Hi
Here's the newsletter draft for this month. Hopefully it will not have any of the errors of last month's draft (!); I've moved over to jEdit to make these newsletters now.
The draft is a little short of success stories; this may be due to the focus on OOo 2.0 that is coming out. Also there is a lot of stories which may be moved to this section which I have placed elsewhere, especially regarding StarOffice and Novell Office (esp. this article: http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8169)
As usual any changes or additions will be gratefully received.
With Thanks Deepankar
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#########################################################################
OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER
Volume 02 - Issue 9 - 3/2005
Please send news clippings to:
[email protected]
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Highlights in this Newsletter
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* OpenOffice.org Announces Version 2.0 Public Beta (Announcements)
* Availability of OpenOffice.org & Staroffice Indexer for Google Dekstop
Search (Resources)
* OpenOffice 2.0 preview: OpenOffice 2.0 vs MS Office 2003 (OpenOffice.org
Beta previews)
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Want to help OpenOffice.org? Find out hot to contribute or see our
To Do List!!
http://www.openoffice.org/contributing.html
http://development.openoffice.org/todo.html
#########################################################################
Announcements
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OpenOffice.org Announces Version 2.0 Public Beta
------------------------------------------------
OPENOFFICE.ORG ANNOUNCES VERSION 2.0 PUBLIC BETA
4 MARCH, 2005 - 08H00 UTC
The OpenOffice.org project is pleased to announce that the first public
beta release of OpenOffice.org 2.0 is now available for download.
OpenOffice.org 2.0 Beta is immediately available in English for Windows,
GNU/Linux and Solaris. Additional platforms and localisations for
Brazilian Portuguese, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian,
Spanish, Swedish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Turkish,
amongst others, will follow shortly.
The release of OpenOffice.org 2.0 Beta coincides with the Danish
LinuxForum 2005 and with the Open Source Days in Turkey. Both events
demonstrate the gaining power of open source and especially the force
for change OpenOffice.org 2.0 represents. We are honoured to be
included in these important events.
This beta release is the result of many months work in expanding the
functionality, performance and compatibility of the office suite. This
intense effort has yielded impressive results including the addition of
a new database module, implementation of the OASIS OpenDocument XML file
format and a host of other new features and capabilities.
The public beta release is made available in order to allow a broad user
base to test and evaluate this new major version of OpenOffice.org, but
is not recommended for production deployment at this stage.
Beta Availability
The beta version and it's source code can be downloaded from
http://download.openoffice.org/2.0beta/index.html.
Feature Guide
A more detailed guide to the features can be found at
http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/features/2.0/index.html.
Error and Bug Reporting
Users of the OpenOffice.org 2.0 Beta release are encouraged to join the
OpenOffice.org project and report any bugs, issues or errors at
http://qa.openoffice.org/issue_handling/project_issues.html.
For ongoing updates regarding beta releases of OpenOffice.org 2.0,
please subscribe to the OpenOffice.org Announce mailing list at
http://www.openoffice.org/mail_list.html#general.
About OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org is a fully featured open-source productivity suite
available as a free download for major computing platforms in over 45
languages. Data is stored in an XML file format standardized for office
documents by the international body OASIS. OpenOffice.org is developed,
supported, and promoted by an international community of volunteers with
its main sponsor and primary contributor being Sun Microsystems.
OpenOffice.org operates from http://www.openoffice.org.
GLOBAL CONTACTS
Jacqueline McNally (UTC +08h00)
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Lead
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
+61 (8) 9474-3021
John McCreesh (UTC +01h00)
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Co-Lead
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
+44 (0)131 523 9218
� 2005 OpenOffice.org
[Art project] Help is needed
----------------------------
"There are various tasks related to graphics which need completed for the
2.0 release and also for the new website homepage.
Many of these tasks require only basic knowledge on using a graphical
program. Others require graphical creativity and artistic skills.
Some quick examples:
- we need updated logos for the software to include the 2.0 version
number instead of the old ones which read OpenOffice.org 1.XX.
- also, we would need new CD-covers and labels, web banners and buttons
based on the theme from the new 2.0 splashscreen.
We are in great need for contributions so that we are ready for the 2.0
release and if it happens for you to have a little time to help, we
would be most gratefull.
For further informations please visit our Artwork To-Do page
http://marketing.openoffice.org/art/to-do-artwork.html
and read the corresponding issues listed there.
The Art Project's work list is [email protected] and you are
welcome to ask for details, help or guidance and to contribute.
Many thanks in advance for any help you can provide."
[Posted by Cristian Driga]
http://marketing.openoffice.org/art/to-do-artwork.html
http://marketing.openoffice.org/art/about-participation.html
Announcement Archive
--------------------
All new and past annoucements can be found in the announcement list
mailing list archive at
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce
#################################ADVERT##################################
The Mozilla Links newsletter
---------------------------
"The Mozilla Links Newsletter is a publication covering topics about
the Mozilla open source project, the Mozilla Foundation, other Mozilla
independent projects, marketing, and mostly anything related to the
Mozilla project."
To subscribe visit:
http://mail.mozilla.org/listinfo/newsletter/
#################################ADVERT##################################
News from the Native-Language Confederation
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Bi-weekly IRC conferences
-------------------------
"We are starting a series of bi-weekly IRC conferences. These are informal
conferences, around 10-20min each. They are followed by a Question & Answer
period, and then group discussion.
The purpose of these talks is to encourage different language communities to
exchange ideas. It also provides an opportunity for people who do not normally
meet each other, to meet in a friendly environment.
You can see the logs for last week's talk on the IRC conf web page:
http://native-lang.openoffice.org/conference/";
News from the Germanophone Project
----------------------------------
"I`m sorry, that there is not much to tell about the actual marketing
activities of the germanophone project. At the moment we are a very busy
in coordinating the qa for the de localized build, updating the
documentations for OOo 2.0 and so on, but I think, it`s roughly the same
in the other NL projects.
Our plannings for march:
- Chemnitzer Linux-Tage, Chemnitz, 05.-06.03.2005 with 1 lecture:
Preview OOo 2.0 (http://www.chemnitzer.linux-tage.de/)
- CeBIT, Hannover 10.-16.03.2005 with 2 lectures: 1. OOo Base vs. Access
2. OOo in Business - case studies, migration strategies
(http://www.cebit.de)
- Trying to start a developer-initiative to get more helping hands for
the de-project (I hope, I can tell more about this next month)
Regards,
Jacqueline Rahemipour
--
## Co-Lead de.openoffice.org
## http://de.openoffice.org - www.openoffice.org
## Vorstand OpenOffice.org Deutschland e.V.
## Mitglieder willkommen: www.OOoDeV.org"
Success Stories
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Studies & Reports
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On the open road
----------------
"PCs equipped with the OpenOffice.org office suite. For PCs at its
factories, the company uses Linux-based thin clients. These machines
are used to access a wide variety of applications from SAP to e-mail to
the intranet. The company uses an OSS instant messaging application
called Psi for internal communication. Applications such as petty cash
and leave management systems run on Linux using MySQL as the database."
http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050228/opensource01.shtml
Interviews
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An Interview with the OpenOffice.org Team
-----------------------------------------
"I asked the OpenOffice.org team a few questions about OpenOffice.org
in general, and their upcoming release. Questions 1-3 were answered by
Louis Suarez-Potts, while questions 4-6 were answered by Colm Smyth of
Sun Microsystems. Louis is OpenOffice.org's Community Manager, member
and chair of the Community Council, and lead of many OpenOffice.org
projects including the Native Language Confederation."
http://www.adityanag.org/articles/ooo_interview.htm
Resources
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Availability of OpenOffice.org & Staroffice Indexer for Google Dekstop
Search
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Allow Google Desktop Search to index all OpenOffice.org and StarOffice
6 or later files, including text documents, spreadsheets, presentations
and templates. Supported file types are SXC, STC, SXD, STD, SXI, STI,
SXW, SXG, and STW."
http://desktop.google.com/plugins/indextheopenoffice.html
http://www.trivex.net/
Translating With OmegaT
-----------------------
" Although computers have yet to take over the business of language
translation (if they ever will!), they have become a common part of the
translation process. Many professional translators use
computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools such as TRADOS, D�j� Vu, and
WordFast. But a less-known, yet excellent, open source CAT application
called OmegaT can help as well."
...
"Now you have to add the documents you want to translate (also called
'source documents') to your project. OmegaT supports plain text, HTML,
XHTML, StarOffice, and OpenOffice.org formats (including Writer, Calc,
and Impress). To add source files in these formats to the project, put
them into the /source folder."
http://software.newsforge.com/software/05/02/11/1831257.shtml?tid=130
OpenOffice.org 2.0 Beta previews
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OpenOffice 2.0 preview: OpenOffice 2.0 vs MS Office 2003
--------------------------------------------------------
"I've been itching for the pending release of OpenOffice 2.0 and so
decided to give it a trial run. How is OpenOffice 2.0 going to compare
with MS Office 2003 or OpenOffice 1.x?
As a quick test of the upcoming OpenOffice 2.0 release I downloaded
1.9.79 version of the software and ran through a set of tasks that an
advanced office worker might use. The applications suite is full of new
features, and at first glance looks nicer."
http://www.xminc.com/mt/archives/000275.html
OpenOffice.org Beta 2.0: Trouble for Microsoft
----------------------------------------------
"OpenOffice has many features, but one of the most significant features
for first time users has to be the crossover between the various
modules. The knowledge gained in Writers easily transferred to Calc and
vice-versa. This makes working with OpenOffice.org very comfortable,
even more so than Microsoft Office.
OpenOffice has reached the stage of being able to competently and
comfortably replace Microsoft Office as your main office suite.
Consider the fact that it is free, and yet manages to beat Microsoft
Office at it's own game; it�s a compliment in itself. The only thing
that you have to do now is wait for the final version of OpenOffice 2.0
to begin your journey to the world of Open Source. If you are impatient
to begin, grab the beta and dive right in. The water's fine."
http://www.cooltechzone.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1073
First look: OpenOffice.org version 2.0 beta
-------------------------------------------
"OpenOffice.org has always been conservative with version numbers.
Enough minor releases have boasted enough new features that the current
release could easily be 3.0 or 4.0 instead of 1.1.4. Given this record,
it's hardly surprising that version 2.0, for which beta code is set to
be unveiled very shortly, amounts to a major rewrite of the software.
Although key functionality remains largely intact, version 2.0 promises
dozens, possibly hundreds, of changes. Many times during our testing of
the pre-beta release, we felt we could almost have been looking at an
entirely new piece of software."
http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/02/25/209222
A first look at OpenOffice.org 2.0
----------------------------------
"It is not too bold to say that OpenOffice.org 2.0 will usher in a new
era of functionality, reliability, compatibility and ease of use. The
extensive changes and enhancements which are to be included in the
upcoming release are all the evidence needed to justify this assertion.
For those who are impatient and unwilling to wait for the final
release, today sees the public availability of the first beta version
of OpenOffice.org 2.0. This beta is not for the faint of heart, and
should not be considered as reliable or be used in a production
environment."
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=420
Customer & User Feedback
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MS Office meets its match
-------------------------
"However, I�m not here to tell you how easy the install process is or
how well OpenOffice performs in terms of speed compared with Microsoft
Office.
Instead, I�m here to tell you that it has just about all the same main
features Microsoft Office has and comes at absolutely no cost."
http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2005/2/22/prodit/10176856&sec=prodit
User-friendly open source software befriends buyers, sellers
------------------------------------------------------------
"If you're not a programmer, however, open source software still offers
several advantages. First, a great deal of open source software is
free. Examples include OpenOffice ( www.openoffice.org ), which is an
alternative to Microsoft Office; the Gimp ( www.gimp.org ), free
graphics software similar to Adobe Photoshop; and several flavors of
the Linux operating system, an alternative to Microsoft Windows."
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050227/BUSINESS05/502270301/1029/BUSINESS
Developer and Administrator News
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Apache co-founder calls for "neutral" open source community work
----------------------------------------------------------------
"The move follows a decision by Sun Microsystems Inc to base its
StarOffice desktop productivity suite, which is finding increased
support against Microsoft Corp's Office, on APIs from the open source
OpenOffice suite. Behlendorf claimed 80% of OpenOffice.org's work is
done by Sun "but the other 20% [of the community] need something
neutral."
Behlendorf said the strength of Projects like ASF and OpenOffice is
they can deliver infrastructure products, leaving vendors to implement
the software and provide support. "There is a good church versus state
balance we can follow," he said."
http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=FFBD7E85-6BC9-4C59-A0F7-47B2BC0252CC
Sun open-source diva departs for Intel
--------------------------------------
"Danese Cooper, who has led Sun Microsystems' interactions with the
open-source community for six tumultuous years, has left for Intel.
Cooper was the self-described open-source diva at the server and
software company, representing outside members of the cooperative
programming movement to Sun and vice-versa. She will continue her
open-source work when she joins the chipmaker on Monday, but in an
interview, she declined to share specifics."
http://news.com.com/Sun+open-source+diva+departs+for+Intel/2100-7344_3-5626192.html?tag=nefd.top
Tips, Tricks & How-Tos
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Basic button-pushing with OpenOffice.org macros
-----------------------------------------------
"OpenOffice.org is gaining popularity in the corporate mainstream, yet
one of its most powerful features, macros, can be pretty intimidating
to new users. Let's see how easy it is to create an OpenOffice.org
macro and connect it to a simple pushbutton.
There are two ways to create a macro in OOo. One is to use
OpenOffice.org Basic to write the macro. The other is to use the macro
recorder. That will be the approach we focus on."
http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/02/17/2131238&tid=93&tid=107
Re-usable, editable graphics in OpenOffice.org
----------------------------------------------
"Draw is a vector-based graphics editor that works with objects rather
than pixels. Pixel-painting programs, like the GIMP, are fine for
touching up red-eye in photos or blending several pictures together.
They fall short when it comes to jobs where individual objects (such as
boxes or lines) need to be moved or changed. For those jobs it's much
easier to deal with objects than to try to move groups of pixels around
the screen. You need the ability to grab an object and move it. That's
exactly what OpenOffice.org Draw does."
http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/03/07/2048221&tid=131
Repair tools for Word files do not help much
--------------------------------------------
"However, it sometimes pays to open the defective Word file with
OpenOffice, which is free. While its import filter does not work
perfectly, OpenOffice is able to open quite a number of documents that
cause Word to crash every time. The commercial software StarOffice
produces similar effects."
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/57757
Competitive/Market Info
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Sun Readies StarOffice 8
------------------------
"Sun Microsystems plans to ship StarOffice 8 by the end of August, and
to add Russian, Polish, and Dutch versions of the productivity suite
within a year after that.
StarOffice, Sun's product to rival Microsoft's Office, is available in
11 languages. To expand the market, Sun plans to add five more language
versions within a year after shipping StarOffice 8, the newest version
of StarOffice, says Michael Bemmer, director of software engineering
for StarOffice at Sun."
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,119998,00.asp
Additional reporting:
http://stuff.techwhack.com/archives/2005/03/12/1203-sun-preparing-to-launch-next-version-of-staroffice/
StarOffice 8 beta released
--------------------------
"Sun Microsystems released the beta version of its StarOffice 8
productivity suite last week. The new version of the software features
a new database engine known as HSQLDB, support for the OpenDocument
format of the Organization for the Advancement of Structured
Information Standards (OASIS), and better support for Microsoft Office
documents, including support for passwords on Word and Excel files and
better importing of Microsoft Office data."
http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2005Feb/gee20050222029265.htm
Sun plans StarOffice in Russian, Polish and Dutch
-------------------------------------------------
"Sun Microsystems plans to ship StarOffice 8 by the end of August, and
to add Russian, Polish and Dutch versions of the productivity suite
within a year after that.
StarOffice, Sun's product to rival Microsoft's Office, is available in
11 languages. To expand the market, Sun plans to add five more language
versions within a year after shipping StarOffice 8, the newest version
of StarOffice, said Michael Bemmer, director of software engineering
for StarOffice at Sun."
http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/03/10/HNsunstar_1.html
Corel lands deal with U.S. Justice Department
---------------------------------------------
"According to sales figures compiled by NPD Group, WordPerfect Office
12 is outselling the closest competitor, Lotus SmartSuite, at a ratio
of 34:1 and is outselling Sun StarOffice by a margin of 192:1 over the
past six months.
At the same time, Corel announced the United States Department of
Justice has signed an agreement for 50,000 copies of the suite. Corel
called it a "key milestone" and credited its flexible licensing
structure for sealing the deal."
http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com/282779245049411.php
SUSE makes a play for consumers
-------------------------------
"SUSE also claims to be the first commercial vendor to preload
OpenOffice 2.0, and with its particular optimised version, documents
are saved by default in MS Office formats. This means that when
OpenOffice documents are sent to MS Office users, Office won't balk at
the file format. It also offers straightforward PDF creation."
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/70194/suse-makes-a-play-for-consumers.html
Novell Turbocharges Linux Desktop
---------------------------------
""SuSE Linux Professional provides corporate Linux users with a preview
of the technologies in Novell's future enterprise Linux and a means of
growing their skills to remain competitive in today's IT market," said
Markus Rex, vice president of SuSE Linux for Novell.
Users will get an early view of some upcoming open-source products
including Xen and OpenOffice 2.0."
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/opensource/41309.html
Groove part of Office 'trifecta,' Microsoft says
------------------------------------------------
"Groove's main product, Virtual Office, is essentially a peer-to-peer,
shared whiteboard space that allows for sharing regardless of content
type. Microsoft has made it clear that it is moving toward adding more
collaborative capabilities to its products. Earlier this week, the
company announced plans for an updated version of its hosted Web
conferencing software, an update to its instant messaging server and a
new, integrated multimedia client.
The addition of Groove software to the Office product line was
described by Jeff Raikes, Microsoft's information worker group vice
president, as the "trifecta of collaboration -- the combination of
real-time, server-based and peer-to-peer communications.""
http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid1_gci1066720,00.html
Additional reporting:
http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3488951
[Press release] - Corel: Wordperfect growth
-------------------------------------------
"Corel Corporation today declared a major milestone for its
WordPerfect� Office line of productivity software, describing a return
to growth in 2004 in terms of revenue, sales and installed base.
Long recognized as the leading alternative in an office productivity
market saturated by Microsoft� Office, Corel solidified its hold on the
alternatives market in 2004 by achieving significant growth in sales
across all customer segments. This represents a top growth rate for
WordPerfect Office since it was acquired by Corel in 1996."
http://i-newswire.com/pr10552.html
New Ways Offered to 'Open Up' Windows
-------------------------------------
"For instance, the functional differences between the Microsoft Corp.
Office and the OpenOffice.org productivity suites are minor, but
OpenOffice.org (which is nearing a major Version 2 release) is freely
available, whereas the Microsoft product costs a few hundred dollars
per seat."
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1776370,00.asp
Linspire updates laptop-friendly Linux system
---------------------------------------------
"5.0 also includes OpenOffice 1.1.3 - not quite the latest version of
this admirable Office suite - plus integrated firewall, antivirus and
VPN security and PhoneGAIM for instant messaging and the increasingly
popular Internet voice calls."
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/70695/linspire-updates-laptopfriendly-linux-system.html
Additional reporting:
http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=137384&liArticle
TypeID=1&liCategoryID=6&liChannelID=126&liFlavourID=1&sSearch=&nPage=1
Linux in Government: Linux Desktop Reviews, Part II
---------------------------------------------------
"Novell has made a major contribution to the Open Source community by
enhancing the ubiquitous OpenOffice.org Productivity Suite. In the
past, we have tested and used Sun's StarOffice7 version of
OpenOffice.org and considered it to be the best of class. After using
Novell's version of OpenOffice.org, shown in Figures 4 and 5, we have
another opinion."
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8169
Statistics
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Events
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Upcoming
========
OoRegiCon Japan
---------------
Tokyo, Japan
2005/03/25-26
http://ja.openoffice.org/marketing/event/oooconja2005/index.html
OpenOffice.org Miniconf
-----------------------
Canberra, Australia
2005/04/18-19
http://www.openoffice.org.nz/miniconf/
LCA 2005
--------
Canberra, Australia
2005/04/20-23
http://linux.conf.au/
Open Source Forum
-----------------
Moscow, Russia
2005/04/27-29
http://www.opensource-forum.ru/
Newsletter Archive
#########################################################################
Past issues of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter can be found in the archive
of the announce mailing list:
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce
Contact Information (regarding this newsletter)
#########################################################################
[email protected], [EMAIL PROTECTED] or
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