Ths is crirical for us even here in the States. I appreciate the thoughtful consideration of the factors involved in distributing the product. There should be a way to remotely verfy the quality and verarcity of the download or CD upon registration and redistribution of the product. I ma not a tech guy but there must be a way to do this.
Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan with The Vital Portal Alphonso Whitfield [email protected] Vital 912-816-2595 Skype: vital.i.net Visit us at: The Vital Portal The Vital Portal On facebook Visit our Google Community Join our Vital Portal Webinars at: The Vital Portal WebEx Meeting Center . ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rob Weir" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, December 21, 2012 12:59:09 PM Subject: CD Distributions of AOO (was Re: New volunteer) Moving this topic to its own thread. On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 12:01 PM, Kadal Amutham <[email protected]> wrote: > To get the AOO in CD, an address in US has been specified. Sending a CD all > the way from US to somebody in India will cost a fortune. It will be > prudent to prepare the CD in India and distribute here. I am ready to do > this job. > This is an important topic and one which has been discussed previously, but with no decision made. Here are the factors at play: 1) We officially distribute Apache OpenOffice online. This is good for many (most?) users. However, broadband internet access is available everywhere, and at slower download rates it is hard to download something as large as OpenOffice. 2) The license on OpenOffice permits anyone to copy and redistribute OpenOffice, online or via physical media, as-is, or modified, for free or for any price. That last part surprises some people, but there is nothing wrong (per our license) to selling CD's of OpenOffice. In fact, if you check eBay you will see several vendors selling OpenOffice. 3) Unfortunately, there are several parties that abuse the trust gained by OpenOffice and other familiar open source brands, and distribute versions of OpenOffice that are modified to include various malware, spyware, badware, bloatware, etc., products. So the unsuspecting user queries Google for "OpenOffice" and they see a sponsored advertisement that takes them to a website that claims to offer them OpenOffice, but actually harms the user. 4) Our protection against this abuse is to protect our trademarks, including our logo and our name. The open source license permits free redistribution of OpenOffice, but not free use of our trademarks. Upon request, and after investigation, we do often give permission to use our trademarks. But by default distributors cannot use our logo, etc., on their website. Those are the forces at play. The net effect is suboptimal. Users who want to acquire a safe, genuine copy of OpenOffice on CD have no certain way of doing this. There is no way for them to have confidence that they are not buying a version containing malware bundled with it. And distributors who do a good job, and offer a current, unmodified version of AOO have no easy way to distinguish their offerings. Various solutions have been discussed: A) Have a page on our wiki where we allow any distributor to list their website. We make no effort to verify that the distributor actually has a good product. The information is offered as-is, caveat emptor, at users own risk. B) Like A, but we verify at least that the Apache trademarks are not used without permission. This protects us. C) Like B, but we define a "AOO CD Distributor Best Practices" (or catchier name) checklist, and only list distributors who state, in writing to our mailing list, that they will follow these guidelines. D) Like C, but also create a special trademarked logo ("We follow Apache OpenOffice Redistribution Best Practices") (or something catchier) that they are permitted to use on their website. As you see, the further down the list you go, the greater the benefits, but also the greater the work to get the program set up. Regards, -Rob > With Warm Regards > > V.Kadal Amutham > 919444360480 > > > On 18 December 2012 17:04, Kadal Amutham <[email protected]> wrote: > >> HI Chad, >> >> I am another volunteer like you. describe your skill set, regarding >> this marketing. It will be easy to plan and coordinate >> >> With Warm Regards >> >> V.Kadal Amutham >> 919444360480 >> >> >> >> On 18 December 2012 13:53, Yue Helen <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Hi Chad, >>> >>> Welcome to Apache OpenOffice! >>> >>> I'm from development, but happy to know that we have more people to help >>> on >>> marketing of such a great product. >>> >>> Please make sure you have subscribed to this mailing list. >>> >>> Someone on marketing will contact you soon. You are also encouraged to >>> talk >>> about your idea here. >>> >>> Helen >>> >>> 2012/12/8 Chad Jackson <[email protected]> >>> >>> > Good morning everyone! Glad to be on board in the effort to help spread >>> > the good word about Apache OpenOffice. I've been a user for close to 7 >>> > years. Spent much time just lurking on this list in the past and >>> figured it >>> > was time to finally give back. >>> > >>> > Chad Jackson >>> > >>> >> >>
