Hi Adam,

(answers and comments interspersed, CC: OP as post was moderated)

> Hi There
> 
> I author the covermounted CD-ROM for BBC Who Do You Think You Are?
>  Magazine, a UK-based publication licensed from the BBC TV programme of the
>  same name and published monthly by BBC Magazines Bristol (a subsidiary of
>  Origin Publishing).

We have heard of the programme here in the Antipodes :)
> 
> We regularly include tables of data and records on the disc, invariably in
>  PDF or HTML format, and we use these formats largely so that the magazine
>  readers can view the files using standard and freely-downloadable
>  applications. However we regularly have problems with this approach
>  because (as you probably know) once one starts getting beyond a certain
>  amount of data in a table (or similar) PDF and HTML files become wholly
>  inadequate and take wwwaaaayyyyy too long to render etc. 

Oh yes :(

>  when the file is
>  opened. We had considered working around this by including Micro$oft's
>  free Excel Viewer and Access Runtime installers when necessary, but these
>  are Windows-only apps and so leave our Mac-based readers high-and-dry.

And don't forget the Linux users. A small but growing group, particularly now 
Mandriva and Ubuntu are pushing it.
> 
> And then it occurred to me - Open Office is the perfect solution -

<Irish> It is indade it is it is....</Irish> (Sorry 'bout that - my 
grandparents were Irish and Scottish, and the Irish bursts forth from time to 
time...).

>  therefore: - What do we need to do in order to get a license to distribute
>  the Open Office installers on our cover-discs on those occasions when it's
>  required? - Would it be sufficient for me, as the freelance disc author,
>  to gain the license, or would the publishers have to apply for it?

In fact, no-one needs to "apply" for a license. OpenOffice.org (OO.o for 
short) is Open Source Software (OSS), licensed under the Limited General 
Public License (LGPL). If you want to read the full text of the license, you 
can find it at <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html>, or just install OO.o 
and you'll find a copy in the installation folder.

In essence, the LGPL allows distribution and/or sale of the software without 
restriction. It also allows modifications to the software.

So really, all you need to do is to include the Windows and Mac installers on 
your CD, and you've automatically fulfilled your obligation to include a copy 
of the LGPL.

To use our official logos and artwork (which can be found at 
<http://marketing.openoffice.org/art/>) you will need to apply for permission. 
That is done by sending an email to <[email protected]>. You 
should expect to get a reply eventually, but since the address is only 
monitored by one or two volunteers, it may take a while. But, provided you 
don't try to modify the logos, that permission will be granted, and it would 
be quite safe to proceed on that assumption.

We also make available images for installation CDs. These can be downloaded 
from <http://distribution.openoffice.org/cdrom/iso_download.html>. You'll note 
thee are 4 images, only 3 (or possibly only 2) would really be of interest to 
you. I'd suggest that you either pop them onto a DVD or supply the Mac disk 
separately (although, if you scrap the Mac PPC installer, you might be able to 
fit the Windows and Mac installers on one CD, which you could then include on 
the cover).
> 
> Many thanks
> Adam Crute

Wishing you the best,
> 
-- 
Alex Fisher

Co-Lead, CD-ROM Project

OpenOffice.org Marketing 
Community Contact
Australia/New Zealand


http://distribution.openoffice.org/cdrom/

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