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OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER
Volume 05 - Issue 07 - 01/2008
Please send news clippings to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Contents
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1. Announcements
================
* OpenOffice.org Community Innovation Program
* OOoCon 2008 Call for Location - deadline extended
* Fosdem 2008
2. Success Stories
==================
* Sears starts selling $199 PC
* Indian organization saving money with OpenOffice.org
* Lenovo now also pre-installing Linux and OpenOffice.org, too
* Yet another cheap laptop with OpenOffice.org pre-installed
* Alternatives to Word and Windows at Israeli schools
* Usage of OpenOffice.org in Vietnam
3. Featured News
================
* French Gendarmerie Adopts Ubuntu
* "Open source software has the ability to change the face of the
Education Industry"
4. Tips & Tricks
================
* Alternative to Endnote (bibliography / citation)
* New Chart features in OpenOffice.org 2.4
* Improved picture cropping for Draw/Impress
* Macros in Database Documents – Milestone 1
5. ODF News
===========
* Arcor introducing web conferencing with ODF support
* Yet another reporting tool with ODF support
* Book about ODF vs. OOXML discussions
* ODF Alliance Publishes Response to Burton Group Report
* Poll regarding ODF and OOXML
* Dispelling Myths Around ODF
* Becta supporting ODF
* New ODF-XSLT Project
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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 Community Innovation Program
===========================================
"On 7 December 2007, Sun Microsystems Inc. announced [0] a new million-
dollar fund to foster innovation in six of the open-source projects it
sponsors and contributes to. We are pleased to report that
OpenOffice.org was included. The contest, which we have titled the
OpenOffice.org Community Innovation Program, commences tomorrow, 30
January, and we invite OpenOffice.org Community members to participate."
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=350
OOoCon 2008 Call for Location - deadline extended
=================================================
"Last month we set a deadline of January 31st for the receipt of
proposals for hosting the OpenOffice.org Annual Conference 2008 - see
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=345.
In response to a number of requests from organising teams, we have
agreed to put back the deadline to midnight UTC February 10th. We will
aim to open the community voting process a few days later, and announce
the winning bid on March 1st."
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=349
Fosdem 2008
===========
"Fosdem 2008 (23-24 February, Brussels, Belgium) [0] is legendary for
being a focused and exciting developer and contributor conference.
This year, it will host a Developer Room (DevRoom) for OpenOffice.org
from 23-24 Feb. (the weekend). [1] The purpose of the Developer Room
is to give developers and other contributors the space and time to
present and conduct workshops on OpenOffice.org and related
technologies. We will have this room for the weekend, from morning to
evening. All interested are welcome to participate, and if you have a
new integration, extensions, add-on or functionality, here is your
chance: you are invited!"
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=348
Success Stories
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Sears starts selling $199 PC
(OpenOffice.org indirectly included via Freespire)
==================================================
"I just learned that the large retailer Sears just started selling
$199 PC's (after $100 mail-in rebate) which have Freespire pre-installed.
As can be read on the Freespire homepage, this means that buyers of this
PC will get access to the Sun StarOffice software. Since Freespire is
Linspire's free offering, I guess people have to pay in order to get
StarOffice, but AFAIK Freespire also allows includes OpenOffice.org as
a free option. This is yet another example of a major retailer selling
low-cost PC's with an ODF implementation pre-installed, or at least very
closely attached.
BTW, I just learned that the Eee PC will start selling in Germany on
January 24. I'm anxious to get my hands on one of those little guys."
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/sears_starts_to_sell_199
Indian organization saving money with OpenOffice.org
====================================================
"Umashankar says that his office uses the Openoffice.org suite. This
saves them close to Rs 12,000 on each desktop, he says.
"We buy Intel dual core desktops with 19" TFT monitors for Rs 21,600
including the Linux OS. If we bought a proprietary office suite at
Rs 12,000 for each desktop, the cost of commissioning infrastructure
would go up to Rs 33,600 -- a 55 percent increase," he says.
And when you have to refresh over 30,000 PCs, that's a figure that
can add up: to about Rs 17 crore.
And that's not all. These figures don't take into account software
upgrades for applications. By using the free Openoffice.org suite
and a Linux OS, Elcot has bypassed yearly licensing fees for
proprietary software."
http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=46692
Lenovo now also pre-installing Linux and OpenOffice.org, too
============================================================
"I just read this article. Apparently Lenovo will pre-install Linux
and OpenOffice.org, too. I wonder what high-profile hardware vendor
comes next!?"
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/01/now_lenovo_load.html
Yet another cheap laptop with OpenOffice.org pre-installed
==========================================================
"Measuring 9" in length and 2 pounds in weight, the Everex CloudBook
caters to users seeking the latest in mobile computing. With its 1.2GHz
VIA C7-M ULV mobile processor, the laptop averages 5 hours of battery
life on a 4-cell, lithium-ion battery. Unlike many of its competitors,
the CloudBook also features 30GB of internal storage, digital video
output (DVI-I), 4-in-1 card reader and 1.3MP webcam.
...
The CloudBook, model CE1200V, showcases the Linux based gOS operating
system and familiar applications from Mozilla, Skype, Google, Facebook,
Faqly and OpenOffice.org. Available January 25th, the computer will
be available at Walmart.com for $399."
The full announcement can be found here. I'm pretty sure that all these
low-cost laptops will increase the global acceptance and market share
of open source desktop software like OpenOffice.org. As a consequence,
the OpenDocument Format (ODF) will become increasingly popular, too.
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/yet_another_cheap_laptop_with
Alternatives to Word and Windows at Israeli schools
===================================================
"Even the unadventurous Israeli education system may soon discover
that there is (computerized) life after Microsoft. The country's
schools will forgo Word and Windows in favor of parallel programs
from Sun Microsystems. For the first time, the education system's
tenders committee has authorized cooperation in principle with Sun,
in a move that could undermine Microsoft's sovereignty in Israeli
classrooms."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/939224.html
Usage of OpenOffice.org in Vietnam
==================================
"Weeks ago, the Ministry of Information and Communication recommended
a list of open software solutions for use in State agencies and the
education sector, comprising Open Office, Thunderbird, Firefox and Unikey.
In the same gesture, the Office of the Vietnam Communist Party has
announced it has replaced Microsoft Office by Open Office, and by the
end of 2008, all 20,000 desktops at Party organs throughout Vietnam
will be installed with Open Office.
Other state agencies like the Department of Post and Telematics of
Khanh Hoa Province, and three departments of Trade, Science and
Technology, and Post and Telematics in HCMC are using Open Office on
a trial basis. After this stage, HCMC agencies will expand the trial
use of this open source software to three more departments and five
districts in the first half of this year.
An official of the HCMC Department of Post and Telematics says that
the trial time shows that Open Office meets the requirements of the
department."
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2008/01/762523/
Featured News
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French Gendarmerie Adopts Ubuntu
================================
"The gendarmerie's 70,000 desktops currently use Microsoft's Windows XP
operating system. But these will progressively change over to the Linux
system distributed by Ubuntu, explained Colonel Nicolas Geraud, deputy
director of the gendarmerie's IT department.
"We will introduce Linux every time we have to replace a desktop
computer," he said, "so this year we expect to change 5,000-8,000 to
Ubuntu and then 12,000-15,000 over the next four years so that every
desktop uses the Linux operating system by 2013-2014."
There are three reasons behind the move, Geraud said at the Solution
Linux 2008 conference here. The first is to diversify suppliers and
reduce the force's reliance on one company, the second is to give the
gendarmerie mastery of the operating system and the third is cost,
he said."
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iU4Lq7tOR_WVOJLZ3IeRaIH03x6w
"Open source software has the ability to change the face of the
Education Industry"
===============================================================
"A number of education institutions around the globe are looking towards
open source software (OSS) as a means to gain more control over their
solutions. From this a new report by independent market analyst
Datamonitor predicts that spend on OSS (including maintenance and
services) by the Education sector globally will reach $489.9 million
by 2012, compared to $286.2 million today, providing sizeable
opportunities for technology vendors."
http://www.datamonitor.com/home/press/article/?pid=57A80BE9-2C12-4166-9E23-EAB5BDE3A4FA&type=PressRelease
Advice for the Dutch public sector on Open Source
=================================================
"The programme OSOSS informs and advises the Dutch public sector about
the possibilities of open source software and stimulates the use of open
source software in their information systems. The acronym OSOSS stands
for “Open Source as an Option in your Software Strategy”.
The OSOSS programme offers concrete support by providing information,
knowledge and instruments that governmental bodies can use to start using
open source software. The programme is run by the foundation for
e-government, ICTU, on request by the Ministries of the Interior and of
Economic Affairs."
http://www.ososs.nl/about_ososs
Tips & Tricks
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Alternative to Endnote (bibliography / citation)
================================================
"I just found out about Citavi. Citavi is an alternative to bibliography /
citation tools like Endnote. Currently, Citavi is only available in German,
but I guess the company is willing to add more languages based on user
feedback. Thus, send your language and feature requests per email to
Citavi!
The interesting thing about Citavi is that there is a free entry version of
Citavi which should be sufficient for the needs of most students, at least
for the first years.
...
Have you heard of Zotero? Zotero is a Firefox extension for managing
bibliographies that has a "cite as you write" extension for OOo. It works
great, is cross-platform (Linux, OS X, and Windows all supported), and,
most importantly, it has a Free software license.
http://www.zotero.org/
Zotero incorporates the open standard CSL citation language developed by
the co-leader of the OOo bibliographic project team (OOoBib), Bruce
D'Arcus,
who recommends Zotero for everyday use:
http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/msg00896.html"
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/alternative_to_endnote_bibliography
New Chart features in OpenOffice.org 2.4
========================================
"Now, it is possible to display the equation for a trend line (regression
curve) next to it. The formula object can be moved around, formatted with
a number format, font and graphical formatting.
...
Axes can be reversed, i.e. they point in a different than usual direction.
In the example the y-axis points down from the top, instead of the usual
orientation.
...
You can set individual number formats for the value displayed in a data
label, as well as for the percentage."
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/new_chart_features_in_openoffice
Improved picture cropping for Draw/Impress
==========================================
" Of course there is an existing OpenOffice.org Issue for this (i3545)
and in my daily work I get a lot of feedback from users who need and want
this functionality, too. But unfortunately our developers are busy with
more important features. So I decided to specify the needed redesign in
my free time and I found a developer who saw the same need for this
improvement. Christian Lippka from the Graphics team supported me and
helped in his free time to get this working. Great job, thanks again!
By now there is a quite good beta version implemented in CWS cropmaster2000
and there is not much work left to be done. So I hope soon this will make
its way into the master build.
And this is how it works:
Selecting an inserted picture brings up the picture toolbar. Clicking on
the cropping-button brings up 8 blue object-handles on the sides and
angles of the picture. Moving the mouse cursor over these handles shows
the cropping cursor. Now you can easily grab one of those and crop the
picture by dragging these handles. It's as simple as that and works in
Draw and Impress."
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/improved_picture_cropping_for_draw
Macros in Database Documents – Milestone 1
==========================================
A while ago, I talked about macros in database documents, and that we had
finished the work to re-factor various parts of OpenOffice.org's
application and scripting frameworks, so that we could start embarking
upon implementing the real feature: Basic macros as well as JavaScript,
BeanShell and Python scripts embedded in database documents.
Nearly 3 months passed, and what I now want to advertise is the first
milestone of this implementation: If you're interested in, you can get
your hands onto a version of OpenOffice.org which allows you to put your
macros into your database document, and then run those macros from all
sub components of the database: from within your forms, reports, the
query, table and relation designer, and from within the table data view.
Well, of course also from within the database document itself.
The CWS which is dedicated to implementing the feature is called
odbmacros2, and a snapshot of it is available to everybody for download,
as Linux and as Windows version.
For the details of what you can expect, please refer to the feature
specification in our Wiki, and to the release notes in the
download directory.
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/macros_in_database_documents_milestone
ODF News
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Arcor introducing web conferencing with ODF support
===================================================
"According to this German article, Arcor is introducing a new phone and
web conferencing solution which supports sharing ODF documents among
participants."
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/arcor_introducing_web_conferencing_with
Yet another reporting tool with ODF support
===========================================
"Adding FastReport VCL to your application is a breeze. You need to put
several necessary components on the visual form, then connect to needed
data sources and make a report form. It's as easy as working in Corel
Draw. The end user who got FastReport VCL in an application can edit
templates and available reports, convert reports to 15 formats (such as
PDF, XLS, RTF, and ODF), and send reports by email directly from
the application."
http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/538737
Book about ODF vs. OOXML discussions
====================================
"This article reminded me that I had not written about Andy Updegrove's
book project. I'm sure it will be an interesting story!"
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/book_about_odf_vs_ooxml
ODF Alliance Publishes Response to Burton Group Report
======================================================
"In case you had not noticed, the ODF Alliance just published a response
to the recent Burton Group report."
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/odf_alliance_publishes_response_to
Poll regarding ODF and OOXML
============================
"Here is an interesting poll regarding ODF and OOXML. I'm curious about
the results!"
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/poll_regarding_odf_and_ooxml
Dispelling Myths Around ODF
===========================
"Yes, ODF 1.0 did not specify a formula language but allowed arbitrary
formula languages instead. This was recognized as an interoperability
issue and is thus being addressed by ODF 1.2. However, many ODF 1.0 based
products from different vendors even don't have an interoperability issue
in the formula area because they are based on the same code base. It
would have been fast and easy to define a formula language by simply
documenting the formula language of one single application. However,
ODF chose to specify formulas based on broad industry experience and
best practices.
The formula language in ODF 1.2 is based on the following applications:
* Microsoft Excel (many different versions)
* OpenOffice.org / StarOffice
* Lotus 1-2-3
* Quattro Pro
* Gnumeric
* Koffice Kspread
* WikiCalc
* SheetToGo
* Mathematica
* Macsyma
* Octave
And the key benefits of the ODF 1.2 formula language are:
* Broad application coverage, incl. Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3
and OpenOffice.org
* Innovative functions, e.g. XOR, BASE, SEC, etc.
* Reuse of standards, e.g. ISO 8610 date and time representation
* Support for supplier-unique namespaces, enables rapid, decentralized
innovation
* Avoids bugs like the „1900 leap year bug“
* No limitation to the number of rows and columns
* No constraints on the user interface
* Predefined function sets for different application areas
Thus, the ODF 1.2 formula language covers all key areas without
sacrificing vendor independence and openess."
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/dispelling_myths_around_odf
Becta supporting ODF
====================
"I guess you have all read the news articles about the latest Becta
report about Vista and Office 2007. It is great to see that Becta is
supporting ODF. In case you haven't seen the report yet, you can find
it here."
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/becta_supporting_odf
New ODF-XSLT Project
====================
"Lone Wolves is happy to announce the ODF-XSLT project. The ODF-XSLT
Document Generator is a library written in PHP 5 that brings the full
power of XSLT to your OpenDocument files."
http://www.linuxpr.com/releases/10303.html
ODF making 'amazing progress'
=============================
"Twelve countries and six regional governments have adopted "pro-ODF
policies," according to the group, composed of companies and organisations
that advocate for the format.
The latest countries are the Netherlands and South Africa, which require
government agencies to use the format. Also, more than 40 applications
now support ODF and the Alliance's membership ranks are set to rise above
500, according to the report."
http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/applications/news/index.cfm?newsid=6851
http://www.odfalliance.org
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