On Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 4:44 AM, Ross Gardler <[email protected]>wrote:
> What a great post - thank you Jürgen > > Can I request that this goes on the AOO blog? +1 for this move. Really a superb post, Jürgen. Enjoy your time off and Happy Holidays! I recognise this is your > own thoughts, but you can make that clear (as you did here). You > correctly observe that the AOO project needs to do a better job of > communicating the good - this post does just that so lets give it more > visibility. > > Ross > > 2011/12/23 Jürgen Schmidt <[email protected]>: > > Hi all, > > > > before i will leave for a short Christmas break i would like to share > some > > thoughts with you about the last months, my private expectations, and my > > wishes for the next year. > > > > Oracle's announcement to stop their investment in OpenOffice.org was a > shock > > for me. Well the reason is obvious, I was paid by Oracle and worked on > this > > project. The people who know me from the past know that i am a 100% > > OpenOffice.org guy and I always appreciated to work on this project and > with > > our community. I always felt part of the overall community. I know the > > reasons that were responsible for the LibreOffice fork and the split of > the > > community and i have to confess that i can understand it. But i didn't > liked > > how it was made. If Oracle would have done this step 6 month earlier I am > > sure we wouldn't have this fork and this split of the community. We would > > potentially still have the go-oo fork which was the foundation for > > LibreOffice but that is something different. Anyway it is as it is at > moment > > and we will see how it moves forward in the future. > > > > The grant to Apache was at least the appropriate signal that > OpenOffice.org > > as a project will never die. The brand is to big and to important, the > > opportunities around the product and the overall eco system are great > and I > > was very sure that the project will continue. > > > > But a lot of work was and still is in front of us. We had to deal with a > lot > > of things in parallel where other derivative projects didn't had to deal > > with at least not in the public. We had to migrate the whole > OpenOffice.org > > infra structure to Apache and had to ensure that it work. I think we were > > very successful here and have migrated nearly everything we need from a > > technical perspective. > > Our mission was to migrate as much as possible of the available stuff of > > www.openoffice.org and at least save it for later use. I think we did > it! > > Thanks to all who made this possible. And we can concentrate in the > future > > on some structural and conceptual redesign of the main portal page > > www.openoffice.org to provide the information to our users that they > need to > > find the product, to find more information like help, discussion forums, > to > > find the way in the community if they want to do more etc. > > > > We couldn't simply use the code as it was and could continue with the > > development as in the past because of the different license. A huge > > challenge that is still ongoing and where i had many problems with at the > > beginning. It is not easy to explain why you remove something and > replace it > > with something new that provide the same functionality but is under a > more > > appropriate license. It's simply boring work and no developer really like > > it. But is a prerequisite for Apache and in the end it is better for our > eco > > system because the Apache license is much friendlier for business usage > as > > any other open source license. As an individual developer I don't care > too > > much about all the different open source licenses, as along as the work > i do > > is good for the project and in the end for our users. But i learned that > the > > Apache license can be a door opener for more contributors and more > > engagement of companies. And i think that is important and can only help > our > > project. > > > > And not everything is bad. With the IP cleanup we really cleaned up many > > things and Armin's replacement for svg import/export is the best > solution we > > ever had for OpenOffice and with the biggest potential for further > > improvements. All this is really motivating for the future! > > > > Well we had a lot of noise and communication problems on our mailing > lists > > and i think we missed to transport the message that OpenOffice.org has > found > > a new home under the Apache foundation and we have missed to communicate > the > > progress we have made in the pubic. We can do much better in the future! > And > > i am looking forward to work with all of you on this communication part > in > > the future. We don't have to be shy, we work on a great project with a > great > > product and we should have enough to communicate and to share in the > public > > (not only on our mailing list but on all the modern and very useful > medias > > like facebook, Google+, twitter, ...) > > > > For the next year I expect that we find a way to guide and control our > > project a little bit better. I expect our first release early next year > and > > hopefully a second one later the year where we can show that we are able > to > > drive the project forward and that we are able to create and establish a > > vibrant and living community. > > > > I wish that we can gain trust in the project and in the Apache way and > that > > it is a good move forward. Our users simply want the best free, open > source > > product and they don't care about the different licenses. Enterprise > users > > would like to see a huge and working community with the participation of > a > > lot of different companies or at least their employees working on the > > project. We all know that such a huge and successful project can only > work > > if we have individual community members as well as fulltime community > > members. Important is the WE and the TOGETHER that makes open source > > projects successful. > > > > I heart voices and read emails where people said that Apache is not able > to > > manage such a huge end user oriented project with all the necessary > things. > > A strong statement, isn't it. At the beginning i have to confess that i > also > > had doubts and wasn't sure. But as i have mentioned in an earlier email > that > > i have seen and got the necessary signals over time that Apache is > willing > > to listen and is open for changes as well if they make sense for the > overall > > success of our project and if these changes are aligned with the overall > > Apache principles. And i think that is fair enough for all. > > > > The move to Apache is a big challenge for all of us. Apache had many very > > successful projects but none of the these project has such a hue end-user > > focus like OpenOffice. And it is no small project, no it is one of > biggest > > and most successful open source projects ever. And the migration was and > is > > not easy. But we the community can do it, we as individuals, everybody > can > > help and we together will do it! > > > > And the Apache way and the Apache license have proven in the past and > with > > many successful projects that it is a good way and a good license to > achieve > > this. > > > > Enough from me for now and i will take a break over the Christmas days to > > relax a little bit with family and friends. I will read emails from time > to > > time but not too much ;-) > > > > I wish you all merry Christmas, enjoy the days, take your own break too, > > load your batteries for our next challenge in 2012. > > > > Regards > > > > Juergen > > > > > > > > -- > Ross Gardler (@rgardler) > Programme Leader (Open Development) > OpenDirective http://opendirective.com > -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MzK "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -- Mohandas Gandhi
