[gui-talk] IBM joins OpenOffice.org to widen its reach

[David Andrews]

>
>
> > ComputerWorld, MA, USA
> > Monday, September 10, 2007
> >
> > IBM joins OpenOffice.org to widen its reach
> >
> > By Todd R. Weiss
> >
> > It will provide developers, other resources to open-source
>project
> >
> > Quote: "To build on those features from OpenOffice, IBM Lotus
> > developers
>built and enhanced accessibility features for visually impaired and
>other
>handicapped users. Previously, IBM had been doing this work outside
>of the
>OpenOffice community. With today's announcement, the company will
>stop work
>on its own version of OpenOffice. "
> >
> > September 10, 2007 (Computerworld) -- IBM has gotten so much from
>the
>OpenOffice.org office suite to enhance its own products that the
>company has
>decided to finally give back in a big way: It's joining the
>open-source
>project and will contribute code, developers and other resources
>for free.
> >
> > In an announcement today, IBM said that by joining the effort
> > directly, it
>hopes to develop feature enhancements and help push broader
>adoption of the
>OpenDocument format (ODF) standard used in the suite.
> >
> > LINK:
> > http://www.openoffice.org/press/ibm_press_release.html
> >
> > Doug Heintzman, director of strategy for IBM's Lotus
>collaboration
>division, said IBM has been using OpenOffice code for the past
>several years
>to create its own version of the office applications integrated
>into the
>Lotus Notes 8 collaboration suite. By incorporating OpenOffice
>features,
>Lotus Notes 8 gained integrated office applications that seamlessly
>work
>within the application, he said.
> >
> > To build on those features from OpenOffice, IBM Lotus developers
>built
> > and
>enhanced accessibility features for visually impaired and other
>handicapped
>users, he said. Previously, IBM had been doing this work outside of
>the
>OpenOffice community. With today's announcement, the company will
>stop work
>on its own version of OpenOffice.
> >
> > "We decided that the time was right," Heintzman said. All future
>Lotus
> > and
>IBM products that incorporate OpenOffice code will use code from
>the
>community rather than from what had been IBM's forked version of
>the
>project.
> >
> > The reason for the move, Heintzman said, is that IBM is
>anticipates
>shifting demand from customers, changing specifications and wider
>adoption
>of ODF, as well as other changes expected in future office
>applications.
> >
> > IBM will dedicate a core team of 35 programmers in China to the
> > OpenOffice
>project, but more people will be added as needed around the world,
>he said.
> >
> > Louis Suarez-Potts, the community manager at Sun Microsystems
>Inc. for
> > the
>OpenOffice.org project, called IBM's announcement "extremely
>important."
> >
> > "What it's doing for us is not only enhancing the community by
> > expanding
>it," but adding future richness and additional ODF technology to
>the
>project, Suarez-Potts said. Another benefit is that IBM will add
>these
>things into many of their existing products, which are distributed
>worldwide, he said. "It's fantastic all around. The community is
>very happy
>about this and is looking forward to working with IBM."
> >
> > John McCreesh, OpenOffice.org marketing project lead, said in a
> > statement
>that the IBM move is "great news for the tens of millions of users
>of
>OpenOffice.org and the thousands of individual members of the
>project. But
>equally important is IBM's future commitment to package and
>distribute new
>works that leverage OpenOffice.org technology supporting the ISO
>ODF
>standard. ODF is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the IT
>industry to
>unify round a standard, and deliver lasting benefit to users of
>desktop
>technology."
> >
> > OpenOffice.org includes word processing, spreadsheet,
>presentation,
>drawing, database and other modules and uses ODF as its native file
>format;
>it also fully supports other common file formats, including
>Microsoft
>Office. OpenOffice runs on all major platforms, including Windows,
>Vista,
>Linux, Solaris and Mac OS X, and is available in more than 100
>languages. It
>is interoperable with other popular suites and may be used free of
>charge
>for any purpose, private or commercial, under its GNU Lesser
>General Public
>License. Created in 2000 by Sun, OpenOffice has been downloaded
>nearly 100
>million times, according to Sun.
>
>
> >
>http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxo
>
>nomyName=desktop_applications&articleId=9035270&taxonomyId=86&intsrc=kc_top
>

David Andrews and white cane Harry.