Le Tue, 7 Apr 2009 19:16:22 +0200, Pablo Barrera <[email protected]> a écrit :
> Hi all > > > > > Alexandro, although we even do not know wether this buyout will > > actually occur (these days it seems the whole story has gotten cold > > again) the very first three questions we would have to ask ourselves > > and Sun/IBM/others would not be about a foundation. It would be > > about the following: > > - who owns the code > > > bad question: the code is from the cumminity... I am afraid you are mislead. Sun owns the code of OpenOffice.org. Just browse our website. > > > > > - who pays for the core of the development and how much > > > Sun and IBM will not so fools to let behind a project like this, > probably a fusion between lotus and OOo why not.. > Which already exists: Symphony. > > > > - what is the governance of the project. > > > This will have to possibilities, one thing is community developement > management, and the other the natural leadership on communitty issues, > community will decide... That would be true if the project was developed by a majority of individual developers. It is not the case, so let's not be naive here. > > > > > > > The second question is very important. If we cut the funding then > > OOo is just dead because no one will be able to maintain the > > codebase and we'll have to start from scratch. > > > Absolutely wrong. If the project is no longer mantained by IBM i.e, > the code will never die. Community has the > codebase and this code will be revamped or forked, or another project > with more community related compromise > will take the lead like Gooo, i.e. This is an Open Source vision, no > money no code....really wrong... The community has the codebase does not mean anything. You need time and resources; OOo has a really complex codebase. As for Gooo, it is Novell. As for a really wrong vision where if you have no money you have no code I do not imply this. I'm just saying that if you think for one minute that people can hack OOo as a hobby five minutes a day then you obviously have not even browsed our mailing lists or taken a look at our code. I realize the code is out there, but the actual number of people skilled enough to develop and maintain it is much smaller. > > > > > Which is to say OOo will be no more > > at least for some years. > > > [...] > > > > > > > > > In order to have a foundation you need the main copyright holder to > > agree to put the IP in it, an then you need to secure funding and > > people there. The rest is details. As you can see we barely stand > > at the beginning of all this. > > > Thats why i ask if it times fro proposals, to prepare in front of > posibilities. Fear of "closed project" is an > unneeded feeling. Even thought if it is happen, no need to get > worried about this. Free Software is a philosophy > based on community. IBM will not be so fool, to left behind the ODF > formant, and some importante things... You do realize of course that IBM already has a proprietary product called Symphony that merges OOo and Lotus? Now I don't think IBM would shut OOo either, but please, do not mix different questons here. ODF is a format. It is not developed by OOo, but by the OASIS consortium. OOo is not even the reference implementation of it. As for Free Software I am myself a big proponent of the GPL but there is a difference between pĥilosophy and reality. Here, the reality is, there is one copyright holder of the entirety of the code. If it gets bought, then the new owner will be able to do what it wants, philosophy or not. > > Is more probable that MySQL dissapear than Open Office. Dont get on > fear :) This is a momentum to get more motivated, not to get > frustrated. I don't think anyone is getting frustrated. But the simple truth is that the "community" does not even have a strong stance on the whole story. By community I understand the whole set of contributors to the project. Novell's view is very different from my view. Red Hat has another one. Sun has another one, etc. Best, Charles. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
