######################################################################### OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER Volume 01 - Issue 07/2003 ######################################################################### Announcements ============= Scripting Framework Early Developer Release 0.3 ----------------------------------------------- http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?msgId=724949&listName=announce OpenOffice.org for Mac OS X (X11) --------------------------------- http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?msgId=726897&listName=announce http://apple.slashdot.org/apple/03/06/23/2229252.shtml?tid=185 http://www.macnn.com/news/15521 http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=3872 http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111325,00.asp German: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/ola-23.06.03-002/ Downloads ========= * more than 16,500,000 people have downloaded OpenOffice.org so far (as of June 28, 2003): * more than 4,000,000 downloads happened in just April, May and June (as of June 28, 2003) * more than 71,000 downloads of OpenOffice.org for Mac OS X after Apple's WWDC (period of June 22-28, 2003) More details at http://stats.openoffice.org/ Awards and Reviews ================== Best Linux Software Product Award --------------------------------- June 24, 2003 Linux User and Developer Expo Birmingham UK OpenOffice.org review and MS Word Comparison -------------------------------------------- http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/magazine/technical/openofficewriter.html ZDNet User Opinions ------------------- http://zdnet.com.com/3302-2064-10108484.html Download.com Reviews -------------------- http://download.com.com/3302-2064_4-10196648.html Amazon ------ The following reviews talk about StarOffice, but are applicable to OpenOffice.org too: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000066TPC/ref=cm_rev_sort/104-2368538-1335901?show=-submittime&v=glance&vi=customer-reviews&s=software&n=507846&Go.x=9&Go.y=11&Go=Go http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/software/B00006837Z/customer-reviews/ref=sr_aps_software_1_1/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/202-0148770-2503020 http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/software/3827207363/customer-reviews/qid=1057620208/sr=2-1/ref=sr_aps_prod_1_1/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/302-4852368-1091221 Success Stories =============== More German cities show interest in Linux and OpenOffice.org ------------------------------------------------------------ After the decision in Munich to change from MS to Linux and probably SO/OOo - other big cities in Germany like Wolfsburg (Volkswagen - VW) Helmstedt and Salzgitter are also thinking about a new OS and new Office-Suites. German: http://www.newsclick.de/index.jsp/menuid/2043/include/64657461696c73756368652e6a7370?filled=suche&begriff=linux&x=17&y=11 German Secretary of the Interior and IBM promote Linux ------------------------------------------------------ The German Secretary of the Interior (Schily) and IBM (Staudt) promote Linux and open source for the usage within government authorities. They give the City of Munich and the City of Schwaebisch Hall as good examples [Schwaebisch Hall has already switched to OpenOffice.org and Munich will switch to either OpenOffice.org or StarOffice]. http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0625over500g.html German article: http://www.computerwoche.de/index.cfm?pageid=254&artid=50206 Land Surveying Offices in Bavaria switch to Linux ------------------------------------------------- Summary: - 79 offices involved - 3,000 desktop PC's will be migrated in addition to server systems German article: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/ola-12.06.03-002/ Two UK Councils Possibly Switching to Linux ------------------------------------------- According to this article on ZDNet UK, http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2135726,00.html two UK councils, Newham and Nottingham, are examining the feasibility of moving 11,500 desktops from Windows to Linux. The article doesn't say which desktop applications would be used, but I'd think OOo or Star Office would be the likely choice for office software. Linux desktops in Newham and Nottingham (UK) -------------------------------------------- According to the German article below, the cities Newham and Nottingham are interested in following Munich's example. Apparently they have plans to move to Linux desktops, too. URL: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/ju-09.06.03-000/ Industry group urges government to think twice on open source ------------------------------------------------------------- http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2136285,00.html OpenOffice.org in France ------------------------ Success Stories (French) http://bureautiquelibre.org/ (French) OOo migration at the Department of the Interior in France (French only): http://www.atica.pm.gouv.fr/pages/documents/fiche.php?id=1724&id_chapitre=7&id_theme=23&letype=0# 80,000 Gnome desktops deployed in Spain initiative -------------------------------------------------- http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS5160643271.html Greece, 150.000 Greek Openoffice.org CDs distributed ---------------------------------------------------- http://newsvac.newsforge.com/newsvac/03/06/24/1554213.shtml?tid=52 Open Source in Scandinavia -------------------------- There are also prominent migration stories in Scandinavia (Finland & Norway) Open Source puts down roots in Finland http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/29587.html Norway Says No Way to Microsoft http://www.wired.com/news/antitrust/0,1551,53898,00.html Linux in Europe --------------- http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/31207.html led by a few large and important German municipalities (recently Munich and Berlin) on the heals of the government's migration of the Reichstag facilities last year. Defense Department OK's open-source software -------------------------------------------- http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/story/0,10801,81875,00.html Airlines starting to fly with Linux ----------------------------------- "... Copernio CEO Peter Berghammer says, "I think two years from now, we might just be doing Linux releases, not Windows. ..." "... Berghammer himself is a long-time Mac user who recently started exploring Linux for personal use. He is now experimenting with various Linux distributions on his own computers, and is using OpenOffice.org (including the Mac OS X beta ) for some of his own work. ..." http://newsforge.com/newsforge/03/06/20/0132241.shtml?tid=3> OpenOffice in Thailand ---------------------- Support growing for free Thai office suite http://search.bangkokpost.co.th/bkkpost/2003/feb2003/bp20030212/database/12feb2003_data53.html StarOffice in Australia ----------------------- Telstra takes shine to Star Office http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0%2c7204%2c6192015%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E%2c00.html Open Source in South Africa ---------------------------- "... OpenOffice.org OEM Distribution The second largest PC distributor in ZA (Sahara) is now shipping OOo 1.0x with all their built up PC's. This was facilitated by a local media company which produces CD's primarily for computer magazines. These CD's are a compilation of various open source and other free software applications. Johannesburg Computer Faire We were unable to make the Computer Faire in Johannesburg due to a number of reasons. I will need to look into better planning in the future. We were, however able to get OOo distributed at the Faire by the Shuttleworth Foundation, who included it on their giveaway CD with other Open Source Software. Sun staff were also referring people to the Shuttleworth Foundation stand for copies of OOo. SA Government OSS Announcement Ben has already posted to the list the announcement by Minister Fraser-Moleketi that the South African Cabinet has approved the Government OSS Strategy. Whilst this is obviously beneficial to a number of OSS projects, OOo should be the first and biggest winner here. My earlier post gave some details of local translation efforts, but this announcement does tie directly in to the sponsoring of translate.org.za by government for the translation of OpenOffice.org into Zulu, Sotho and Afrikaans. Many of you may not know that South Africa has 11 official languages, all of which are targeted for eventual translation. OOo Distribution Experiment An experiment is currently underway to produce approx 1000 OOo CD's for sale at cost to distributors and resellers in Durban. The aim is to establish whether a self-sustaining production of OOo CD's can be maintained. I am currently looking for funding to expand this project and have contacted the Shuttleworth Foundation in this regard. Local Television Exposure A local prime time business magazine program recently did a piece on open source software. This program, although limited in its content and missing a great deal of relevant information, did give exposure to the concept of open source software to a large business audience. Whilst there was only a mention of OOo and a view of the OOo home page shown, at least it gave us some exposure. btw The MS spokesperson on the program was able to do MS a great disservice by not knowing the relevant information and generally came across as confused. A lesson to learn, if you are going to be interviewed, know your project, product and market. ..." Merrill Lynch: Linux saves money -------------------------------- "... Snodgrass said the next target for using Linux could be on the desktop. ..." http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-1014287.html The Penguin on the Desktop -------------------------- http://www.it-analysis.com/article.php?articleid=10955 Market Information / Competition ================================ The [Linux] desktop market is likely to pick up, too, with 15.5 percent ... (IDC) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php?id=2110919358&fp=16&fpid=0 Here's to the Next Battle of the Office Suites ---------------------------------------------- http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/21714.html Schools still handing cash to Microsoft --------------------------------------- http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/News/story.asp?datetime=19+Jun+2003+05%3A15&tbrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=NEWS&category=News&category=News&brand=EDPOnline&itemid=NOED18+Jun+2003+23%3A47%3A43%3A797 Gates on Linux -------------- http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-06-29-gates-linux_x.htm Microsoft sweetens its suite - australianIT.com.au report --------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft sweetens its suite (Angus Kidman , June 24, 2003) AS Microsoft prepares the release of Office 2003, it faces its strongest competition in the suite market for some time. Canny marketing and the dominant position of Word and Excel helped Microsoft all but eliminate its main rivals, Lotus and WordPerfect, by the mid-1990s, and enabled it to reap the rewards of market dominance. The full story is available at: http://www.australianit.com.au/articles/0,7204,6630880%5E24170%5E%5Enbv%5E24169%2D24169,00.html SuSE redoubles Linux Desktop strategy ------------------------------------- "... Bundled with the Linux Desktop are a number of tools that allow administrators of large systems to more easily install the product, including AutoYast and KDE Desktop Sharing. These tools allow administrators to remotely control the screens of many network hosts across different hardware platforms. Also built into the desktop are interfaces that make it easier to access to applications servers and mainframes using SAP clients, Windows 2000 Terminal client, and IBM terminal emulators. The product also contains other mail clients such as KMail, Evolution, and Mozilla, along with a number of Web browsers, calendar, and data exchange features that work with personal digital assistants. SuSE also announced the first hardware certifications for the Linux Desktop which includes IBM ThinkPads A31 and T40, in addition to IBM's NetVista desktop systems. The product has also garnered Linux Standards Base (LSB) certification, verifying its compliance to work with a range of Linux distributions. ..." URL: http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/06/08/HNsusedesktop_1.html KOffice 1.3 Beta 2 ------------------ http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=3839 http://dot.kde.org/1056044540/ http://www.macobserver.com/article/2003/06/19.6.shtml Quick Polls in Switzerland -------------------------- 27% of 856 participants said that the usage of Open Source Software could help to cut IT spendings: http://www.infoweek.ch/tools/quickpoll/qp_result.cfm?QuestionID=117 30% of 314 participants said they were using a office suite other than MS Office: http://www.infoweek.ch/tools/quickpoll/qp_result.cfm?QuestionID=129 7% of 312 participants said that they are using or want to use Linux on desktop systems exclusively. 26% are using or want to use Linux on both server and desktop systems: http://www.infoweek.ch/tools/quickpoll/qp_result.cfm?QuestionID=135 Activities (local and world wide) ================================= OpenOffice.org localization work -------------------------------- Within the OpenOffice.org development project, there are currently over 60 language localization projects under way around the world; with over 27 different language builds of the software available today that run on various operating system platforms (mainly Windows and Linux). Also, the number of native language communities in the project is growing rapidly, as the project recently added - Thai, http://th.openoffice.org/ - Hindi, and http://hi.openoffice.org/ - Japanese http://ja.openoffice.org/index.html to the existing nine: 1 Czech http://cs.openoffice.org/ 2 Dansk http://da.openoffice.org/index.html 3 German http://de.openoffice.org/index.html 4 Spanish http://es.openoffice.org/index.html 5 French http://fr.openoffice.org/index.html 6 Italian http://it.openoffice.org/index.html 7 Br. Portuguese http://br-pt.openoffice.org/index.html 9 Dutch http://nl.openoffice.org/index.html A native language community is a group of developers and marketers that collaborates in a specific language through a specific Web site that is localized in that language. Each community has a Web site, set of mailing lists and projects through which they conduct the dialog necessary to support the development and dissemination of OOo. Events ====== JavaOne ------- At JavaOne Erwin Tenhumberg staffed a booth about the StarOffice SDK. Many developers from high profile companies (incl. software vendors) came to the pod and asked very specific questions about how they could leverage StarOffice and OpenOffice.org from or within their Java applications. Most developers were interested in using OpenOffice.org as a document converter, a document/report generator or as an embedded GUI component within a AWT or Swing applications. In addition, Juergen Schmidt and Colm Smyth did a session about StarOffice/OpenOffice.org API development which was well received and generated even more interest in the OOo APIs. The session was attended by approximately 150 Java developers. Due to the strong interest in the SDK Juergen and Colm were not able to answer all the questions during their session. Therefore, they provided an "Ask the Expert" type support at the SDK booth during the exhibition hours. Apple's WWDC (San Francisco, USA) --------------------------------- http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?msgId=735386&listName=announce Discovered OpenOffice.org Solutions =================================== OpenPlenum ---------- The pages are unfortunately in German, but the company PROTEXT COMPUTER created an OpenOffice.org based application called OpenPlenum. It's a document management and workflow application that focusses on processes that authorities like city councils have to deal with. German: http://www.protext.de/OpenPlenum/OpenPlenumstart_mit.htm New OpenOffice.org To-Do's ========================== Marketing --------- * Demo Script Creation * Creation of OpenOffice.org Standard Presentation * Creation of monthly OpenOffice.org Newsletters (ongoing) SDK --- * Update UNO Web Service Proxy to JWSDP 1.2 * Create new useful and cool UNO Web Service Proxy sample(s) Full List --------- URL: http://website.openoffice.org/developer/todo.html All to-do's are marked as a TASK with the keyword "needhelp". In order to get new to-do's added please contact Erwin Tenhumberg (erwin.tenhumberg@sun.com)! New Resources ============= German OpenOffice.org Study (German only) ----------------------------------------- http://www.competence-site.de/ebusiness.nsf/3c26e7f55f24138ac125691800380650/d34e71ea99d37abec1256d5000371bbc!OpenDocument Munich's Microsoft vs. Linux/OpenOffice.org study now online ------------------------------------------------------------ SUMMARY: * Munich published a short version of the study that they used for their recent decision regarding the usage of Linux on the desktop (14,688 seats). * 5 solutions were compared: - Windows XP + Office XP (XP/XP) - Windows XP + OpenOffice.org (XP/OSS) - Linux + OpenOffice.org (LX/OSS) - Linux + OpenOffice.org + VMWare (LX/OSS/VM) - Linux + OpenOffice.org + Terminal Server (LX/OSS/TS) * The best solution cost wise incl. training and migration turned out to be Windows XP and Office XP followed by LX/OSS/VM. * After applying quality related and strategic factors like the dependence on Microsoft the best solution was Linux plus OpenOffice.org and VMWare followed by the pure Microsoft solution. * PDF file of study (German): http://www.muenchen.de/aktuell/clientstudie_kurz.pdf Frederick Labbe's Thesis (French) --------------------------------- Memoire Ingenieur CNAM (121 pages)- Format PDF (2.6 Mo) (2089 ) - Format OpenOffice.org (1.6 Mo) (407 ) http://oootools.free.fr/memoire_cnam/ Comments from Paul Miller: "This is an outstanding migration study from Office 97 to OpenOffice.org of a two site hospital with several hundred machines which has to change because of cost & compatibility issues with newer/older machines because Office 97 can no longer be purchased legally. Cost savings was 40% of migrating to Office XP in first year and 50% for two more years. The thesis is in French but is so well written that I was able to decipher the essence of it using Babelfish. ..." Contact Information (regarding this newsletter) =============================================== newsletter@marketing.openoffice.org or erwin.tenhumberg@sun.com