now offers a
sophisticated macro language as well as a VBA replacement language that
can reduce the proportion of un-migratable users."
http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid39_gci1061074,00.html
Translating With OmegaT
-----------------------
" Although computers have yet to take over the business of language
translation (if they ever will!), they have become a common part of the
translation process. Many professional translators use
computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools such as TRADOS, Déjà Vu, and
WordFast. But a less-known, yet excellent, open source CAT application
called OmegaT can help as well."
...
"Now you have to add the documents you want to translate (also called
'source documents') to your project. OmegaT supports plain text, HTML,
XHTML, StarOffice, and OpenOffice.org formats (including Writer, Calc,
and Impress). To add source files in these formats to the project, put
them into the /source folder."
http://software.newsforge.com/software/05/02/11/1831257.shtml?tid=130
Analyst: MS Office Formats Not Open
-----------------------------------
"Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox has blasted recent media
reports that claim Microsoft has opened up its Office file formats."
"Wilcox explained that Eric Kriss, Massachusetts Secretary of
Administration and Finance, simply announced that the Commonwealth had
modified its position on open formats. "Under the change, Microsoft
Office file formats could be considered open by the Commonwealth,
depending on the terms of usage.""
http://www.betanews.com/article/Analyst_MS_Office_Formats_Not_Open/1107211516
StarOffice 8 goes beta
----------------------
"Sun released a beta version of office productivity application
StarOffice 8 on Thursday, which it says provides improved compatibility
with Microsoft Office files and a new database front-end tool.
StarOffice already allows users to open and save Microsoft Office
files, but a lack of full interoperability has caused problems for
users migrating from MS Office. Sun claims that StarOffice 8
"significantly improves" the compatability between StarOffice and MS
Office files, according to a PDF available on Sun's Web site.
...
The database front-end tool in StarOffice, StarOffice Base, has been
"totally re-designed" to make it easier for users to create forms,
queries and reports, according to Sun. Stephen O'Grady, senior analyst
at RedMonk, said the database is a useful feature in StarOffice and is
likely to compete with Microsoft Access."
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/applications/0,39020384,39188480,00.htm
Additional reporting:
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/56577
New Sun StarOffice 8.0 Beta Looks a Lot Like Microsoft Office 2003
------------------------------------------------------------------
"Chief among these improvements, in my opinion, is its new look and
feel, which is modeled after Office 2003. That's right; despite some
rough edges (the StarOffice 8.0 beta still has the insane and
control-heavy configuration dialog boxes that earlier releases used),
the product does a credible job of emulating the latest version of
Microsoft's product. And those rough edges are all that separates
this otherwise impressive product from its much more expensive
competition. If Sun can fix the dialog boxes, the product will be
a winner. For the free beta download, visit Sun's Web site."
http://www.windowsitpro.com/windowspaulthurrott/Article/ArticleID/45460/windowspaulthurrott_45460.html
StarOffice 8 beta set to debut
------------------------------
"StarOffice, which shares a code base with the open-source
OpenOffice application suite, will feature enhanced compatibility
with Microsoft Office, including importation of password-protected
documents and a database module much more like Microsoft's own Access."
http://www.pcauthority.com.au/news.aspx?CIaNID=17846
Firefox Downloads Hit 25 Million
--------------------------------
"The Mozilla Foundation celebrated more than 25 million downloads
of its Firefox 1.0 Web browser, a milestone it hit in less than
100 days. An average of 25,000 people download Firefox every week,
which isn't too shabby."
http://www.windowsitpro.com/windowspaulthurrott/Article/ArticleID/45460/windowspaulthurrott_45460.html
Microsoft bets on Africa's IT future
------------------------------------
"There is a lot of interest among African developers in open source
software, and adoption of Sun's OpenOffice open source productivity
suite has been strong, according to Mtoba.
Developing countries are the most likely to adopt free and open source
software, he noted, and predicted that interest in OpenOffice would
continue to grow. He added that he expects to see even greater
OpenOffice growth as African nations begin to clamp down on their
piracy problems. With a minority able to afford licensing fees, African
buyers will show greater interest in free alternatives, he said."
http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2418/050201africa/
Warning over Windows Word files
-------------------------------
"Writing a Windows Word document can be a dangerous business, according
to document security firm Workshare."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4211743.stm
Major flaws in Microsoft Office file encryption
-----------------------------------------------
"A Chinese academic has revealed a major problem with the way
Microsoft's encryption tool handles Word and Excel files. This flaw
could allow a cracker with basic cryptography skills to decrypt the
files."
http://www.virusthreatcenter.com/article.aspx?articleId=381
Additional reporting:
http://asia.cnet.com/news/security/0,39037064,39214570,00.htm
Microsoft Office XP Remote Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
--------------------------------------------------------
"Finjan has discovered a new vulnerability in Microsoft Word XP that
would allow a hacker to launch a buffer overflow attack. This attack
could occur when a user opened a Word document using Internet
Explorer."
http://www.net-security.org/vuln.php?id=4025
Sun Microsystems at Cairo ICT
-----------------------------
"Providing solutions such as StarOffice, which is Arabic-enabled, and
Sun Ray technology means we can assist organisations to significantly
reduce their operating costs,\u201d said Iyimen. Sun desktop solutions
are stable, easy to use and cost up to 70% less than similar Microsoft
offerings."
http://www.cpilive.net/news_ver2/inside.asp?wherefrom=search&newsitem=
21200524453AMRESELLER+WORLD+ME.htm&channel=RESELLER+WORLD+ME
The Importance of KOffice
-------------------------
"KOffice is built on KDE. This advantage brings enormous potential in
terms of integration, performance, scalability, and with the coming
full support for the OASIS Open Document Format, even portability. All
these factors are vital for business deployments. The KOffice team is
looking for contributors and developers to significantly increase and
utilize the potential of KOffice even further."
http://dot.kde.org/1105979760/
Microsoft may face Euro challenge on Office bundling
----------------------------------------------------
"Microsoft could face a new antitrust challenge in the European Union
(E.U.) over the bundling of accounting software with an upcoming
version of its Office productivity suite.
U.K. business software vendor Sage said Friday that it plans to raise
its concerns about the bundling with the E.U.'s regulatory and
executive body, the European Commission, if the Commission does not
address it on its own."
http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/02/18/HNmseurobundling_1.html
In a switch, Microsoft conference touts Office
----------------------------------------------
"Microsoft Corp. routinely holds conferences to persuade independent
software developers to make programs that run on, plug into or enhance
its software.
But an event this week comes with a new twist -- focusing not on the
Windows operating system as a development platform, but rather on
Microsoft Office programs.
The first Microsoft Office System Developer Conference began yesterday
on the company's Redmond campus. The three-day event is part of an
ongoing effort by Microsoft to transform the Office productivity suite
and related programs into more than standard word-processing,
spreadsheet, database, communication and presentation programs."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/210445_msftoffice03.html
Microsoft makes Office an 'open standard'
-----------------------------------------
"Microsoft is loosening licensing rules on Office 2003 formats in order
to get around new "open standard" restrictions to be adopted by the US
state of Massachusetts, according to a state official.
The move puts Microsoft on a better footing to compete against
open-source applications and non-proprietary document formats.
Governments around the world have begun to reconsider the use of
proprietary formats, which usually lock them into using particular
applications and may hinder archiving efforts."
http://www.techworld.com/applications/news/index.cfm?NewsID=2952
Microsoft Office is too dangerous to leave with users
-----------------------------------------------------
"Paul DeGroot from Directions on Microsoft was recently quoted by CNet
saying a very scary thing about MS-Office: "The chances you are going
to switch out are pretty well nil. You have way too much money
invested."
It may not be politically correct to say so, but the leopard cannot
change his spots, nor the Ethiopian his skin. Paul's comment came after
a conference at which Microsoft claimed one million developers were
basing applications on MS-Office 2003, and a quick glance at
Microsoft's historical spots makes it obvious that this is just another
lock-in-and-squeeze cycle. MS-Office has traditionally come down in
price until competition effectively ended, and then increased again. At
the end of the last such cycle the price more than doubled."
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/31395/
Novell puts weight behind Windows email client
----------------------------------------------
"Novell has thrown its weight behind a fledgling effort to develop a
Windows version of the Evolution groupware client. The software company
hopes the move will give Windows desktop users an open-source
alternative to Microsoft Outlook."
"Other pieces of open-source software, most notably the Firefox browser
and OpenOffice productivity suite, have now gained some acceptance
among Windows users. By giving people another piece of open-source
software to run on their desktops, Novell hopes to make the move to a
full-blown Linux client more palatable, he said. "This is all a part of
the effort to move people off of a Microsoft Windows environment and to
a Linux environment," the spokesperson said."
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/index.cfm?go=news.view&news=4472
Microsoft turns to Elixir for Office boost
------------------------------------------
" Convincing businesses to upgrade to new versions of Office is a
perennial challenge for Microsoft, but the company hopes a new Elixir
might speed things up.
An effort, code-named Project Elixir, will take shape later this year
as a way to promote Microsoft's Outlook e-mail and contact program,
with some additional fields, as a tool for viewing customer
relationship data. Eventually, the plan could help the software giant
elbow its way further into the customer relationship management market,
where Siebel Systems, Oracle and SAP dominate."
"While Microsoft doesn't expect to generate revenue from offering
Elixir, it does stand to benefit when companies tie Office deeper into
their business processes. Since the Elixir code Microsoft has developed
works only with Office 2003, the company sees the tool as a way to get
customers to upgrade. Longer term, such tools may also spur sales of
Windows Server and other software."
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+turns+to+Elixir+for+Office+boost/
2100-1012_3-5545640.html?tag=nefd.lede
MS Office meets its match
-------------------------
"However, I’m not here to tell you how easy the install process is or
how well OpenOffice performs in terms of speed compared with Microsoft
Office.
Instead, I’m here to tell you that it has just about all the same main
features Microsoft Office has and comes at absolutely no cost."
http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2005/2/22/prodit/10176856&sec=prodit
South America warms to Open Source
----------------------------------
"In Chile, Open Source is being deployed extensively in schools
through the government's high school internet access network, Enlaces,
which now implements the Edulinux system. This is server–based with
PCs (including old PCs) primarily acting as terminals. The PCs run
OpenOffice and the Mozilla browser, FireFox. Chile hopes to use this
to increase the pupil-to-PC ratio to 30 to 1."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/10/south_america_open_source/
Firefox opening door for Linux in Australia: Linux Australia president
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Oxer further went on to speculate about other open source applications
that could succeed within the Windows desktop space: "Now with
OpenOffice.org (OOo) approaching a 2.0 release, the momentum is going
to build. If there is a ‘get OOo’ campaign it will get a huge response.
OOo displaces software that’s actually very expensive, so the
imperative is even greater than with a Web browser that’s essentially
a give-away item already"."
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/0,2000061733,39180454,00.htm
New browser Firefox is burning bright
-------------------------------------
"OpenOffice is a free open-source alternative. If Firefox can take 15
or 20% of the market from Microsoft, he adds, "then I think Microsoft
has to worry that that could happen to Office."
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-02-03-firefox_x.htm
StarOffice 8 beta ready for download
------------------------------------
"The new suite is expected to have better import/export filters to
improve its interoperability with Microsoft applications. Sun said it
is also trying to reduce the cost for firms to migrate to its suite,
and will help the migration process by adding automated tools to
convert Office macros to StarOffice equivalents."
http://www.computeractive.co.uk/news/1161504
StarOffice 8 Learns From MS Office
----------------------------------
"In its quest to produce a substitute for MS Office, Sun has taken
care to soften the transition. Usability enhancements are intended to
make the software easier to learn and use, reducing migration and
training cost."
http://www.betanews.com/article/StarOffice_8_Learns_From_MS_Office/1108689056
Statistics
#########################################################################
OpenOffice.org
==============
Highlights
----------
* More than 37,300,000 have downloaded OpenOffice.org
so far (as of February 19, 2005).
* The OpenOffice.org project has more than 28,900
unique people subscribed to the mailing lists
(as of February 19, 2005).
* 531 people and companies have signed a JCA and are thus
either already contributing or considering to do so
(as of February 25, 2005):
http://www.openoffice.org/copyright/copyrightapproved.html
* 1942 people have participated in the OOo developer
survey so far (as of February 25, 2005).
* User Survey Statistics:
[Courtesy of Cristian Driga]
Total number of responses since survey start (oct 2002):
815529
Statistics for the last month (January 2005):
Number of responses: 40480
-----
Survey respondents by country (Top 20 countries):
United States 8832
Germany 4194
France 3979
United Kingdom 1663
Italy 1415
Canada 1343
Brazil 1027
Netherlands 1005
Spain 856
Australia 748
Poland 736
Japan 618
Belgium 606
Switzerland 579
Finland 484
Portugal 449
Denmark 431
Czech Republic 414
Norway 397
Russia 334
-----
How did you find out about OpenOffice.org ?
Press Article: 18.5%
TV/Radio: 1.54%
Website: 28.48%
A friend: 29.08%
Search engine: 8.35%
No response: 14.04%
-----
Where are you primarily using OpenOffice.org ?
Home: 58.58%
Work: 24.22%
School: 5.89%
No answer: 11.31%
-----
What applications do you primarily use in OpenOffice.org ?
Word processor: 44.17%
Spreadsheet: 25.04%
Presentations: 6.79%
Vector drawing: 7.51%
HTML editor: 7.11%
No answer: 9.38%
-----
Operating systems among OpenOffice.org users:
Windows2000: 10.71%
WindowsNT4.0: 1.14%
WindowsXP: 49.11%
Windows98(SE/ME): 9.16%
Windows95: 0.66%
Linux(Intel x86): 14.00%
Linux(PowerPC): 1.41%
Linux (ARM): 0.52%
Linux(Alpha): 0.34%
FreeBSD: 0.93%
NetBSD: 0.14%
OpenBSD: 0.28%
Mac OS X: 4.37%
Solaris: 0.92%
BeOS: 0.17%
IRIX: 0.11%
Tru64: 0.09%
Other: 1.05%
No answer: 4.89%
Events
#########################################################################
Upcoming
========
Free/Open Source Days
---------------------
Istanbul, Turkey
2005/03/04-05
http://open.bilgi.edu.tr/freedays/program.php?lang=en
Norwegian OOo Conference
------------------------
Lillestr\370m, Norway
2005/03/11
http://developer.skolelinux.no/brev/2005-03-11-nasjonalkonf-ooo.html
LinuxExpo
---------
2005/04/12-14
Prague, Czech Republic
http://www.linuxexpo.cz/
OpenOffice.org Miniconf
-----------------------
Canberra, Australia
2005/04/18-19
http://www.openoffice.org.nz/miniconf/
LCA 2005
--------
Canberra, Australia
2005/04/20-23
http://linux.conf.au/
Invex
-----
Brno, Czech Republic
2005/10/24-27
http://www.invex.cz/
Newsletter Archive
#########################################################################
Past issues of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter can be found in the archive
of the announce mailing list:
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce
Contact Information (regarding this newsletter)
#########################################################################
newsletter@marketing.openoffice.org, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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