All,
Well, I came back from a really wonderful OOoCon to read these
review .... about oomouse, the multibutton mouse that includes OpenOffice.org
. (Like many, I have a Google alert on "openoffice".
What a surprise. oomouse is by no means "official," as the PR seems to
have it. It should not have our branding or any other statement
indicating that it is an "official" OpenOffice.org effort.
Theo is certainly free to claim the facts, that oomouse has been
proposed as an Incubator project and people have voted on it according
to the protocols, which have been written to ensure that we do not end
up having projects without contributors. But the project is not in
Incubator, and even if it were, it would still not be an "official" OpenOffice.org
project, by which Theo seems to understand that to mean a project
endorsed by and representing the OpenOffice.org community. (Incubator
is where we site "experimental" and initial projects.)
To state things clearly, "oomouse" is not an "official" OpenOffice.org
mouse or device, has not been endorsed by OpenOffice.org, and is not
permitted to manipulate the logo as has been done; I do not believe
Theo has been given explicit permission even to use the logo. The logo
is not subject to unauthorized free modification and redeployment. And
any authorized use of it should only be to represent the contents of
the software, that the mouse uses OpenOffice.org, not that the mouse
itself is somehow an OpenOffice.org device and able to use our
branding to sell it. Note, I'm not giving permission to use our logo
and mark. That permission has not, been given, as far as I could tell,
and if it had been, at one point, even by me, I rescind its use, as it
has been used in way that is misleading.
(I would consider allowing the narrow use of "OpenOffice.org (R)" to
indicate that the free software product OpenOffice.org is included in
the (nonfree) mouse.
How did this regrettable confusion come about? My guess is that there
has been a significant misunderstanding and misreading of terms, and
where it is true, that if the project is sited in the Incubator
category the lead can say, "X is in the OpenOffice.org domain" and
that "X is an Incubator project," and explain, I'd hope, what that
means, but not suggest that X is an official OpenOffice.org project or
effort and that the community has somehow engaged in a partnership
with Theo's company. (What's an official project? Well, the closes is
our Accepted Projects category. The projects there tend to be those
developing core functionality of OpenOffice.org or longstanding and
important contributor projects like Marketing. But even here, I doubt
many of us would use the terms I read today.)
I'm not blaming Theo for this confusion. I blame myself for not being
more patient or clear in explaining to him what these terms mean and
what they don't. I guess I'm just so used to them, and am unused to
alternative readings of them. Theo even approached me in Orvieto at a
reception to ask what else needs to be done for oomouse to become an
Incubator Project. As the vote had gone according to the Protocols for
Project Proposal (see http://www.openoffice.org/about_us/protocols_proposing.html
), and there was some interest, though I have not reviewed how much
there was, nothing much needed to be done on his end, or rather, only
the formal and procedural elements, like I creating the project, he
finalizing the mission statement, I getting his ssh2 key installed, he
submitting the SCA, if relevant, and so on. (None of these procedural
steps has yet been taken, I believe, and there is no "http://oomouse.openoffice.org
"; I have not created it.) But even once those necessary procedures
are accomplished--and the process is explained in the Protocols and
Theo assured me had read them--no Incubator project can claim that it
is an "official" OpenOffice.org project. Clearly, I should have
emphasized these steps to Theo and what they mean and what is meant by
"incubator." And I shall clarify the language of the Protocols so that
misunderstandings, for this is what I believe this is, do not occur
again.
I have just now asked Theo to immediately withdraw the misleading PR
and to clarify the situation. I have also informed him to remove our
logo and that he does not have permission to manipulate it. It is not
covered by a free or open license but is proprietary and owned by Sun.
Again, I find this to be a really unfortunate situation very likely
produced by misreadings, misunderstandings, mistakes and my own
failure to monitor things more closely and carefully. I hope this sort
of thing does not happen again and will try to clarify the relevant
texts.
And I'm sorry that the mistakes here have surely marred Theo's
announcement.
-louis
Begin forwarded message:
From: Google Alerts <[email protected]>
Date: 07 Nov 2009 10:39:55 EST
To: [email protected]
Subject: Google Alert - openoffice
Google News Alert for: openoffice
TechGadgets.in (blog)
OpenOffice Mouse now Official
TechGadgets.in (blog)
Well, WarMouse has recently partnered with OpenOffice.org community
for announcing the launch of their latest OpenOffice Mouse. ...
See all stories on this topic
Crave
OpenOfficeMouse has frankly preposterous 18 buttons, joystick
Crave
He'd team up with OpenOffice to give it brand recognition and a
grown-up use. It would be called OpenOfficeMouse. Yes, it's real.
No, it's not a joke, ...
See all stories on this topic
Google Blogs Alert for: openoffice
OpenOffice Introduce Multi-Button Confusion With New Mouse (PC ...
By admin
PC World - WarMouse, in collaboration with the OpenOffice.org
community, revealed on Friday a new open-source mouse developed
specifically for users of the OpenOffice suite.
NetMasti.com - http://www.netmasti.com/
Another techy question - Lifesupporters Forums
By LovingSpirit
As for .docx vs .doc, if a person has Microsoft Office 2003 at least
they should be able to download a conversion program that Word
prompts you for. I have used Open Office and it is good. You
shouldn't have any issues. ...
Lifesupporters Forums - http://www.lifesupporters.com/forums/
techclack.com ยป OpenOffice Introduce Multi-Button Confusion With ...
By TechClack
OpenOffice Introduce Multi-Button Confusion With New Mouse.
techclack.com - http://techclack.com/
The OpenOfficeMouse Gets Official [Multi-Button Mouse Available ...
By BlogPoster
The product in the picture here is about as real as it gets. It's a
mouse officially unveiled in Italy called the OpenOfficeMouse. Yes,
that's a more than.
Programming Blog - http://www.neurosoftware.ro/programming-blog/
The OpenOffice Mouse - FrederickCountyReport.com
The OpenOffice Mouse. By Dan McDermott at Fri, 2009-11-06 21:32 |
boing boing. oomousep3.jpg. It supports Windows, Linux, and
Macintosh operating systems, will retail for $74.99, and is not a
joke. [OpenOfficeMouse] ...
FrederickCountyReport.com - Free... - http://www.frederickcountyreport.com/
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