COMMENT
Oracle donates OpenOffice.org to Apache
OpenForum Europe broadly welcomes the announcement that Oracle contributes OpenOffice.org to The Apache Software Foundation’s Incubator, a move supported by IBM. By donating the open source code and ceding control of the future development of the free productivity suite that has been a key driver of Open Document Format (ODF) based solutions, potential new alliances emerge.
The future development of Open Office .org is now assured. As only a minor part of the code was not owned by Oracle, licensing and IPR issues are surmountable but there are a number of other issues that need to be resolved including the relationship with The Document Foundation (TDF) and others. OFE encourages the speedy resolution of such issues so that the full strength of community development can be achieved.
The key to the future success of open source productivity suites will lie in combining competition with interoperability. This combination will enable the full benefits of community driven Open Source initiatives to be achieved across the spectrum. OpenOffice.org is a reference implementation showcasing the value of interoperability standards such as ODF.
This will enable the full benefits of community driven Open Source initiatives to be achieved across the spectrum. Competition between Open Office, Libre Office and other productivity suites originating in Europe, Far East and South America will re-enliven the overall market and encourage wide ranging innovation.
“This is an important step towards an open, competitive ICT productivity suite market built on open standards,” Cousins said. “It will increase the push for the Open Document Format (ODF), which is going mainstream.”
The ODF community continues to collaborate to ensure full interoperability across both proprietary and non-proprietary software products. The 6th ODF Plugfest will be held in Berlin from 14th -15th July hosted by the German Ministries of Economics and Interior.
For more information please contact Basil Cousins +44 208 661 1873
basil@openforumeurope.org
OpenForum Europe (OFE) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation and is supported by major IT suppliers (inc Deloitte, Google, IBM, Oracle, Red Hat), SMEs, user and consumer organisations, and national partners across Europe. OFE’s focuses on delivering an open, competitive ICT market, and strongly supports both Open Standards and use of Open Source Software. OFE works closely not only with the European Commission but with many national governments across Europe. OpenForum Europe acknowledges all the input received from its members and partners in the compilation of this document. However, OpenForum Europe does not seek to represent any specific community nor present its opinions as being unanimously supported by its full membership. References given are fully attributed and every effort made to ensure they have been taken in true context.
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