OpenOffice.org Newsletter - October 2010

OpenOffice.org Community Newsletter <http://www.openoffice.org>


        October 2010


    Oracle Demonstrates Continued Support for OpenOffice.org

Oracle underlined that it maintains support for the leading ODF-Based 
Open Source Productivity Suite and further demonstrated its commitment 
to the OpenOffice.org community. Read More » 
<http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/177158>


    10^th Anniversary of OpenOffice.org

Ten years ago, on 13 October 2000, Sun released the source code to 
StarOffice under open-source licenses. Formidable in size and complexity 
and positioned against a seemingly overwhelmingly dominant competitor, 
OpenOffice.orgBirthday Cake <http://www.openoffice.org> was seen as at 
best, foolish, at worse, boring, fit only for office drones. Browsers, 
it was said, have more fun.
But we, the OpenOffice.org project community, showed these skeptics to 
be wrong. We showed the world that a free office productivity suite 
using open standards, especially what later came to be known as the 
OpenDocument Format (ODF), is more desirable, more powerful, and more 
transformative than any browser could be. We, the OpenOffice.org project 
community, gave the world a set of tools that allows all to participate 
as equals in the fields of commerce, science, education, government, to 
name but a few.
We have given the world the tools to do things and to work together. 
With OpenOffice.org, people produce - and their productions are theirs 
to keep and do with as they will. That is real freedom.

It is a freedom that today perhaps 100 million people enjoy. In some 
regions, our product's usage is greater than 20 percent of the office 
suite userbase. How have we done this? And without spending the expected 
billions on advertising and other marketing efforts? To a great extent, 
OpenOffice.org, the application made by us, the community, sells itself, 
and its good news is spread through word of mouth, not via billboards 
and the like. Its professional quality and performance is tremendously 
persuasive. OpenOffice.org works on all platforms and in over a hundred 
languages, and perhaps most important, it also works well with other 
suites: our code and our use of the ODF means there is no vendor 
lock-in. Users, from those in government offices to individuals at home, 
are free to choose what is best for them without the anxiety they'll be 
stuck with something they do not much like but costs a lot.

They have chosen OpenOffice.org, and we are sure they will continue to 
do so in even greater numbers over the next ten years. They choose it 
today it not simply because it costs them nothing to download from our 
site, but because of its professional quality and flexibility - as well 
as its reassuring consistency. Over the last ten years, we have 
regularly released small and large versions incorporating new features, 
functionality, and design, all tested and qualified for any user 
environment. This fall, we are releasing OpenOffice.org 3.3, and the 
beta is available for community testing. Expect more releases-and also a 
lot more extensions.

With extensions, there is virtually no limit to what the application can 
do, and every day the community makes more available under a variety of 
licenses. These address individual, as well as enterprise, needs. 
Support, services, and training, offered by Oracle and other large and 
small companies, is globally available in a host of languages; these all 
complement the free community support and constitute a portion of the 
large and growing OpenOffice.org ecosystem.
And our momentum is building, as the size and complexity of the 
community contributing to the project grows and as more see in 
OpenOffice.org a future they want to be part of. It's a future of 
freedom that we commit to, as a community that includes Oracle as well 
other enterprises, and countless thousands of independent contributors.

Our first ten years have proven the strength of our vision and 
technology against every imaginable challenge; the next - well, who can 
say? Only this: we commit to making the tools of productivity,  growing 
the community, and improving the product - open to all to inspect, use, 
improve, distribute, and we invite the world to join us in our commitment.

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    Look-out

The OpenOffice.org Community has almost finalized release 3.3 and has 
started with the work next release with focus on usability  improvements 
(=> Project Renaissance 
<http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Renaissance>), compatibility, 
and enterprise integration.

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    This month in the Community Council

    * Jürgen Schmidt has finalized the work of the Community Council
      communication
      <http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Community_Counci...>
      guide lines
    * Collaboration with Community improvement

<http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Community_Counci...>
      project has been initiated. Volunteers wanted

The Community Council minutes are available here 
<http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Community_Counci...>.

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    Tips & Tricks

Online TechTips:  Add a Header to an OOo Writer Document

Some features in Writer, OpenOffice.org's word processing application, 
operate differently than they do in Microsoft Word. Learn how to add a 
header to an Writer Document. Read More » 
<http://www.online-tech-tips.com/ms-office-tips/add-a-head...>

Linux Journal:  Interactions Between Programs

...the complete OpenOffice.org is much smaller than any version of MS 
Office (and that you don't save nearly the space you expect by 
installing only the components you actually use). Read More » 
<http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/openofficeorg-interac...>

eHow: How to Compress Photos in OpenOffice.org

Keeping these files at a manageable size is important for efficiency of 
data transfer and minimal use of storage space. A file that can be read 
by many operating systems for free is useless if it's too huge to send 
efficiently. Read More » 
<http://www.ehow.com/how_7252376_compress-photos-openoffic...>

WorldStart.com: Using the Delete Key in OpenOffice.org Calc

Have you tried the Delete key when using OOo Calc?
What happened?
Well, that depends upon where you were... Read More » 
<http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/using-the-delete-...>

Linux Magazine: Add Instant Word Count Feature to OOo Writer

While the Writer's Tools extension  for OOo is developed and maintained 
by your truly includes the Visual Word Count tool, it does have one 
serious drawback: it uses a modal window, i.e., you can't do anything 
until you close the Visual Word Count window
Read More » 
<http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/Blogs/Productivity-S...>

Linux User: OOo Base -- No Frills Document Management

A no-frills personal document management system can come in handy in 
many situations. Read on to find out how OpenOffice.org Base can really 
come into its own... Read More » 
<http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/tutorials/openoffice-org-base-...>

eHow: How to Add Across Multiple Sheets

The application allows you to take one sheet of data and add it to 
another sheet of data. Combining data sheets sounds like a tricky task. 
Read More » 
<http://www.ehow.com/how_7194973_add-across-multiple-sheet...>

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    OpenDocument (ODF)

FFII: European Parliament wants Open Document exchange format for 
electronic business

Today the European Parliament plenary adopted a report on completing the 
internal market for e-commerce prepared by Spanish rapporteur Pablo 
Arias Echeverría (EPP). Read More » 
<https://press.ffii.org/Press%20releases/European%20Parlia...>

Interop Demo Illustrates Breadth and Power of ODF to Handle Enterprise, 
Academic and Gov. Needs

Last week, OASIS held the ODF 1.2 Interoperability Demonstration to 
showcase support for ODF 1.2 and the interoperability across eight 
implementations. The Demo showcased both open source and commercial 
software applications processing ODF documents
Read More » 
<http://www.odfalliance.org/blog/index.php/site/interop_de...>

Trond's: Defining Open standards

I have met those who claim defining open standards is next to impossible 
and hurts innovation. Neither is true. Usually, those who say it is hard 
to do have something to lose. Like a monopoly or something. Or, could it 
be that they find it hard but others find it easy? Read More » 
<http://blogs.oracle.com/trond/2010/09/defining_open_stand...>

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        In this issue

    * Notes from the Council <#Council>
    * Tips & Tricks <#Tips>
    * OpenDocument (ODF) <#ODF>


      Announcements

OpenOffice.org Bloggers

The OpenOffice.org Planet has the widest collection of OOo content with 
community members  blogging on a wide variety of helpful topics. Read 
More » <http://www.openoffice.org/editorial/blogs.html>

ODF Plugfest in Brussels

This international plugfest will be held in Brussels on the 14th and 
15th of October 2010.
Read More » <http://www.odfplugfest.be/>

OpenOffice.org Hackfest 2010

The hackfest in Hamburg targets primarily developers, to have fun and 
work together on the source code.  Read more here 
<http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Hackfest2010> and here 
<http://robertogaloppini.net/2010/09/24/more-about-the-ope...>. 



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