On 2008-11-09, at 18:40 , Alexandro Colorado wrote:
Beside the RedFlag people, how strong is the independent community of
Chineese project?
That's a fair question, and one whose answer will change as the new
year begins. Basically, it's like in India: all over the place and not
particularly focused. There are university elements, in Beijing and
elsewhere, including HK, and outside of the China area (eg, Taiwan,
the US), but focus and developmental efforts are lagging. That, as a
result of OOoCon, I hope and will work as hard as I can to change. The
Chinese and generally Asian market, including Malaysia, Indonesia,
etc., represents billions of users (okay, exaggeration) but very few,
outside of Redflag, contributors.
What's the URL where the videos will be posted?
Probably be linked to the OOoCon site.
Any big development showcased during the conference?
Not really, though I like to think that Kay Ramme's [EMAIL PROTECTED] is one
such. I did make two strong proposals, which I'll be posting to the
OOoCon site shortly (just returned), on regional groups and education.
How much attention was there for ODF? compared to UOF
A lot. There was also a whole day workshop on ODF. UOF is the national
standard but the head of the body for it and the ODF folks are very
willing and interested to work with each other to harmonize, so that
there is not disjunctive incompatibility.
Again, the take away for me was that:
* producer not consumer is key
* making producers is hard and entails both informing the user and
also going half-way, with information, tools, outreach
If we do not have more producers, then OOo--and every Foss project--
ceases being sustained and Foss becomes just freeware. Impressing this
fact upon the governments adopting OOo, whether in Europe or Vietnam
or Cambodia or Malaysia or Indonesia or Latin America or South Africa
is paramount, as is providing the path for production.
OOo has a brilliant future, all the more so given the dark economic
times closing around us. But its brilliance depends on the concerted
efforts on those users who become producers.
-louis
On Sun, Nov 9, 2008 at 1:18 PM, Louis Suarez-Potts
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
All,
Others will write more about OOoCon 2008, and they should :-)
There will
also be videos and many blog accounts, including my own. But I
thought I'd
send in this brief summary of the 6th OOoCon, the first held in
Beijing, but
I hope not the last held in Asia.
It was a success, at least if measured by the camaraderie created and
renewed, the interest value of the panels, the (possible) expansion
of the
community.
Our hosts, chiefly Redflag 2000, and other members of the Beijing
area and
Chinese NLC community, did a superb job of making us feel at home and
providing the attendees with excellent hospitality. We all owe them
our
thanks for the honour shown us!
China is serious, very serious, about Foss and OOo. They see its
potential.
The alternative is unacceptable. The problem, and I'm not sure it's
exactly
a problem, is moving ahead so that their use of Foss, and OOo, is
sustainable. Put another way, consumption must be coupled with
production,
but, like everyone else, they lack those able to produce OOo, and
China (to
speak of a vast nation as a single they), like so many other
polities and
regions around the world, perceive Foss as implying an unfamiliar
culture of
production and distribution.
Perhaps it does. But OOo is nothing if not very flexible and
international,
and does not impose a single way of doing things. We just want
people to do
things--collaboratively, and now. Time is not pausing while we
catch our
breath and neither is anyone else. As I said on the opening day:
Act now.
My thanks to all who attended and my hope that those of you who
could not
can catch the panels and discussions when they are posted and will
comment
on the content. The conversations begun in Beijing must be
continued; what
was said and done there should not be forgotten. OpenOffice.org has a
reached a milestone, where our maturity as an application is
recognized
around the world (the numbers prove it) and our format, which
allows so many
other applications to work with it, gaining very quickly among
governments.
And this all means we need to inform the adopters how to work with
us, to
sustain the project; promote among users everywhere the idea of OOo
as
something more than a mere commodity but as something that is
extensible,
modfiable, and theirs, as well as a community thing. And we need to
act now.
Thanks to all, and thanks to Redflag 2000 and the Chinese Native Lang
Community!
Cheers,
-louis
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Alexandro Colorado
OpenOffice.org Español
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