Hi Olav, et al. Thanks!
Others, feel free to use the questions I offered below and to which Olav gave some answers as a starting point. As I mentioned, I'll just use the interchange, which is very brief, for my ooo-speak blog (http://ooo-speak.blogspot.com/). It's not an official Apache blog and it is not, I need to underscore, an official Apache OpenOffice blog; it's mine. Much of it touches now on AOO and Foss, but not all. My interest is to promote the development, use, distribution (and everything in-between) of OpenOffice and also open standards. Olav, I'll mostly cut-and paste and send you the version I'll be posting to the above blog; same with others if others respond. Again: this is for all who contribute to OO—or even just want to. Goal: to get more to contribute, to use, distribute, "do" with OO. -louis On 12-11-28, at 13:19 , Olav Dahlum <[email protected]> wrote: > 2012/11/28 Louis Suárez-Potts <[email protected]> > >> Olav, >> Apologies for top post. >> >> When I was the community manager for OpenOffice.org, in the first years I >> would conduct interviews of contributors—developers, localizers, et al. >> What counted was meaningful contribution to the project. >> >> One reason was to broadcast the work done and the people doing it. The >> idea is that such recognition—not celebration—would give others insight >> into what is wanted, what is required, what can be done—and whom to contact. >> >> Another idea was that this would become "news," and be taken up by other >> services. This was before Facebook—aye, a long time ago—and before Twitter >> and when "social media" meant meeting the news press in a café or bar. :-) >> >> But I want to promote OpenOffice work and use in Norway and everywhere >> else; and I want, also to promote the development of the ecosystem. >> >> If you—and others are welcome to answer, too—I'd just post the answers to >> my blog. It's not by any means an official Apache blog and I have at the >> moment no intention of making it so. But it does get read by those >> interested in OpenOffice. You'd also be free to post whatever answers you >> give to your sites. >> >> Here are some questions: >> >> * What are you and your colleagues doing on Apache OpenOffice? >> > > Nothing so far, but it might have been source code contributions I have > missed out on. > >> >> * What skills or resources do you need? Or want? >> > > I can use most of what you offer, any other requirement can probably be > dealt with internally. The skills shouldn't be a problem, as most people > have potential for anything. > >> >> * How can others join in—help? >> > > Open to all, but they might have to take some tests, as we have done in the > past. People who didn't pass their writing tests, and lacked the will to > improve upon it, wasn't accepted. But there's more than one task to deal > with, so anyone can fit in. > >> >> * Do you know who is using OpenOffice in your region? Norway is one of the >> more popular downloads, you know, and it was at one point in the last few >> years quite popular in public sector areas, like education (Skolinux, for >> instance). >> > > Not exactly in my region, but more overall in Norway. Kongsberg kommune, > which I incidentally can end up in just by boarding the train which passes > here, have used it since 2007, and successfully integrated it with > specialized software. Yes, the download stats have been quite favourable > for years. Narvik and Harstad use Skolelinux in their school system, but I > can probably give better stats later. > >> >> * Do you know of companies or people supporting Apache OpenOffice on a >> commercial (not volunteer) basis? Is that wanted? I ask because I tend to >> believe that public sector organizations want commercially contracted >> support for free and open software, as this assuages bureaucratic concerns >> about liability. >> > > Well, Open Framework Systems, YellowJersey, and Redpill Linpro are some of > them. > >> >> * What events or conferences would be relevant to participate in to gain >> more developer interest, more users? >> > > Actually, I know that people in IBM are interested in hosting events, but > also Skolelinux developer summits with more is recruiting arenas. The > population is quite small, so we have to be creative. Introduction courses > into translation work have been a part of recent Skolelinux developer > summits, as I wanted to focus on the requirement. > >> >> * And where would you suggest we go to attract more contributors? >> > > Actually, concreting the collaboration with IBM here in Norway could be one > of the areas where you can help out. > >> >> Thanks >> louis >> >> PS my relevant blog for this: http://ooo-speak.blogspot.com/ >> >> but it could also be posted elsewhere > > > -- > Olav Dahlum > > PGP key ID: 0xA6BD1795
