Hello Rob, 2011/6/2 <robert_w...@us.ibm.com>
> charles.h.sch...@gmail.com wrote on 06/02/2011 11:16:45 AM: > > > I do have a question though. To me it's unclear whether the Openoffice > > project has any real development ressources. I see so far one developer > and > > Rob, who I know to be a distinguished engineer from IBM but who has > never > > contributed code to OpenOffice, if I recall. I'm a bit surprised by this > as > > TDF has now over 200 developers, paid and unpaid and I was under the > > impression that this number was not deemed to be enough by IBM. > > > > Charles, You should be looking at the wiki version of the proposal, which > is updated as additional people sign up and add their name: > > http://wiki.apache.org/incubator/OpenOfficeProposal > > If you are seeing only two names then it sounds like you are looking at > the ODT version of the proposal that was initially posted and then pasted > into the wiki. > No, I was saying that on the list I was seeing only two names who were developers. But the list grew a bit in the same time. > > But since this is around the third time today that I've seen LibreOffice > members question my credentials, I'd like to gently remind the LibreOffice > guests on this list that my name being near the top of the proposed > committer list is merely expressing a chronological fact. I was one of > the first individuals to sign up. Nothing more. It does not mean that > I've been picked for any special distinction or that have any special > prerogatives in this project. > > But since you question it, I'll mention briefly my bona fides: > No Rob, I don't question your credentials, have not done that, will never done that. Both of us know better than having that kind of talk, both of us have worked together for years now, at the OASIS and elsewhere. What I'm questioning is the ability to have two projects, OpenOffice and LibreOffice, with so much overlap and only a vaguely defined reason to have two distinct projects (the reason being, that some contributors -IBM- might prefer the Apache licensing). What I'm concerned is the fuzziness around the developers who would contribute to the Openoffice.org codebase. For someone who has repeatedly explained that the LibreOffice developers were not that many, I think that betting on a sustainable OpenOffice.org project here is a major leap of faith. I am certainly not going to enter a debate on licensing, and I think nobody wants that here. But I just think that there are other ways to cooperate than pretending the elephant in the room (LibreOffice, the Document Foundation) does not exist or does not de facto embody the largest part of the OpenOffice community (yes, I know, there are a few exceptions). Best > > 1) Please note that I'm a Senior Technical Staff Member at IBM, not a > Distinguished Engineer. I work for a living ;-) > > 2) I've been coding in C++ for 25 years, before it was a standard, and in > Java since it first was called Java. > > 3) I've coded on Lotus SmartSuite years ago, but also worked on various > IBM efforts to componetize these editors over the years, in projects > called eSuite and DevPack. These editor components were done both in > activeX as well as Java. > > 4) I chair the OASIS ODF Technical Committee, the group that owns the > document format standard that OpenOffice (and LibreOffice) use as the > default. In my role as chair, and through my outreach, I've helped us > more than double the membership of that committee. I can handle > differences of opinion. As chair I've had to manage not only the frequent > squabbles between Novel and Sun over the years (of which our current > debates seem to be an echo), but also participation by Google, Microsoft, > Nokia, KDE, AbiWord as well as many valued independent participants. > > 5) I'm architect for the Simple Java API for ODF at the ODF Toolkit Union, > Java code, leading the design of that project, which is under the Apache > 2.0 license. > > 6) I've been an active member of OpenOffice.org Conferences for many years > now (since Lyon in what? 2005? 2006?) giving untold numbers of > presentations and helping organize ODF interop workshops. > > 7) Less visible publicly is the work I do within IBM on technical > direction related to "smart documents" and next generation editor > functionality, > working with the Symphony and LotusLive Symphony team, talking to > customers, especially public sector. > > So am I an active coder on OpenOffice.org? No. I never said I was. But > I am looking forward to contribute to Apache OpenOffice. I'd like to > think that I have a perspective and set of skills that would be valued in > a project like this. I'd like to think that 20+ years experience in > exactly this area counts, perhaps in some very small way, in the full > generosity of your opinion, as "real development resources". > > -Rob > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscr...@incubator.apache.org > For additional commands, e-mail: general-h...@incubator.apache.org > >
