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OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER
Volume 05 - Issue 17 - 11/2008
Please send news clippings to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Contents
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1. Announcements
================
* OpenOffice.org Achieves Ten Million Downloads at the End of its
Beijing Conference.
2. Success Stories
==================
* A breakthrough in curriculum change for 201 m students
3. Featured News
================
* The Register: Sun pimps out OpenOffice as Microsoft 'clarifies' Office
for web
* FACIL: 2008 Elections - The Free Software Pledge
* Norway Pledges Funds for Government Open Source Usage
* Adam Turner: OpenOffice 3.0 a fresh blow for Microsft
* Jack Wallen: What's new in OpenOffice.org 3.0
* GullFOSS: Some Calc features for 3.1 from RedFlag 2000
* GullFOSS: One step forward, the next step back
4. Tips & Tricks
================
* Solveig Haugland: Simple labels in OpenOffice Writer 2.0 or 3.0: Just
typing or pasting the content
* Solveig Haugland: Pasting from HTML or Word into OpenOffice Writer:
use Paste Special > Unformatted Text
* Solveig Haugland: The most straightforward wizardless way to create an
envelope in OpenOffice.org Writer
5. ODF News
===========
* OASIS Forms ODF Interop Committee
* IBM, Sun Microsystems Launch ODF Toolkit Union to Grow Adoption,
Community and Software Innovation
* Nisus Writer Pro update includes new file importer
* Bruce Perens: A Vertical Market Seeks Open Standards
* IBM to Support ODF Long-Term
6. Solution of the month
========================
CalcLink - A bi-directional link between Mathematica and Calc
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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 Achieves Ten Million Downloads at the End of its Beijing
Conference.
================================
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=377
OpenOffice.org Users' Community Forum celebrates first anniversary with
launch of its newest site, "Foro oficial de la comunidad"
===============================
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=378
Success Stories
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A breakthrough in curriculum change for 201 m students and adoption of
Open Source Technologies in schools
=================================================================
...finally had a major breakthrough with NCERT, the body responsible for
setting curriculum for 201 m school students in India. In the last 30
years, this is the first time that they have come out with a syllabus
that has no reference to Microsoft or Oracle products. This impacts more
than 201 m students in India.
The details of the syllabus can be found at
http://www.ncert.nic.in/html/syllabus.htm
Featured News
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The Register: Sun pimps out OpenOffice as Microsoft 'clarifies' Office
for web
=========================================
Jonathan Schwartz has posted
<http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/the_value_of_distribution_java>
that an "auction's afoot...to see who we'll be partnering with us to
integrate their business and brands into our binary product
distribution" of OpenOffice.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/14/sun_pimpin_openoffice/
FACIL: 2008 Elections - The Free Software Pledge
=================================================================
FACIL, a non-profit organization devoted to the promotion of Free
Software, is issuing a call to all candidates regarding the use of free
software in Quebec public administration.
http://facil.qc.ca/en/FreeSoftwarePledge
Norway Pledges Funds for Government Open Source Usage
=======================================
Norway has become the the latest country to pledge funds for public
sector use of open source software. Minister of Government Adminstration
and Reform Heidi Grande Roeys is granting 2 million kroner ($285,000) to
the national center for free software
http://ostatic.com/177021-blog/norway-pledges-funds-for-government-open-source-usage
Adam Turner: OpenOffice 3.0 a fresh blow for Microsft
====================================
Microsoft's cash cow Microsoft Office is under further threat with the
release of OpenOffice 3.0.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/digital-life/articles/openoffice-30-a-fresh-blow-for-microsft/2008/11/24/1227491461526.html
Jack Wallen: What's new in OpenOffice.org 3.0
==============================
One of the most helpful new features of OpenOffice.org 3.0 is the
support for more third-party extensions
<http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/>, which are available
online. A quick perusal finds that there are extensions to provide a
mortgage payment calculator, various dictionaries and spell-checkers for
other languages, PDF import support, template packages, and more.
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/opensource/?p=301
GullFOSS: Some Calc features for 3.1 from RedFlag 2000
=========================================
It was a great pleasure to meet RedFlag 2000's Calc developers at OOoCon
in Beijing. Of course the successful collaboration continues, resulting
in some cool new features:
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/some_calc_features_for_3
GullFOSS: One step forward, the next step back
==================================
... As things usually go I was distracted by other things for a while
(like e.g. getting an OOo 3.0 out of the door or some serious issues
into 3.0.1). Recently however I got back to these plans and begin to see
something. See here the new print dialog with preview.
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/one_step_forward_the_next
Tips & Tricks
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Solveig Haugland: Simple labels in OpenOffice Writer 2.0 or 3.0: Just
typing or pasting the content
=====================================================================
I follow this procedure when I ship out books. Let's say I've got five
people who've ordered books directly from me through PayPal or Amazon.
I've got five emails in my inbox, with five addresses. So I need to make
five labels.
http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2008/11/simple-labels-in-openoffice-writer-20-or-30-just-typing-or-pasting-the-content.html
Solveig Haugland: Pasting from HTML or Word into OpenOffice Writer: use
Paste Special > Unformatted Text
===============================================================================
You might not do it today or tomorrow, but you'll do it someday. You'll
need to paste some content from a Web page, or a Word document, or
something else that's got some goofiness embedded in it, into your
Writer document.
http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2008/11/pasting-from-html-or-word-into-openoffice-writer-use-paste-special-unformatted-text.html
Solveig Haugland: The most straightforward wizardless way to create an
envelope in OpenOffice.org Writer
============================================================================
Envelopes can be problematic. Yes. This is primarily because envelopes
are not Letter or Legal. Each printer has its own approach to printing,
and you'll need to do a little experimenting.
But you can do it. The Envelopes category and the Mail Merge category of
my blog each has various approaches.
http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2008/11/notes-in-openofficeorg-30-writer.html
ODF News
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OASIS Forms ODF Interop Committee
========================
"OASIS has formed a new committee to foster interoperability and
conformance with the OpenDocument Format (ODF) standard"
http://redmondmag.com/news/article.asp?EditorialsID=10353
IBM, Sun Microsystems Launch ODF Toolkit Union to Grow Adoption,
Community and Software Innovation
=====================================================================
" IBM and Sun Microsystems today announced the launch of the
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Toolkit Union, a new open-source software
community project organized to make document software more innovative,
versatile and useful for business. "
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/IBM-Sun-Microsystems-Launch-ODF/story.aspx?guid={39DC24F7-9368-4437-92A5-E49FFFDE6AEF}
Nisus Writer Pro update includes new file importer
=================================
Alternative word processor, Nisus Writer Pro, has been updated to
version 1.2, adding several new features including an improved file
importer. The file importer improves file translations, especially for
Microsoft's Word documents, the company said. An option to export as
Word (.doc) and the Open Document (.odt) format has also been added to
the new version.
http://www.macworld.com/article/136641/2008/11/nisus.html?t=104
Bruce Perens: A Vertical Market Seeks Open Standards
====================================
An Open Standard is more than just a specification. The principles
behind the standard, and the practice of offering and operating the
standard, are what make the standard Open.
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/3778376/Bruce+Perens:+A+Vertical+Market+Seeks+Open+Standards.htm
IBM to Support ODF Long-Term
====================
IBM announced a long-term commitment to the OpenDocument Format (ODF) by
unveiling a roadmap for the expansion of the free Lotus Symphony office
application suite to MacIntosh, Ubuntu Linux, OpenOffice 3.0, and
Microsoft Office customers.
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2012146/
OpenOffice.org solution of the month
====================================
CalcLink - A bi-directional link between Mathematica and Calc
CalcLink brings the computational and diagnostic visualization power of
Mathematica to OpenOffice Calc, while bringing the familiarity and
convenience of Calc to Mathematica. The entire breadth of all
Mathematica functions (3000+ symbols) becomes easily accessible from
Calc, enhancing it with symbolic computation, optimization methods,
modern statistical functions, data-mining, lightning-fast giga-numerics,
and linear algebra functions! Spreadsheet data can be visualized from
Calc in new and insightful ways, making it easy to reduce a deluge of
data to the essential information!
www.lauschkeconsulting.com/calclink.html
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This new section introduces a single solution which provides a OO.o
integration or based on OO.o technology. The idea behind it is to
support vendors who have an OO.o integration. The full list of solutions
is available here :
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org_Solutions
Drop me an email, if you want to have your solution listed.
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