OpenOffice.org urges Dell's CEO to respond to customer demand and bundle OpenOffice.org's free software alternative to Microsoft Office with Dell's computers.
In an open letter released today, the OpenOffice.org community invites Michael Dell to work with them to pre-install OpenOffice.org 2 office software on Dell computers. Dell's own IdeaStorm website has recorded an overwhelming customer demand for this feature, currently showing over 70,000 requests for OpenOffice.org 2. The OpenOffice.org community is the home of the leading free software competitor to Microsoft's Office suite. The letter claims that OpenOffice.org 2 software and Dell hardware make a perfect match, sharing identical values of delivering high quality at unbeatable value. A joint development by Dell and OpenOffice.org raises the prospect of an "OpenOffice.org supplied by Dell" product, with finance from Dell helping to built security for the open-source community. Text of the letter: +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Michael S.Dell, Chairman and CEO Dell Computer Corporation One Dell Way Round Rock, Texas 78682 Dear Michael Dell Computer Corporation has become one of Fortune's “America’s Most Admired Companies” by providing great value, high quality computers and peripherals, but most of all, by listening to your customers. Your recent “IdeaStorm” initiative is the latest example of this. Here at OpenOffice.org, we were delighted to see that the second most requested feature by Dell customers was to have our office software pre-installed on Dell systems. This request attracted more than 25,000 votes in two days. We believe that OpenOffice.org 2 software perfectly matches Dell’s values. OpenOffice.org 2 is high quality office software, the result of over twenty years’ continuous software engineering. It runs under all common operating systems. It offers everything users expect from office software, plus some bonus features that may pleasantly surprise them. It’s easy for customers to use, with a familiar look and feel, and can read and write a wide range of file formats, including Microsoft’s. On top of all this, being licenced under open-source terms, it represents outstanding value for money for you and your customers. Let’s have a conversation about how we could build an “OpenOffice.org supplied by Dell” product to give your customers what they are asking for. We’d also be happy to accept any financial contribution that Dell might offer to help ensure that OpenOffice.org continues to evolve in the future. Sincerely John McCreesh Marketing Project Lead OpenOffice.org +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ About OpenOffice.org The OpenOffice.org Community is an international team of volunteer and sponsored contributors who develop, support, and promote the leading open-source office productivity suite, OpenOffice.org®. OpenOffice.org's leading edge software technology (UNO) is also available for developers, systems integrators, etc to use in OpenOffice.org extensions or in their own applications. OpenOffice.org supports the Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument) OASIS Standard (ISO/IEC 26300) as well as legacy industry file formats and is available on major computing platforms and with native language support in over 80 languages. OpenOffice.org software is provided under the GNU Lesser General Public Licence (LGPL) and may be used free of charge for any purpose, private or commercial. The OpenOffice.org Community acknowledges generous sponsorship from a number of companies, including Sun Microsystems, the founding sponsor and primary contributor. Press Contacts Louis Suarez-Potts (UTC -05h00) OpenOffice.org Community Manager email louis (at) openoffice.org +1 (416) 625 3843 John McCreesh (UTC +0h00) OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Lead email jpmcc (at) openoffice.org +44 (0)7 810 278 540 Cristian Driga (UTC +0200) OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Co-Lead email cdriga (at) openoffice.org +40 7887 000 60 Worldwide Marketing Contacts: http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts ### --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
