#########################################################################
OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER
Volume 03 - Issue 4 - 10/2005
Please send news clippings to:
newsletter@marketing.openoffice.org
#########################################################################
For up-to-date news visit the OpenOffice.org Newsletter Blog:
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com
To read all of this month's stories in full:
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_ooonewsletter_archive.html
ATOM feed:
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/atom.xml
#########################################################################
Contents
#########################################################################
1. Announcements
----------------
* OpenOffice.org 2.0 Is Here
* OpenOffice.org: 5 years old
* Sun and Google Team Up
* Report on the Native-Language Confederation meeting at OOoCon 2005
* LCA 2006 OpenOffice.org Miniconf - Call For Participation
2. Success Stories
------------------
* OpenOffice.org: 19 percent market share in small to medium-size businesses
* "Migrating to OpenOffice.org 90 per cent cheaper than to Microsoft
Office 12"
* Good OpenOffice.org practices in Balkans
* "City of Mannheim to switch to Linux "quietly""
3. Featured news
----------------
* [Opinion] "Why OpenOffice.org 2.0 Is Your Best Choice"
* OASIS OpenDocument Format submitted to the ISO
* "Open formats make history - and maintain it"
* [Review] "An economical alternative to pricey office suites"
*[Review] "A Glimpse of OpenOffice 2.0 -- Now Available for Free Public
Downloading"
* "Everybody's Guide to OpenDocument"
* Open source taking over Europe
* "Companies expect open-source desktop software"
* "Like rock n' roll, open source here to stay"
* KOffice 1.4.2 with Improved OpenDocument Support
* AbiWord gets OpenDocument support from Nokia
* "Microsoft 'must support OpenDocument'"
4. Tips & Tricks
----------------
* Follow the expert: Making an OpenOffice.org 2.0 presentation
* An introduction to OpenOffice.org Basic
* Writing a Program to Control OpenOffice.org, Part 2
* OASIS Open Document Format Utilities
* SVG Import Filter for OpenOffice 2.0
* "Four great OpenOffice.org macros"
* translate.sourceforge.net - localisation tools for FOSS
5. Interviews
-------------
* Louis Suarez-Potts (OpenOffice.org Community Manager)
* John McCreesh (OpenOffice.org Marketing Project)
* Florian Reuter (Sun Microsystems)
* Gary Edwards (Sun Microsystems)
* Corel on Sun, OpenOffice.org and Open Standards
6. Clippings
7. Statistics
All news for this month can be found at:
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_ooonewsletter_archive.html
#########################################################################
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
#########################################################################
OpenOffice.org 2.0 Is Here
--------------------------
OpenOffice.org 2.0 is the productivity suite that individuals,
governments, and
corporations around the world have been expecting for the last two
years. Easy
to use and fluidly interoperable with every major office suite,
OpenOffice.org
2.0 realises the potential of open source.
With new features, advanced XML capabilities and native support for the
OASIS
Standard OpenDocument format, OpenOffice.org 2.0 gives users around the
globe
the tools to be engaged and productive members of their society.
Download it now. If it is not ready today in your language, it will be
shortly.
OpenOffice.org 2.0 is yours.
Announcement:
http://www.openoffice.org/press/2.0/press_release.html
Features:
http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/features/2.0/index.html
Press Kit:
http://www.openoffice.org/press/2.0/index.html
Download:
http://download.openoffice.org/2.0.0/index.html
OpenOffice.org 2.0 relase news roundup:
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/openofficeorg-20-relase-news-roundup.html
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/news-welsh-release-of-openofficeorg-20.html
OpenOffice.org: 5 years old
---------------------------
"On 13 October 2000 Sun Microsystems donated the source of StarOffice to
the
open-source community. Sun remains the project's chief sponsor and
contributor,
though the project can now boast contributions from Novell, Red Hat,
Debian,
Intel, and many other large and small companies, plus the very important
and
numberless contributions from independent developers, NGOs, and government
agencies. All these have made OpenOffice.org not just a free alternative
productivity suite but the best and most advanced productivity suite.
And also a great community."
http://www.openoffice.org/
Press release:
http://www.openoffice.org/press/press_release_year_five.html
Year 5 round-up:
http://www.openoffice.org/editorial/year_five.html
Sun and Google Team Up
----------------------
"The agreement between Sun and Google also kicks off further collaboration
between the companies on projects like OpenOffice.org, the open source
productivity suite that is the world's leading suite on the Solaris
Operating
System (Solaris OS) and Linux--and the leading alternative suite on
Microsoft
Windows."
http://www.sun.com/2005-1004/feature/index.html
More reporting:
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/sun-and-google-team-up.html
Report on the Native-Language Confederation meeting at OOoCon 2005
------------------------------------------------------------------
The discussions from the Native-Language Confederation meeting at the 2005
OpenOffice.org conference have now been posted to the OpenOffice.org
mailing lists.
http://native-lang.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=dev&msgNo=5801
LCA 2006 OpenOffice.org Miniconf - Call For Participation
---------------------------------------------------------
This is a call for participation in the second OpenOffice.org Miniconf
which
will be part of the LCA 2006 conference in Dunedin, New Zealand. The
Miniconf
will be run over two days on the 23rd and 24th January 2006 preceding
the LCA
2006 main conference.
For more details:
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/lca-2006-openofficeorg-miniconf-call.html
Success Stories
#########################################################################
OpenOffice.org: 19 percent market share in small to medium-size businesses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"She did point out, though, that Sun's StarOffice open-source offering
has attained a 19 percent market share among small to midsize businesses."
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/openofficeorg-19-percent-market-share.html
Singapore
=========
"Migrating to OpenOffice.org 90 per cent cheaper than to Microsoft
Office 12"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The industry's two major office suites, Microsoft Office and
OpenOffice.org,
will soon be releasing new versions. Recent research into these versions by
large government departments indicates that for many sites, it is now 10
times
cheaper to migrate to the new OpenOffice.org 2.0 than upgrading to
Microsoft
Office 12."
http://computerworld.com.sg/ShowPage.aspx?pagetype=2&articleid=2742&pubid=3&issueid=66
Bulgaria
========
Good OpenOffice.org practices in Balkans
----------------------------------------
"The pilot municipality in the project was Kardjali (www.kardjali.bg and
kardjali.foss.bg). Kardjali is one of the 28 regional cities in Bulgaria.
Located in the south of the country, and close to the border with Turkey
and Greece, it has around 69,000 citizens, a mixture of Bulgarian and
ethnic
Turks. In the first two stages of the migration, the local government
authorityÕs computers switched from Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer
to OpenOffice.org and Mozilla Firefox."
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/good-openofficeorg-practices-in.html
Germany
=======
"City of Mannheim to switch to Linux "quietly""
-----------------------------------------------
"The city however has already commissioned a study on the introduction of
OpenOffice. It would probably take another four to five years before Linux
appeared on the staff's PC desktops, Gerd Armbruster of Mannheim city's IT
department told heise online."
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/64856
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/city-of-mannheim-to-switch-to-linux.html
Featured news
#########################################################################
[Opinion] "Why OpenOffice.org 2.0 Is Your Best Choice"
------------------------------------------------------
"OpenOffice.org is every bit as good as the best of all those proprietary
programsÑLotus Word Pro 9.8 and Excel 2000 for my moneyÑand in some ways
it's even better."
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1874157,00.asp
OASIS OpenDocument Format submitted to the ISO
----------------------------------------------
The OASIS OpenDocument Format has been submitted to the International
Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical
Commission's
Joint Technical Committee as a standard for XML office documents.
http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/members/200509/msg00016.html
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/oasis-opendocument-format-submitted-to.html
"Open formats make history - and maintain it"
---------------------------------------------
"Governments such as Massachusetts are concerned about long-term data
preservation. We need to care about it too - there would be no point in
having
the 30-year-rule, which lets us read the inside story on all the Government
scandals of the 1970s, if all the data was stored electronically in a
format
no-one understood any more.
All these problems are left behind by open formats. Anyone can implement
them. The people behind www.OpenOffice.org, www.koffice.org and
www.abiword.com
have all done so - and there is no vendor lock-in. The documented and free
nature of the format means that obsolescence is not possible. As long as
the
format has users, there will be software to read and write it."
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9075-1831039,00.html
[Review] "An economical alternative to pricey office suites"
------------------------------------------------------------
"The savings from choosing OpenOffice can add up fast for small businesses
that are buying several new computers. Many home users might be delighted
to avoid spending even a few dollars on basic office software."
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051009/NEWS/510090316/1006/BUSINESS
[Review] "A Glimpse of OpenOffice 2.0 -- Now Available for Free Public
Downloading"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Once an open-source project really gets rolling, as has OpenOffice.org,
it is
tough for closed-source developers to beat it -- even the Microsoft
Goliath.
As you have noticed at this OpenOffice 2 level we still are viewing
Microsoft
Office as the standard and looking to see how OpenOffice 2 matches up
against
the standard. It would not be surprising at all if by the time
OpenOffice 3 is
released that OpenOffice is the standard and people will be looking to
see if
Microsoft Office comes up to the OpenOffice standard for office suite
software."
http://www.mozillaquest.com/OpenSource05/OpenOffice-2-release_Story01.html
"Everybody's Guide to OpenDocument"
-----------------------------------
"Sorting out the facts from the errors and omissions in recent reaction to
Massachusetts' announcement to use OpenDocument.
A lot of misinformation about the OpenDocument digital format has
started to
appear in the mainstream media and interest groups. Answers to many
questions
on the topic already have appeared, but they are written by techies for
techies.
This article is different, however. You can print out this one and pass
it on
to everyone, regardless of their computer skill level."
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8616
Open source taking over Europe
------------------------------
"Nearly half of European local government bodies are using open source
software
while nearly a third don't know that they are using open source at all."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/21/opensource_government/
"Companies expect open-source desktop software"
-----------------------------------------------
"On the same day that programmers released version 2 of OpenOffice.org,
survey
results showed a significant opportunity for the open-source rival to
Microsoft
Office.
By 2010, 22 percent of companies surveyed by Saugatuck Technology expect
their
core desktop productivity programs will be open-source software."
http://news.com.com/2061-10795_3-5906409.html
"Like rock n' roll, open source here to stay"
---------------------------------------------
"Open source software isn't a craze and won't be a short-lived fad in the
corporate IT environment. More importantly, OSS isn't being put on the back
burner by the corporate world. For every wait-and-see CIO, there are dozens
who are eager to leverage the value of OSS in their organizations."
"The low cost of OpenOffice, an open source desktop suite, caught the
notice
of Daniel Bray, network administrator for HealthFirst, a healthcare
organization
in Brevard County. His analysis showed that deploying OpenOffice would save
HealthFirst $2 million over an upgrade of a proprietary product and
continue to
deliver savings in license fees for years."
http://searchopensource.techtarget.com/columnItem/0,294698,sid39_gci1130503,00.html
KOffice 1.4.2 with Improved OpenDocument Support
------------------------------------------------
The KOffice suite, a competitor to OpenOffice.org, has now added improved
OpenDocument support to their newest release. "OpenDocument" is the new
standard for office documents used by the upcoming OpenOffice.org 2.0 and
StarOffice 8.
http://dot.kde.org/1129013255/
AbiWord gets OpenDocument support from Nokia
--------------------------------------------
"Support for the OpenDocument file format has been donated by INdT, Nokia's
Technology Institute. Currently the OpenDocument import filter is basically
complete, with support for styles, headers/footers, lists, image wrapping,
text boxes, tables, footnotes/endnotes and tables of contents. OpenDocument
export is planned as well and will be added during the 2.4.x series."
http://www.abiword.com/release-notes/2.4.0.phtml
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/abiword-gets-opendocument-support-from.html
"Microsoft 'must support OpenDocument'"
---------------------------------------
"Industry analysts and open source advocates believe that Microsoft will
have
no choice but to offer support for OpenDocument when more organisations
start
following the state of Massachusetts' lead."
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/microsoft-must-support-opendocument.html
Tips & Tricks
#########################################################################
* Follow the expert: Making an OpenOffice.org 2.0 presentation
http://searchopensource.techtarget.com/tip/1,289483,sid39_gci1131010,00.html
* An introduction to OpenOffice.org Basic
http://software.newsforge.com/software/05/09/20/1840248.shtml?tid=93
* Writing a Program to Control OpenOffice.org, Part 2
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8608
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/tips-tricks-writing-program-to-control.html
* OASIS Open Document Format Utilities
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/oasis-open-document-format-utilities.html
* SVG Import Filter for OpenOffice 2.0
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/svg-import-filter-for-openoffice-20.html
* "Four great OpenOffice.org macros"
http://software.newsforge.com/software/05/10/11/1949204.shtml?tid=93
* translate.sourceforge.net - localisation tools for FOSS
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/translatesourceforgenet-localisation.html
Interviews
#########################################################################
* Louis Suarez-Potts (OpenOffice.org Community Manager)
http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/html/62/5370.html
http://br.sys-con.com/read/34271.htm
* John McCreesh (OpenOffice.org Marketing Project)
http://fr.sys-con.com/read/144187.htm
* Florian Reuter (Sun Microsystems)
http://madpenguin.org/cms/html/62/5297.html
* Gary Edwards (Sun Microsystems)
http://madpenguin.org/cms/html/62/5304.html
* Corel on Sun, OpenOffice.org and Open Standards
http://www.betanews.com/article/Interview_Corel_on_Sun_Open_Standards/1129672161
Clippings
#########################################################################
* OpenOffice.org newspaper endorsements
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/openofficeorg-newspaper-endorsements.html
* "OpenDocument Gathers Worldwide Support"
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/opendocument-gathers-worldwide-support.html
* "Open Source Attracts Public Sector"
http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=38621
* [Opinion] "Why multi-party stewardship of the OpenDocument Format
matters so much"
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/opinion-why-multi-party-stewardship-of.html
* [Opinion] "Could ODF be the Net's new, frictionless document DNA?"
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/opinion-could-odf-be-nets-new.html
* "Open Debate About OpenDocument" - Fox News readers comment on
OpenDocument criticism
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/open-debate-about-opendocument-fox.html
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/fox-readers-slam-pro-microsoft-column.html
* "Corel, Novell Stump for OpenDocument Format"
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/corel-novell-stump-for-opendocument.html
* [Opinion] "Microsoft's claims of foul play in Massachusetts don't hold up"
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=2017
* [Competitive News] Review: Contenders Challenge The Microsoft Office
Monopoly
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=172301319&tid=5979
* "Open Document Commitment to Action"
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/open-document-commitment-to-action.html
* [Press Release] Avanquest Partners With Sun Microsystems
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/press-release-avanquest-partners-with.html
* [Opinion] "Mozillarization of OpenOffice.org"
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/8136
* StarOffice 8: "Budget-conscious and lean"
http://www.smh.com.au/news/software/budgetconscious-and-lean/2005/10/18/1129401233279.html
* [Competitive News] Review: Contenders Challenge The Microsoft Office
Monopoly
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/competitive-news-review-contenders.html
* [Competitive News] "Microsoft's PDF support conceals hidden agenda"
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/microsofts-pdf-support-conceals-hidden.html
* "Our Man from Mozilla - Cry freedom"
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/our-man-from-mozilla-cry-freedom.html
* European Union Open Source Case Studies
http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/chapter/470
* OpenDocument filter for MS Office
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/more-opendocument-filter-news.html
* [Opinion] "Dark Times Ahead for Microsoft Office"
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Dark-Times-Ahead-for-Microsoft-Office-10126.shtml
* Small company makes big claims on XML patents
http://news.com.com/Small+company+makes+big+claims+on+XML+patents/2100-1014_3-5905949.html?tag=nefd.top
* Firm Deploys OpenOffice--Where It Makes Sense
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1872805,00.asp
* [Opinion] "Alternatives to MS Office Abound"
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1875721,00.asp
* Further contests on Massachusetts OpenDocument decision
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/further-contests-on-massachusetts.html
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/hidden-opendocument-agenda-uncovered.html
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/political-debate-brews-over.html
* [Opinion] "OpenDocument and OpenReader: complementary steps toward
freeing data"
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/opinion-opendocument-and-openreader.html
* "Microsoft denies preparations to support OpenDoc in Office 12"
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/microsoft-denies-preparations-to.html
* FUD about OpenOffice.org 2.0: "Is OpenOffice.org Bloatware?"
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/fud-about-openofficeorg-20-is.html
* Recommendation of OpenOffice.org by Sydney Morning Herald
http://ooonewsletter.blogspot.com/2005/10/recommendation-of-openofficeorg-by.html
Statistics
#########################################################################
* More than 50,100,000 have downloaded OpenOffice.org
so far (as of October 22, 2005).
* The OpenOffice.org project has more than 34,300
unique people subscribed to the mailing lists
(as of October 22, 2005).
* 670 people and companies have signed a JCA and are thus
either already contributing or considering to do so
(as of October 31, 2005):
http://www.openoffice.org/copyright/copyrightapproved.html
* More than 65,000 people completed the user survey since the
launch of OpenOffice.org 2.0 (as of October 31).
* 2241 people have participated in the OOo developer
survey so far (as of October 31, 2005).
Events
#########################################################################
Upcoming
========
LinuxWorld Expo
Frankfurt, Germany
November 15-17, 2005
http://www.linuxworldexpo.de/
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]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
