Here's the deal. OpenOffice.org is open source. Having people do things you don't like is the chance you take when you open the code and the binaries. OpenOffice.orgPremium didn't even tough the code.
Someone out there could take the official code of the official release of the official OpenOffice.org (TM) (R) (C) (SM) (P) - and add spyware / ad-ware to it - and then distribute it as OpenOffice.org. No premium. No "Plus". No "pro". No changing of anything, but the addition of the spyware/adware. As Ian said, that's the risk you take. If you don't want people messing with your "Official Product" the answer is simple - close the source. Change it from Free Software to freeware. Sue anyone that changes it or distributes it without your permission. It's quite simple. Do you know why there is no legal version of Microsoft Office floating around the Internet that is anything other than what Microsoft released? It's because Microsoft doesn't let anybody touch their code. Now, there may be (and in fact, are) versions of MS Office out there that are different from MS's official release, but they are illegal. Anything that's not officially OpenOffice.org (TM) (R) (C) (SM) (P), oops, I mean Microsoft Office (TM) (R) (C) (SM) (P) is illegal, if its in anyway based on MS Office, calls itself MS Office, or in anyway pretends to be MS Office. They have control. They locked it down. They have closed the source. You seem to want that level on control. You seem to want to be like them. You seem to want to close the source. Is that what you want? Because it's the ONLY way you can have that control. It's the ONLY way you can make sure that every distributor has the latest official release, with the latest official bugfixes, with the latest official security updates, with the latest official whatever. And its the only way you can make sure that every distributor has ONLY the latest official whatever. OpenOffice.org is open source. Stop complaining when someone uses the rights we gave them when we (and by "we" I mean the official OpenOffice.org(TM) (R) (C) (SM) (P) project) opened the source. I wasn't personally there the day the vote was made to go LGPL. Actually, none of us were, unless we worked for Sun at the time. When Sun chose to release OpenOffice.org (TM) (R) (C) (SM) (P) into the wild as an open source LGPLed project - OpenOffice.org Premium, NeoOffice, TheOpenCD, OpenOffice995, Luxuriousity Office, Easy Office, Red Office, Linux Distro-specific versions of OpenOffice.org, OpenOffice.org on eBay, OpenOffice.org for sale under a different name at Walmart and Office Depot - all these were risks that Sun took. And they are risks we continue to take today by remaining open source. You don't like it? Start your own closed-source office suite, have complete control over it, begin global domination. Loss of control is a problem for the open source movement. I'm complained about it myself. It's one of the main reasons I doubt Linux will ever "take over" the desktop market. There's no central office. There's no control. There's no "official" anything. Everyone and their brother can make a distro (and most have, it seems). One of the reason I think that Ubuntu is taking off like it has, is because of control. There's only one official Ubuntu. Other distros are based on it, (like Mepis), and there are a few variants based on what desktop you want (Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc.) or what specific task you want it for (nUbuntu, Edubuntu) - but they are all just slight variations of the official Ubuntu. There may be 57 other ubuntu-clones out there - but that's okay. That's allowed. I doubt Canonical loses any sleep over it. They just keep making a pretty good, "it just works" Linux distro, and they keep getting more and more of the Linux desktop distro market. If you are all bent out of shape over someone using the "Official OpenOffice.org Name!" then you need to go back and read the dozens of threads of people bitching whenever someone who distribute OpenOffice.orgunder a different name. There's no winning apparently. -Chad Smith http://www.chadwsmith.com/
