Thanks, Chad, for putting such kind words for us all. Cheers and happy holiday to all. Anousak Lao OOo Team
Chad Smith wrote: > Dear OpenOffice.org (if you are reading this - that means you 8^> ), > > I would just like to take a moment and thank everyone who has contibuted to > OpenOffice.org over the past year for their help in not only promoting OOo, > but helping contribute to a project that selflessly helps others. > > There is no way I can list everyone, if for no other reason is I don't know > anywhere near all the thousands who have contributed. But there are a few > people who have contributed that I have been able to see the fruits of their > labor, or hear others tell about it. > > First of all, I'd like to thank Ian. Ian Lynch has spent countless hours > working with companies, governments, schools, and individuals promoting a > true education of computer use - not just rote memorization of how to do > something in a given program - and the use of freely available, high quality > open source software, including OpenOffice.org as its flagship. His > passionate dedication to open source, open market, and open standards has > been demonstrated in his deeds as well as vocalized by his words. Ian and I > don't always get along, or agree, but there is no question that Ian is an > intelligent, dedicated, and hard-working promotor of many open projects, and > I am glad that OpenOffice.org is one of the many things he had dedicated his > efforts toward. Thank you Ian! > > I would also like to thank Louis. Louis Suarez-Potts has worked hard behind > the scenes, many times, and not always telling everything he does to the > list, to maintain order in the sometime crazy world of an open source > project. Louis has gone above and beyond his job title of Community > Manager, volunteering many hours of his own off-the-clock time to this > project, and has done an excellent job in creating press releases, > coordinating events, overseeing changes to the website, and aiding in the > transistion from OOo 1.x to 2.0. Louis doesn't have an easy job, and can > sometimes be an easy target for critizism, but he continues to work hard to > make OOo the best coordinated project it can be. Thank you Louis! > > I would like to continue expressing my gratitude to Ryan. Ryan Singer has > spent many hours of his own time, and many dollars of his own money, serving > OpenOffice.org as Marketing Contact for the West Coast of the US, and > working on the project in other ways, including during his time as a Sun > employee. Ryan's help was indespenible in bringing together the first ever > US OOo MiniCon eariler this year, which, from all accounts, was a successful > and fruitful event. Thank you Ryan! > > If you would indulge me, I'd like to also say thank you to Jacqueline. > Jacqueline McNally has served as the project lead of Marketing for > OpenOffice.org for over a year now. Before that she served (if my memory > holds true) as Marketing co-Lead as well. Jacqueline has had her hands full > with the launch of OOo 2.0 - and before that keeping the name and mission of > OpenOffice.org out there so new users could find the best Free office suite > in the world! It can't be easy keeping people who volunteer their time and > talents focused on an overriding goal, but under Jacqueline's leadership, > OpenOffice.org adopted a 5-year plan called the Strategic Marketing Plan - > http://marketing.openoffice.org/strategy/ - which aims to do just that. > Thank you Jacqueline! > > And if I can take just a bit more of your time - I'd like to thank Daniel. > Daniel Carrera has served in many roles here at OpenOffice.org - he's the > head of OOoAuthors, the Lord Captain Commander of OpenOffice.org (ding) > (otherwise known as the Community Council Representative), has helped create > installers on operating systems he doesn't even use, and much, much more. > Daniel's efforts to promote and enhance OpenOffice.org have been too many to > mention, and I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you Daniel! > > As I said when I started, this was by no means an attempt to list and/or > thank everyone who has contributed to OpenOffice.org. These are just a few > of the people I have noticed making large contributions to the cause. In > fact, I could go on naming and thanking just the ones I personally have > noticed, like Rod, CPH, Jonathon, Jean, Jason, Lars, and others. The list > goes on and on. This was just kind of a reminder that we are all volunteers > here - even the ones who may work for Sun or CollabNet or in any other way > profit off of OpenOffice.org - *NO ONE* makes the kind of money they deserve > off of the work they put into this project. The work that is being done > here is invaluable - it's beyond Dollars, or Euros, or Pounds, or Yen. > > Over a year ago, maybe even two years ago now, when I first started on these > list - I got into a coversation with Daniel and others about why anyone > would do something like this - make a great crossplatform powerful office > suite and then give it away, code and all. A few theories were suggested, > but Daniel told me a secret. He said the real reason that he personally > contributes to OpenOffice.org is because it is his way of helping to make > the world a better place. I think I called him crazy for that back then. > But I get it now. > > No, OOo won't cure cancer or stop world hunger or end wars - but it is still > important work. OpenOffice.org allows people who would otherwise do without > to have access to a world-class office suite. It gives people who need > software an alternative to stealing it. It, indeed, allows those who wish > to the ability to free their data from a secret format that one company > ultimately controls, and will soon abandon. And it helps some people put > food on the table. > > OpenOffice.org is a huge project that expands beyond the limits of the > computer screen as we are reading these lists. It's global. It's > crossplatform. It's multicultral. It's diverse. It's huge. It's as close > as your keyboard, and as far away as the other side of the world. It's > powerful. And it is Free. > > Let's try not to let hurt feelings, egos, or a desire to be in charge stop > us from working together for the common good on this project. The truth is, > the project is bigger than any one of us, and will go on without us if we > leave. But then we'd miss out on sharing the victories as they come. > > As 2005 draws to a close, and 2006 begins, I'd like to thank Sun > Microsystems, CollabNet, their employees, and all the thousands of > volunteers for the gift of OpenOffice.org - the project, the people, and the > product. It's impacted my life, as well and millions of others. > > Thank you so much. > > - Chad W. Smith > -- /\/`) http://oooauthors.org /\/_/ http://opendocumentfellowship.org /\/_/ \/_/ I am not over-weight, I am under-tall. / --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
