OpenOffice.org was invited to present at IDLELO, and I very much regret that we could not make it, as the African situation is both interesting and pressing. However, the funding arrangements were difficult to come by--it's expensive to go there and put on a show--and the organizers were unable to subsidize our presence there. But the opportunities are limitless, especially as governments in Africa turn to Foss and see the possibilities. Right now, of course, we have the South African government offices quite interested in OOo and its proprietary version. But Africa is large, very large, and only Foss can offer what its people need today and tomorrow. Africa has a future and it is the Africans' to write, using OOo as the pen, ink, paper.
2010-05-31
BBC News - Open source marks a new era for African independence
BBC News - Open source marks a new era for African independence
2010-05-28
Vodacom unveils low-cost Linux netbook | TechCentral
Vodacom unveils low-cost Linux netbook | TechCentral
This is great news, and I wish the effort described here the best! It indicates a *regional* and local strength and desire for Foss and OOo in particular. We see this, too, in Brazil, Spain, and throughout other European polities.
OOo is strong because local communities have taken upon themselves the tasks of localization, porting, distribution: engaging in the acts constituting Free and Open Source Software production. They are producers, that is, not simply consumers. Our community and strength grows as these add to the composite community making up OpenOffice.org.
And meanwhile, the application matures. Our monolithic architecture (always being refactored) makes it difficult for casual contribution to the core--all the code would necessarily have to be checked for unintended consequences, to give a hint--but our focus on developing the extensions architecture makes it indeed quite possible and even fun for such casual additions. So, just like Firefox, OOo can be expanded, new features added, capability extended through extensions. These are immensely popular, and their popularity is increasing as more millions download and use OOo in all languages.
Even Hungarian. This year, with pride and excitement, we hold our annual conference in Budapest. Why there? Because the Hungarian team submitted the bid that received the most votes and it received those because it was the best. So for this 10th anniversary of the Project, for this significant year, we find ourselves deeply honoured by the dedication of the Hungarian community: Thanks.
OOoCon begins 31 August and lasts several days. We invite you all to join us there.
TR: Ministry of Justice and law courts consider open source desktop —
TR: Ministry of Justice and law courts consider open source desktop —: "'We are already using OpenOffice on all of the desktops. We began using OpenOffice in 2007 and it has helped us to save billions.'"
Cool. But OOo also has professional support, services. Oh, btw, we all probably need to thank Turkish Language Lead Görkem Çetin for his tireless work in leading the localization effort to Turkish. I had the great pleasure (literally) of spending several days in Istanbul several years ago, at a conference. I, like many, came to love Istanbul and rank it as one of the most wonderful cities I've ever had the great good fortune of visiting, and I owe the great portion of my fond memories to Görkem's unrelenting and unstinting hospitality and generosity. My thanks.
2010-05-25
Hancom to lose government office monopoly
This is important news. The crucial paragraph:
"The National Assembly Research Service (NARS), a parliamentary unit that provides policy research and analysis for legislators, now claims that government organizations should be required to use software products that support open standards. The idea is to eventually allow government documents to be created, read and edited by a wider variety of office applications run on any type of computer operating system, NARS said."
But let's continue:
"``It's critical that government documents are preserved and available for access for a long period of time, and it's dangerous for this to solely hang on Hancom's existence as a business,'' said a NARS official.
``The closed nature of HWP also brings inconvenience when collaborating with people in other countries and producing documents. The government has been virtually mandating the use of HWP, and this has hurt market competition as well as technology neutrality.''
"NARS soon plans to release an official report to suggest all electronic government documents, including word processed documents, spreadsheets, charts and presentations, be represented by software designed in open document format (ODF), the global industry standard for open file styles."
Supposedly, according to an Hancom spokesperson, "``ODF is supported on Hancom Office 2010, which was released last year." But I do wonder what "supported" means here; as well, as the article points out,
"It wasn't until last year that Hancom started supporting ODF for its office applications, and much of the software used at government offices are older versions of HWP, making it harder for search engines to detect the content."
Support is not enough; full implementation is required, as is an interoperability path. These are lacking, it seems.
2010-05-21
Why and how the OpenDocument format can save you a lot of time! | Free Software tips and tricks at Zona-M
Why and how the OpenDocument format can save you a lot of time! | Free Software tips and tricks at Zona-M
Marco does fine work, and I'm glad I had the occasion, at the recent Granada ODF plugfest, where we worked to establish norms for ODF implementation, to reacquaint ourselves.
The point of ODF: To stop the insanity of proprietary formats and to give users choice they can actually use. Or do you really want to spend the rest of your life paying for the ability, not just right, to read, write, and do things with words, numbers, pictures?
2010-05-19
Small Business Software: 6 OpenOffice.org Extensions - www.smallbusinesscomputing.com
Small Business Software: 6 OpenOffice.org Extensions - www.smallbusinesscomputing.com
Useful information. Small business is much within our remit, as OOo offers this vast market precisely what they need.
Useful information. Small business is much within our remit, as OOo offers this vast market precisely what they need.
2010-05-04
Total victory for open source software in a patent lawsuit | opensource.com
Total victory for open source software in a patent lawsuit | opensource.com
The most interesting paragraph to me is the one quoting Michael Tiemann on the logic of open source development: that it is a voluntary collaboration, not an involuntary one.
2010-05-03
Communication trumps penalties in new study of social-ecological systems
Communication trumps penalties in new study of social-ecological systems
The point: communication makes the difference in nonhiearchical systems (what is better called rhizomatic, or for the rest of us, open-source).
Of course, I'm lousy at communicating what I do..... but at least others are quite good.
The point: communication makes the difference in nonhiearchical systems (what is better called rhizomatic, or for the rest of us, open-source).
Of course, I'm lousy at communicating what I do..... but at least others are quite good.
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