Hi all,
Thanks, Chad, you expressed it very well.
I hope everyone gets to enjoy the holidays and have a great new year's!
Cheers,
Louis
On 2005-12-21, at 15:25 , 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
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