当前OOo的现状。主要从ASF和IBM角度来看。 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Allen Pulsifer" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2011 10:06 AM Subject: [tdf-discuss] Proposal to join Apache OpenOffice
> Greetings All, > > Some of you will remember me as a long time member of the OpenOffice.org > community. In fact, back in the day, it was sometimes just myself and > Michael Meeks who were openly complaining on the OOo mailing list about > Sun's handling of the "community" :-) > > I'm writing today about what is going on over at the Apache project. When I > heard Oracle was donating the OpenOffice code to the Apache project, I > headed over there to see what was going on. I offer this brief report to > bring everyone up to speed: > > - According to officers of the Apache Software Foundation, Oracle donated > OpenOffice to the ASF by executing the ASF's standard copyright grant. This > grant allows the ASF to release the OpenOffice code under the Apache > License. > > - The ASF however has a process to accept a project. The OpenOffice project > is now in the proposal stage. If accepted, it will join the Apache > Incubator and become a "podling", which is basically a > project-in-development. During the podling stage, the project would be > expected to complete the steps needed to become a full ASF project. Among > other requirements, the podling project has to review the copyright history > of all code to ensure it has a clean "title" and is or can be licensed under > the Apache License. If it completes that process, it then becomes a full > Apache project. See > https://blogs.apache.org/foundation/entry/incubation_at_apache_what_s > > - While the code donation was made by Oracle, the primary champion in the > effort to get the code accepted as is Apache Project is IBM. Let's have no > illusions or delusions about this. IBM has a self-interested motive in > championing this project. Basically, IBM would like to setup a community > where both it and other contributors make contributions under the Apache > License, and then IBM would take some or all of those contributions and use > them in its proprietary products which includes for example IBM Lotus > Symphony. The Apache License specifically allows this. In fact, the Apache > License allows anyone to take the code and use it in their own project, open > source or closed source. In the Apache world, that is considered a feature > not a bug. The ASF would like to see as many people using the code as > possible, and for that reason, their license is as liberal as possible, > allowing anyone to use the code. That is exactly the reason that IBM is > championing this as an Apache Project, rather than a LGPL project. > > And that brings me (almost) to the point of this email. Any code > contributed to the Apache OpenOffice project could be used by anyone, > including The Document Foundation, which can take the code, integrate it > into LibreOffice, and release it under the LGPL. Sounds like a good deal, > huh? > > Here's the rub. IBM, as I mentioned, is doing this for self-interested > reasons. I would like to propose the members of LibreOffice community get > involved in this for similarly self-interested reasons. > > I understand there are some bad feelings toward IBM. Basically, there is > the perception that IBM has been taking OpenOffice code all of these years > and contributing little back to the OpenOffice community. That is probably > true. As far as I can see, IBM has at least been taking much more than it > has given back. I'm not sure that can continue though, because as the > champion of the proposed Apache OpenOffice project, IBM is going to have to > contribute. > > So you might say though, why not just sit back, let IBM make contributions > to Apache OpenOffice, and then we'll just cherry pick what we want for > LibreOffice. Well that would certainly work, but I don't think it would > work as well as getting involved. > > There is also another player in this, and that is the Apache Software > Foundation. The ASF is an honorable organization with a long track record > in open source and they are dedicated to fostering a community. In the ASF, > anyone can contribute. Contributions and participation are made by > individuals, not by or on behalf of companies or organizations. The > community determines the direction of the project. Membership in the > community is based on merit, which is measured not just by code > contributions, but by anything that supports the project, which could also > include documentation, testing, bug reports, etc. > > So while the LibreOffice could just sit back and cherry-pick the project, if > its members get involved, they can help determine the direction of the > project, ensuring that the project direction and design decision are > compatible with LibreOffice and have the maximum value to LibreOffice. The > ASF has no problems with this--in fact, they encourage it. Just as IBM is > getting involved in an Apache OpenOffice project because they want to use > the code in their products, the ASF will welcome TDF members getting > involved for the same self-interested reason, to use the code in > LibreOffice. > > Critically, at this stage in the process, everyone has a "free pass" to get > involved. Normally, once the project is up and running, you would have to > demonstrate your merit before you can join the project. But for the next > few days, while the project is in the proposal stage, the gates are wide > open--anyone can join as an initial member. > > So here is my suggestion: I propose the everyone here head over to the > Apache Incubator and join the proposal as an initial member. To do that, > simply: > > 1. Go to http://wiki.apache.org/incubator/OpenOfficeProposal > 2. Click "Login" at the top. > 3. Follow the directions to create an account. > 4. After your account is setup, go back to > http://wiki.apache.org/incubator/OpenOfficeProposal and if you still see > "Login" at the top of the page, click on it and login using the account you > just created. > 5. Go back to http://wiki.apache.org/incubator/OpenOfficeProposal and click > "Edit (GUI)". > 6. Scroll down to the "Initial Committers" table, right-click on the last > row, select Row -> Insert After, then add you name to the table. Note: the > "Initial Committers" are the initial project members. While "Committers" > imply code contributors, it is not just limited to that--anyone can be a > committer. > 7. In the Comment field at the bottom of the page (below the text editor), > enter "added self to Initial Committers", then click "Save Changes" above > the text editor. > 8. Check the page to make sure your name appears. > > That's it. It does not obligate you to make any code contributions, but it > will get you in on the ground floor and allow you to participate in the > direction of the project. I just did it myself. > > Some of you may have noticed that Greg Stein, a member of the Apache > Software Foundation Board of Directors has joined this list and offered to > answer any questions. Please feel free to ask him about anything that is on > your mind. He would be a better person to answer, since I'm new to all this > Apache stuff myself :-) > > Best Regards, > > Allen > > > > -- > Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to [email protected] > Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette > List archive: http://listarchives.documentfoundation.org/www/discuss/ > All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted -- Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to [email protected] Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.documentfoundation.org/www/discuss/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
