Oracle handing OpenOffice.org over to community

Today, April 15, Oracle announced that they will follow a different route with OpenOffice.org. Oracle no longer looks at it as a commercial product, but will hand it all over to a community, a foundation or something like that. An organisation where all parties feel comfortable. This news can be read from this article, where Chief Architect Edward Screven is cited.
On The Register I read an analysis, that was advised to me by 'an anonymus source' as 'interesting'.

So where will Oracle find a place for OpenOffice.org? Since September 28 2010 there is The Document Foundation, where a large part of the former OpenOffice.org community joined to continue working on the product in a free project, in an independent organisation. Oracle did not want to join by then - therefore now The Document Foundation releases the program LibreOffice, and not OpenOffice.org...
Then today Oracles remarkable change in course. This is a big step forward in the direction that I expressed as a wish at the time that The Document Foundation started: that the two paths will merge again. And look, as per today Oracle searches a group, a community, that does want to give a home to OpenOffice.org. Me thinks that Oracle will get a warm welcome from The Document Foundation :-)

There is another positive side with this news. It will clear the route for IBM, having a contract with Sun/Oracle about OpenOffice.org and the thereon based Lotus Symphony, to give its full commitment to the future development in a free community.
Thus OpenOffice.org, ehh LibreOffice, really can get the strong support of many large companies, bundling their mutual interests, more that fighting about their differences. An excellent basis for all taking place around web-office, tablets, smart-phones and a place where (free) software-developers with all their skills and interests will feel really fine.

Reacties

  1. Anoniem16 april 2011 om 01:21

    It would great if the OpenOffice.org trademark could now be transfered to The Document Foundation!

    But for institutional users and prospects it is also very important to have a main commercial organization (profit or non-profit) backing the development and support of OpenOffice.org releases.

    I'm not sure The Document Foundation is the correct organization for this... since that new organization would be strongly influenced by commercial concerns (even as a non-profit). But this backing will be needed if the software adoption at institutions and large corporations is to be developed.

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  2. Cor & OfficeBuzz18 april 2011 om 13:44

    hi Ayers,

    Thanks for your reply.
    I agree in the sense that for large institutional users it is important to see that there is a strong organisation backing the product, with no nonsense, professional approach. If that be created by more (larger) companies supporting the foundation, even the better. I am confident that the bye-laws of TDF will prevent un balanced influence by any supporter.
    Cor

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