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OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER
Volume 05 - Issue 06 - 12/2007
Please send news clippings to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Contents
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1. Announcements
================
* OpenOffice.org announces fix release 2.3.1
* OpenOffice.org Annual Conference 2008 - Call for Location
* Community Contributor Representative Vote
2. Success Stories
==================
* VeryPC pre-installs OpenOffice.org
* Open Source and Open Standards for Schools in Brussels
* Austrian Ministry of Education licenses video training for
OpenOffice.org/StarOffice
3. Featured News
================
* Great new OpenOffice.org review by eWeek
* New Features in OpenOffice.org 2.4
* PDF Import: First milestone reached
* Sneak preview of the upcomming table feature for OpenOffice.org
Impress and Draw
* Collaboration for Calc with Shared Spreadsheets
* Sun Presentation Minimizer now available
* Sun Announces Open Source Community Innovation Awards Program
4. Tips & Tricks
================
* Keeping Google and OpenOffice.org documents in sync
* New version of Mobile Office available
5. ODF News
===========
* ODF support for Wikipedia
* Linux iPod Alternative with ODF Support
* Norway will mandate PDF, ODF and HTML
* New York State asking for input regarding ODF and OOXML
* Tables for Mac OS X has ODF support
* Dutch parliament approves ODF plan
* Every OLPC contributes to the ODF user base
* ODF Support for Office 2007
* Business Intelligence for NetBeans with ODF Support
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Want to help OpenOffice.org? Find out hot to contribute or see our
To Do List!!
http://contributing.openoffice.org/index.html
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/To-Dos/index.html
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Announcements
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OpenOffice.org announces fix release 2.3.1
==========================================
"The OpenOffice.org Community announces the immediate availability of
OpenOffice.org Release 2.3.1. This is a minor bug fix release with no new
features for users. However, as this release also fixes a security
vulnerability with database files, we recommend all affected users should
upgrade to this release."
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=344
OpenOffice.org Annual Conference 2008 - Call for Location
=========================================================
"Would your team like to rise the challenge? Full details of the Call For
Location process are available on the website
http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2008/cfl.html and the conference
organisers' mailing list is open for discussions at
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=345
Community Contributor Representative Vote
=========================================
"It's election season and time to vote for the Community Contributor
Representative to the Community Council. It's been a while. The CCR
holds a seat on the Community Council for one year (more or less) and
represents you. Laurent Godard has been the most recent CCR.
Voting begins immediately (now) and ends Saturday 22 December at 23:59
UTC. To vote, follow the instructions below, right after the candidate
statements."
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=346
Success Stories
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VeryPC pre-installs OpenOffice.org
==================================
"VeryPC is yet another PC vendor pre-installing OpenOffice.org depending
on the customer's choice. OpenOffice.org is the pre-selected option for
an office suite for at least a few (maybe all!?) of their computers.
Check out their product pages to see how they promote OpenOffice.org."
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/verypc_pre_installs_openoffice_org
Open Source and Open Standards for Schools in Brussels
======================================================
"According to this Dutch or this French article, 3.5 million Euro will
be spent to equip schools in Brussels with computers and network
infrastructure. The use of open standards supporting open source
software is encouraged. According to the articles, OpenOffice.org will
be installed on the computers. It also sounds like many computers will
get an operating systems other than Windows."
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/open_source_and_open_standards1
Austrian Ministry of Education licenses video training for
OpenOffice.org/StarOffice
==========================================================
"According to this German article, the Austrian Ministry of Education
licenses video training for OpenOffice.org / StarOffice which will be
used at Austrian schools."
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/austrian_ministry_of_education_licenses
Featured News
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Great new OpenOffice.org review by eWeek
========================================
"OpenOffice.org 2.3 sports a nifty set of feature improvements, but the
suite's sweetest features remain its low cost (free) and its strikingly
broad platform support."
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2224467,00.asp
New Features in OpenOffice.org 2.4
==================================
"I want to highlight some areas
* More support for OOo extensions
o support for online help in an extension ( issue 20164,
specification)
o online update for extensions is possible ( issue 82775,
specification)
o OOo search for updates of extensions ( issue 82851, specification)
* PDF/A (ISO 19005-1) support for PDF export ( issue 59651)
* HTTPS support in OOo for WebDav ( issue 31053, specification)
* 'Block selection' in text documents ( issue 1596, specification)"
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/last_feature_release_on_openoffice
PDF Import: First milestone reached
===================================
"We've now reached a first milestone with the PDF import extension, in
that we're able to import typical PDF documents with good layout fidelity
in Draw and Impress. Below, you can see a sample CAD pdf, imported in
Draw, with the title slightly edited (it read "Airplane Engine" before):"
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/pdf_import_first_milestone_reached
Sneak preview of the upcomming table feature for OpenOffice.org
Impress and Draw
===============================================================
"If you are a regular reader of this blog you may know that I'm working
on implementing native table support for the OpenOffice.org Impress and
Draw applications. Now this is not done yet, but I like to give you a
short teaser about how it already looks like.
Before you start the video, please turn on your speaker to listen to
the narration"
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/sneak_preview_of_the_upcomming
Collaboration for Calc with Shared Spreadsheets
===============================================
"One of the highest voted issues in Calc is #8811# (Allow multiple
users to edit the same spreadsheet through workbook sharing), which
has currently 143 votes. After some evaluation we decided to give this
feature a try. Before we start with the implementation I'd like to
present some conceptual ideas."
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/collaboration_for_calc_with_shared
Sun Presentation Minimizer now available
========================================
"Since yesterday, a new extension is available for Impress:
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/PresentationMinimizer
It works with OpenOffice.org 2.3.1.
The Sun Presentation Minimizer is used to reduce the file size of the
current presentation. Images will be compressed, and data that is no
longer needed will be removed.
The Sun Presentation Minimizer can optimize the image quality size.
Presentations designed for screen or projector do not require the
same high quality as presentations designed for print."
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/sun_presentation_minimizer_for_openoffice
Sun Announces Open Source Community Innovation Awards Program
=============================================================
"Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq:JAVA), today announced a multi-year
program called the Open Source Community Innovation Awards Program,
which will foster innovation and recognize some of the most interesting
initiatives within Sun-sponsored open source communities worldwide. To
participate in the program's first year, Sun has selected six
communities: GlassFish(TM), NetBeans(TM), OpenJDK(TM), OpenOffice.org,
OpenSolaris(TM) and OpenSPARC(TM). Prizes are expected to total at
least $1 million (USD) a year."
http://www.prweb.com/releases/community/open_source/prweb574482.htm
Tips & Tricks
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Keeping Google and OpenOffice.org documents in sync
===================================================
"The OpenOffice.org2GoogleDocs extension imports documents from
Google Docs and Spreadsheets to OpenOffice.org and exports from OO.org to
GDocs so you can work with your docs both online and off as you see fit."
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/tips/2007/12/11/sync_openofficeorg_docs_with_g.html
New version of Mobile Office available
======================================
"This new version adds the ability to open password protected and
encrypted ODF files. SEPT-Solutions claims this to be the first such
implemetation for smartphones. This enhanced security support makes ODF
on smartphones significantly more attractive for enterprises as similar
security features are as yet not available on those applications
providing Microsoft Office document support on smartphones."
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/new_version_of_mobile_office
ODF News
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ODF support for Wikipedia
=========================
"The third stage, planned for mid-2008, will be the addition of the
OpenDocument format for word processors to the list of export formats.
"Imagine that you want to use a set of wiki articles in the classroom.
By supporting the OpenDocument format, we will make it easy for educators
to customize and remix content before printing and distributing it from
any desktop computer," Sue Gardner explained. This work is funded through
a US$40,000 grant by the Open Society Institute.
The technology developed through this cooperation will be available
under an open source license, free for anyone to use for any purpose.
It ties into the MediaWiki platform, the open source technology that
runs Wikipedia. As a result, thousands of wiki platforms around the
world will have the option of providing the same services to their
users."
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Wikis_Go_Printable
Linux iPod Alternative with ODF Support
=======================================
"I just became aware of the wizpy. It seems to be a Linux alternative
to the Apple iPod and includes ODF support. According to this site,
OpenOffice.org seems to be pre-installed. Pretty cool!"
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/linux_ipod_alternative_with_odf
Norway will mandate PDF, ODF and HTML
=====================================
"According to this article (Norwegian only, sorry) on digi.no the
Norwegian government has mandated the use of open document formats
from January 1st, 2009. I’ll give a brief overview of what the article
actually says.
There are three formats that have been mandated for all documentation
between authorities and users/partners, namely:
* HTML for all public information on the Web.
* PDF for all documents where layout needs to be preserved.
* ODF for all documents that the recipient is supposed to be able
to edit"
http://virtuelvis.com/archives/2007/12/norway-mandates-html-pdf-odf
New York State asking for input regarding ODF and OOXML
=======================================================
"New York State is asking for input regarding electronic records and ODF
and OOXML in particular. They are particularly interested in experiences
by government agencies. If you are interested in providing input to their
questions, you should check out this website."
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/new_york_state_asking_for
Tables for Mac OS X has ODF support
===================================
"I don't know how I can have overlooked this, but I just found out that
Tables for Mac OS X can import ODF documents. See here. Great! One more
application for the list!"
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/apple_tables_has_odf_support
Dutch parliament approves ODF plan
==================================
"According to this German article on heise, the Dutch parliament
approved the open standards and open source adoption plan submitted by
the Ministry of Economy. According to the plan, government agencies are
supposed to read and write ODF in parallel to existing formats by
April 2008, at least that is my understanding."
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/dutch_parliament_approves_odf_plan
Every OLPC contributes to the ODF user base
===========================================
"I was not sure until yesterday, but according to different, trustworthy
resources, the productivity software shipping with the OLPC (One Laptop
Per Child) or XO (which is the official product name) supports ODF as
the default file format. Thus, every OLPC contributes to the fast growing
ODF user base. Cool!"
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/every_olpc_contributes_to_the
ODF Support for Office 2007
===========================
"I just learned from Brian Jones that Microsoft has fixed a bug with
Office 2007 SP1, which hindered the Sun ODF Plugin to work with Word 2007.
I gave SP1 a quick try, and - it's working now!"
http://blogs.sun.com/malte/entry/sun_odf_plugin_1_11
Business Intelligence for NetBeans with ODF Support
===================================================
"today announced iReport, the world's most popular open source graphical
report and dashboard design tool, will now support the NetBeans(TM) 6.0
Integrated Development Environment (IDE) as a native plug-in ... This
includes the creation of ad hoc and parameterized reports, pixel-perfect
reports in a variety of formats (Open Document, PDF, ..."
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-12-2007/0004721205&EDATE=
Newsletter Archive
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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
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