Ask OpenOffice #2 Top Questions: Now for the answers....
Time to wrap this up. I've gone through the 275 questions from 430 users and picked out the top ones. I dropped the ones that repeated questions we already answered in our last iteration of this. I also combined questions where there were duplicates or repetitions. In some cases I reworded questions for clarity. Here's the "top 10", with some partial responses on a few of them. I'll need your help to craft responses for all of them. --- 1) How can it be Microsoft is a platinum sponsor of Apache when OpenOffice is competing with MS Office? Rob: This is an odd question to ask us, but I suppose we can explain how the ASF is a foundation that supports many (100+) open source projects and that a sponsor of AOO does not necessarily participate or endorse every project at Apache. But again, this is an odd question for us. Maybe we can pass it off to Ross Gardler for a better answer? --- 2) A series of questions on proposed features and how we decide on new features, including: a) Is it possible to include a 'Track Change' feature in OpenOffice like the one in MS Word? b) When will OpenOffice be able to support saving in (.doc) for Microsoft Word 2012-2014? c) Does Open Office plan to add capability to print out marginal comments/notes on the document page where they appear instead of as a separate list at the end of the document?" d) Will OpenOffice users be able to import a "PDF" file, update it, and export the updated file? e) How does you decide what features to put into OpenOffice? f) What is the average time it takes you to fix a bug? add a new feature? Rob: I thought we'd lump these all together and give an in-depth response about how features and bug fixes are prioritized in a volunteer-led open source project at Apache. --- 3) What are the long term support and development plans for OpenOffice? Rob: This is an opportunity for us to state our practice of supporting version N and N-1 and point to the consultants page where users can find those who can offer longer term support. --- 4) What are some of the most interesting features in OpenOffice that most users don't know even exist? Rob: It seems most users don't know how to use word competition ;-) But maybe we can nominate 4 or 5 "hidden features" or "underused features" that users might not know about? --- 5) What's being done to help realise the universal OpenDocument dream? Rob: We have some material here from our Document Freedom Day blog post, talking about project members who are also active in the OASIS ODF TC and the standardization effort. --- 6) Are there backdoors or spyware in Apache OpenOffice? Rob: Like we'd tell you if there were? ;-)But seriously, this could be a topic of a standalone blog post, and maybe we should do that. We could discuss open source security, how we handle vulnerability reports and the advantage of open source transparency for preventing back doors. --- 7) How many volunteers work on OpenOffice? Rob: We can discuss the various kinds of volunteers in different areas and get some stats. --- 8) Does it cost anything to upload a template online? Rob: No. Odd that this questions got so many votes. Any ideas on why this is a question? --- 9) What is being done to have openoffice return to be the default suite in linux distributions? Rob: Anyone have an answer for this one? --- 10) How can a new volunteer contribute to the OpenOffice project? Rob: Can point them to our "get involved" page. --- - To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org
Re: Ask OpenOffice #2 Top Questions: Now for the answers....
On 02/27/2014 10:02 AM, Rob Weir wrote: Time to wrap this up. I've gone through the 275 questions from 430 users and picked out the top ones. I dropped the ones that repeated questions we already answered in our last iteration of this. I also combined questions where there were duplicates or repetitions. In some cases I reworded questions for clarity. Here's the "top 10", with some partial responses on a few of them. I'll need your help to craft responses for all of them. --- 1) How can it be Microsoft is a platinum sponsor of Apache when OpenOffice is competing with MS Office? Rob: This is an odd question to ask us, but I suppose we can explain how the ASF is a foundation that supports many (100+) open source projects and that a sponsor of AOO does not necessarily participate or endorse every project at Apache. But again, this is an odd question for us. Maybe we can pass it off to Ross Gardler for a better answer? --- 2) A series of questions on proposed features and how we decide on new features, including: a) Is it possible to include a 'Track Change' feature in OpenOffice like the one in MS Word? b) When will OpenOffice be able to support saving in (.doc) for Microsoft Word 2012-2014? c) Does Open Office plan to add capability to print out marginal comments/notes on the document page where they appear instead of as a separate list at the end of the document?" d) Will OpenOffice users be able to import a "PDF" file, update it, and export the updated file? e) How does you decide what features to put into OpenOffice? f) What is the average time it takes you to fix a bug? add a new feature? Rob: I thought we'd lump these all together and give an in-depth response about how features and bug fixes are prioritized in a volunteer-led open source project at Apache. The PDF question seems like a much larger animal than some of the others to me. Probably on par with b) -- on a larger scale maybe. It may need a larger/longer explanation on its own. --- 3) What are the long term support and development plans for OpenOffice? Rob: This is an opportunity for us to state our practice of supporting version N and N-1 and point to the consultants page where users can find those who can offer longer term support. --- 4) What are some of the most interesting features in OpenOffice that most users don't know even exist? Rob: It seems most users don't know how to use word competition ;-) But maybe we can nominate 4 or 5 "hidden features" or "underused features" that users might not know about? --- 5) What's being done to help realise the universal OpenDocument dream? Rob: We have some material here from our Document Freedom Day blog post, talking about project members who are also active in the OASIS ODF TC and the standardization effort. --- 6) Are there backdoors or spyware in Apache OpenOffice? Rob: Like we'd tell you if there were? ;-)But seriously, this could be a topic of a standalone blog post, and maybe we should do that. We could discuss open source security, how we handle vulnerability reports and the advantage of open source transparency for preventing back doors. --- 7) How many volunteers work on OpenOffice? Rob: We can discuss the various kinds of volunteers in different areas and get some stats. --- 8) Does it cost anything to upload a template online? Rob: No. Odd that this questions got so many votes. Any ideas on why this is a question? --- 9) What is being done to have openoffice return to be the default suite in linux distributions? Rob: Anyone have an answer for this one? --- 10) How can a new volunteer contribute to the OpenOffice project? Rob: Can point them to our "get involved" page. --- - To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org -- - MzK "Cats do not have to be shown how to have a good time, for they are unfailing ingenious in that respect." -- James Mason - To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org
Re: Ask OpenOffice #2 Top Questions: Now for the answers....
On 27.02.2014 15:00, Kay Schenk wrote: --- 2) A series of questions on proposed features and how we decide on new features, including: a) Is it possible to include a 'Track Change' feature in OpenOffice like the one in MS Word? b) When will OpenOffice be able to support saving in (.doc) for Microsoft Word 2012-2014? c) Does Open Office plan to add capability to print out marginal comments/notes on the document page where they appear instead of as a separate list at the end of the document?" d) Will OpenOffice users be able to import a "PDF" file, update it, and export the updated file? e) How does you decide what features to put into OpenOffice? f) What is the average time it takes you to fix a bug? add a new feature? Rob: I thought we'd lump these all together and give an in-depth response about how features and bug fixes are prioritized in a volunteer-led open source project at Apache. The PDF question seems like a much larger animal than some of the others to me. Probably on par with b) -- on a larger scale maybe. It may need a larger/longer explanation on its own. I see two reasons we do not have that 'roundtrip': (1) The PDF exporter needs to work Page-oriented since PDF is. That is the main reason the import was implemented originally for draw format, not for Writer. When importing to Writer, the Page breaks would not be guaranteed. Also the imported text is not 'floating' text in the classical sense of a Writer paragraph - this was AFAIK not possible with the import method chosen. Thus it would not behave well in Writer when you klick somewhere in such a imported document and start writing. (2) There are enough (even free) programs that add 'overlay' to PDF, e.g. for signing documents, so this is not needed to be done by AOO, too. --- - To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org
Re: Ask OpenOffice #2 Top Questions: Now for the answers....
Am 02/27/2014 11:00 PM, schrieb Kay Schenk: On 02/27/2014 10:02 AM, Rob Weir wrote: Time to wrap this up. I've gone through the 275 questions from 430 users and picked out the top ones. I dropped the ones that repeated questions we already answered in our last iteration of this. I also combined questions where there were duplicates or repetitions. In some cases I reworded questions for clarity. Here's the "top 10", with some partial responses on a few of them. I'll need your help to craft responses for all of them. --- 1) How can it be Microsoft is a platinum sponsor of Apache when OpenOffice is competing with MS Office? Rob: This is an odd question to ask us, but I suppose we can explain how the ASF is a foundation that supports many (100+) open source projects and that a sponsor of AOO does not necessarily participate or endorse every project at Apache. But again, this is an odd question for us. Maybe we can pass it off to Ross Gardler for a better answer? Marcus: Or any other Apache member as I don't see us alone to provide an answer. --- 2) A series of questions on proposed features and how we decide on new features, including: a) Is it possible to include a 'Track Change' feature in OpenOffice like the one in MS Word? Marcus: Looks like the user has not yet found the "Changes" function in the Edit menu. b) When will OpenOffice be able to support saving in (.doc) for Microsoft Word 2012-2014? Marcus: Depends on how the progress of the OSBA code is going. Maybe Oliver or Juergen can tell more? c) Does Open Office plan to add capability to print out marginal comments/notes on the document page where they appear instead of as a separate list at the end of the document?" Marcus: When you define a page as Letter or DIN A4, then comments are shown outside of this as there is still space on the monitor. However, I don't know how to do the same when printing on paper. ;-) d) Will OpenOffice users be able to import a "PDF" file, update it, and export the updated file? Marcus: First we should discuss if we want this as it would be a big implementation effort. If so we would rise to another full-featured PDF editor, beside Adobe. e) How does you decide what features to put into OpenOffice? f) What is the average time it takes you to fix a bug? add a new feature? Rob: I thought we'd lump these all together and give an in-depth response about how features and bug fixes are prioritized in a volunteer-led open source project at Apache. Marcus: IMHO it doesn't make sense to give 2 numbers. Every bug and feature is different and its fix/implemenation depends on so many factors that knowing just the number is senseless. It would be valid for a specific type of bugs/features. Others can look very similar but needs to be treated totally different in the code. It would be hard to explain to an average user. The PDF question seems like a much larger animal than some of the others to me. Probably on par with b) -- on a larger scale maybe. It may need a larger/longer explanation on its own. Armin has provided an interesting answer in the meantime. --- 3) What are the long term support and development plans for OpenOffice? Rob: This is an opportunity for us to state our practice of supporting version N and N-1 and point to the consultants page where users can find those who can offer longer term support. Marcus: To refer to the consultants is a good idea. I don't think that we would have enough ressources to do it on our own. --- 4) What are some of the most interesting features in OpenOffice that most users don't know even exist? Rob: It seems most users don't know how to use word competition ;-) But maybe we can nominate 4 or 5 "hidden features" or "underused features" that users might not know about? Marcus: The AutoCorrect feature (see menu "Tools - AutoCorrect Options" is also a hidden feature - or should I say highly misunderstood? Furthermore, some words about the spell check and that we don't do them on our own but rely on extension. This could maybe hel pto avoid requests like "This and that word is wrong - please fit it". --- 5) What's being done to help realise the universal OpenDocument dream? Rob: We have some material here from our Document Freedom Day blog post, talking about project members who are also active in the OASIS ODF TC and the standardization effort. --- 6) Are there backdoors or spyware in Apache OpenOffice? Rob: Like we'd tell you if there were? ;-) But seriously, this could be a topic of a standalone blog post, and maybe we should do that. We could discuss open source security, how we handle vulnerability reports and the advantage of open source transparency for preventing back doors. Marcus: The long-awaited NSA quest
Re: Ask OpenOffice #2 Top Questions: Now for the answers....
On February 27, 2014 2:54:26 PM PST, "Marcus (OOo)" wrote: >>> 8) Does it cost anything to upload a template online? >>> Rob: No. Odd that this questions got so many votes. Any ideas on why this >>> is a question? >Marcus: No, absolutely not. There is nothing on the Sourceforge hosted >webpages that would point into this direction. Combine the answer with >extensions as it would be the next question. My guess is that it is a combination of: * Unclear instructions on how to upload a template to be used by AOo; * The presence of templates that are not Gratis; * The presence of templates that are not Libre; * Some of the vocabulary used by SourceForge; jonathon -- Your language. Your documents. Your way. - To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org
Re: Ask OpenOffice #2 Top Questions: Now for the answers....
On Feb 27, 2014, at 2:28 PM, Armin Le Grand wrote: > On 27.02.2014 15:00, Kay Schenk wrote: >> >> --- >>> >>> 2) A series of questions on proposed features and how we decide on >>> new features, including: >>> >>> a) Is it possible to include a 'Track Change' feature in OpenOffice >>> like the one in MS Word? >>> >>> b) When will OpenOffice be able to support saving in (.doc) for >>> Microsoft Word 2012-2014? >>> >>> c) Does Open Office plan to add capability to print out marginal >>> comments/notes on the document page where they appear instead of as a >>> separate list at the end of the document?" >>> >>> d) Will OpenOffice users be able to import a "PDF" file, update it, >>> and export the updated file? >>> >>> >>> e) How does you decide what features to put into OpenOffice? >>> >>> f) What is the average time it takes you to fix a bug? add a new feature? >>> >>> Rob: I thought we'd lump these all together and give an in-depth >>> response about how features and bug fixes are prioritized in a >>> volunteer-led open source project at Apache. >> >> The PDF question seems like a much larger animal than some of the others to >> me. Probably on par with b) -- on a larger scale maybe. >> >> It may need a larger/longer explanation on its own. > > I see two reasons we do not have that 'roundtrip': > > (1) The PDF exporter needs to work Page-oriented since PDF is. That is the > main reason the import was implemented originally for draw format, not for > Writer. When importing to Writer, the Page breaks would not be guaranteed. > Also the imported text is not 'floating' text in the classical sense of a > Writer paragraph - this was AFAIK not possible with the import method chosen. > Thus it would not behave well in Writer when you klick somewhere in such a > imported document and start writing. > > (2) There are enough (even free) programs that add 'overlay' to PDF, e.g. for > signing documents, so this is not needed to be done by AOO, too. I am giving two presentations at Apachecon. One of these is about Osmosis a tool my team at work developed that converts PDFs to editable PowerPoint and HTML5 files. It uses Apache PDFBox and Apache POI. My hope is that this can become a software grant, currently preparing to jump through the necessary corporate hoops. Regards, Dave > >> >>> >>> --- >>> >>> > > > - > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org > - To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org
Re: Ask OpenOffice #2 Top Questions: Now for the answers....
On 2/27/14 11:54 PM, Marcus (OOo) wrote: > Am 02/27/2014 11:00 PM, schrieb Kay Schenk: >> >> >> On 02/27/2014 10:02 AM, Rob Weir wrote: >>> Time to wrap this up. I've gone through the 275 questions from 430 >>> users and picked out the top ones. I dropped the ones that repeated >>> questions we already answered in our last iteration of this. I also >>> combined questions where there were duplicates or repetitions. In >>> some cases I reworded questions for clarity. >>> >>> Here's the "top 10", with some partial responses on a few of them. >>> I'll need your help to craft responses for all of them. >>> >>> >>> --- >>> >>> 1) How can it be Microsoft is a platinum sponsor of Apache when >>> OpenOffice is competing with MS Office? >>> >>> >>> Rob: This is an odd question to ask us, but I suppose we can explain >>> how the ASF is a foundation that supports many (100+) open source >>> projects and that a sponsor of AOO does not necessarily participate or >>> endorse every project at Apache. But again, this is an odd question >>> for us. Maybe we can pass it off to Ross Gardler for a better answer? > > Marcus: Or any other Apache member as I don't see us alone to provide an > answer. > >>> --- >>> >>> 2) A series of questions on proposed features and how we decide on >>> new features, including: >>> >>> a) Is it possible to include a 'Track Change' feature in OpenOffice >>> like the one in MS Word? > > Marcus: Looks like the user has not yet found the "Changes" function in > the Edit menu. > >>> b) When will OpenOffice be able to support saving in (.doc) for >>> Microsoft Word 2012-2014? > > Marcus: Depends on how the progress of the OSBA code is going. Maybe > Oliver or Juergen can tell more? This has nothing to do with the OSBA code. We have merged parts of the code and Oliver improved the code for one use case to make it working generally. The OSBA patches have to be analyzed and integrated but often are incomplete and not easy to apply. A lot of work where it seems nobody is really interested in. As mentioned earlier an improved OOXML support (import/export) is one of our high priorities from an IBM perspective and we will continue to drive this effort forward. But it is an ongoing effort and hard to say when it is good enough for production. But we will try to provide numbers about the coverage in the near future ... I personally would always prefer ODF ;-) Juergen > >>> c) Does Open Office plan to add capability to print out marginal >>> comments/notes on the document page where they appear instead of as a >>> separate list at the end of the document?" > > Marcus: When you define a page as Letter or DIN A4, then comments are > shown outside of this as there is still space on the monitor. However, I > don't know how to do the same when printing on paper. ;-) > >>> d) Will OpenOffice users be able to import a "PDF" file, update it, >>> and export the updated file? > > Marcus: First we should discuss if we want this as it would be a big > implementation effort. If so we would rise to another full-featured PDF > editor, beside Adobe. > >>> e) How does you decide what features to put into OpenOffice? >>> >>> f) What is the average time it takes you to fix a bug? add a new >>> feature? >>> >>> Rob: I thought we'd lump these all together and give an in-depth >>> response about how features and bug fixes are prioritized in a >>> volunteer-led open source project at Apache. > > Marcus: IMHO it doesn't make sense to give 2 numbers. Every bug and > feature is different and its fix/implemenation depends on so many > factors that knowing just the number is senseless. It would be valid for > a specific type of bugs/features. Others can look very similar but needs > to be treated totally different in the code. It would be hard to explain > to an average user. > >> The PDF question seems like a much larger animal than some of the others >> to me. Probably on par with b) -- on a larger scale maybe. >> >> It may need a larger/longer explanation on its own. > > Armin has provided an interesting answer in the meantime. > >>> --- >>> >>> >>> 3) What are the long term support and development plans for OpenOffice? >>> >>> Rob: This is an opportunity for us to state our practice of supporting >>> version N and N-1 and point to the consultants page where users can >>> find those who can offer longer term support. > > Marcus: To refer to the consultants is a good idea. I don't think that > we would have enough ressources to do it on our own. > >>> --- >>> >>> 4) What are some of the most interesting features in OpenOffice that >>> most users don't know even exist? >>> >>> Rob: It seems most users don't know how to use word competition ;-) >>> But maybe we can nominate 4 or 5 "hidden features" or "underused >>> features" that users might not know about? > > Marcus: The AutoCorrect featur
Re: Ask OpenOffice #2 Top Questions: Now for the answers....
Hi, On 27.02.2014 23:54, Marcus (OOo) wrote: Am 02/27/2014 11:00 PM, schrieb Kay Schenk: On 02/27/2014 10:02 AM, Rob Weir wrote: Time to wrap this up. I've gone through the 275 questions from 430 users and picked out the top ones. I dropped the ones that repeated questions we already answered in our last iteration of this. I also combined questions where there were duplicates or repetitions. In some cases I reworded questions for clarity. Here's the "top 10", with some partial responses on a few of them. I'll need your help to craft responses for all of them. --- 1) How can it be Microsoft is a platinum sponsor of Apache when OpenOffice is competing with MS Office? Rob: This is an odd question to ask us, but I suppose we can explain how the ASF is a foundation that supports many (100+) open source projects and that a sponsor of AOO does not necessarily participate or endorse every project at Apache. But again, this is an odd question for us. Maybe we can pass it off to Ross Gardler for a better answer? Marcus: Or any other Apache member as I don't see us alone to provide an answer. --- 2) A series of questions on proposed features and how we decide on new features, including: a) Is it possible to include a 'Track Change' feature in OpenOffice like the one in MS Word? Marcus: Looks like the user has not yet found the "Changes" function in the Edit menu. Please keep in mind that the 'Change Tracking' in OpenOffice Writer does not support as much as the one in Microsoft Word does. b) When will OpenOffice be able to support saving in (.doc) for Microsoft Word 2012-2014? Marcus: Depends on how the progress of the OSBA code is going. Maybe Oliver or Juergen can tell more? The OSBA code does not contain any general framework for the export to the Microsoft Word *.docx file format. c) Does Open Office plan to add capability to print out marginal comments/notes on the document page where they appear instead of as a separate list at the end of the document?" Marcus: When you define a page as Letter or DIN A4, then comments are shown outside of this as there is still space on the monitor. However, I don't know how to do the same when printing on paper. ;-) We need to provide some glue and some extra paper downloadable on our website ;-) jokes aside: there are existing solutions - just look around. Best regards, Oliver. d) Will OpenOffice users be able to import a "PDF" file, update it, and export the updated file? Marcus: First we should discuss if we want this as it would be a big implementation effort. If so we would rise to another full-featured PDF editor, beside Adobe. e) How does you decide what features to put into OpenOffice? f) What is the average time it takes you to fix a bug? add a new feature? Rob: I thought we'd lump these all together and give an in-depth response about how features and bug fixes are prioritized in a volunteer-led open source project at Apache. Marcus: IMHO it doesn't make sense to give 2 numbers. Every bug and feature is different and its fix/implemenation depends on so many factors that knowing just the number is senseless. It would be valid for a specific type of bugs/features. Others can look very similar but needs to be treated totally different in the code. It would be hard to explain to an average user. The PDF question seems like a much larger animal than some of the others to me. Probably on par with b) -- on a larger scale maybe. It may need a larger/longer explanation on its own. Armin has provided an interesting answer in the meantime. --- 3) What are the long term support and development plans for OpenOffice? Rob: This is an opportunity for us to state our practice of supporting version N and N-1 and point to the consultants page where users can find those who can offer longer term support. Marcus: To refer to the consultants is a good idea. I don't think that we would have enough ressources to do it on our own. --- 4) What are some of the most interesting features in OpenOffice that most users don't know even exist? Rob: It seems most users don't know how to use word competition ;-) But maybe we can nominate 4 or 5 "hidden features" or "underused features" that users might not know about? Marcus: The AutoCorrect feature (see menu "Tools - AutoCorrect Options" is also a hidden feature - or should I say highly misunderstood? Furthermore, some words about the spell check and that we don't do them on our own but rely on extension. This could maybe hel pto avoid requests like "This and that word is wrong - please fit it". --- 5) What's being done to help realise the universal OpenDocument dream? Rob: We have some material here from our Document Freedom Day blog post, talking about project members who are also active in the OASIS ODF TC and
Re: Ask OpenOffice #2 Top Questions: Now for the answers....
2014-02-28 0:46 GMT+01:00 Jonathon : > > > On February 27, 2014 2:54:26 PM PST, "Marcus (OOo)" wrote: > > >>> 8) Does it cost anything to upload a template online? > >>> Rob: No. Odd that this questions got so many votes. Any ideas on why > this is a question? > >Marcus: No, absolutely not. There is nothing on the Sourceforge hosted > webpages that would point into this direction. Combine the answer with > extensions as it would be the next question. > > My guess is that it is a combination of: > * Unclear instructions on how to upload a template to be used by AOo; > Guess here we can improve our messaging. > * The presence of templates that are not Gratis; > * The presence of templates that are not Libre; > * Some of the vocabulary used by SourceForge; > Not sure I understand this, can you please clarify? I'd be happy to change what could be a source of confusion. Thanks, Roberto > > jonathon > -- > Your language. Your documents. Your way. > > - > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org > >
Re: Ask OpenOffice #2 Top Questions: Now for the answers....
On Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 10:02 AM, Rob Weir wrote: > Time to wrap this up. I've gone through the 275 questions from 430 > users and picked out the top ones. I dropped the ones that repeated > questions we already answered in our last iteration of this. I also > combined questions where there were duplicates or repetitions. In > some cases I reworded questions for clarity. > > Here's the "top 10", with some partial responses on a few of them. > I'll need your help to craft responses for all of them. > > > --- > > 1) How can it be Microsoft is a platinum sponsor of Apache when > OpenOffice is competing with MS Office? > > > Rob: This is an odd question to ask us, but I suppose we can explain > how the ASF is a foundation that supports many (100+) open source > projects and that a sponsor of AOO does not necessarily participate or > endorse every project at Apache. But again, this is an odd question > for us. Maybe we can pass it off to Ross Gardler for a better answer? > > --- > > 2) A series of questions on proposed features and how we decide on > new features, including: > > a) Is it possible to include a 'Track Change' feature in OpenOffice > like the one in MS Word? > > b) When will OpenOffice be able to support saving in (.doc) for > Microsoft Word 2012-2014? > > c) Does Open Office plan to add capability to print out marginal > comments/notes on the document page where they appear instead of as a > separate list at the end of the document?" > > d) Will OpenOffice users be able to import a "PDF" file, update it, > and export the updated file? > > > e) How does you decide what features to put into OpenOffice? > > f) What is the average time it takes you to fix a bug? add a new feature? > > Rob: I thought we'd lump these all together and give an in-depth > response about how features and bug fixes are prioritized in a > volunteer-led open source project at Apache. > > --- > > > 3) What are the long term support and development plans for OpenOffice? > > Rob: This is an opportunity for us to state our practice of supporting > version N and N-1 and point to the consultants page where users can > find those who can offer longer term support. > > --- > > 4) What are some of the most interesting features in OpenOffice that > most users don't know even exist? > > Rob: It seems most users don't know how to use word competition ;-) > But maybe we can nominate 4 or 5 "hidden features" or "underused > features" that users might not know about? > > --- > > > 5) What's being done to help realise the universal OpenDocument dream? > > Rob: We have some material here from our Document Freedom Day blog > post, talking about project members who are also active in the OASIS > ODF TC and the standardization effort. > > --- > > > 6) Are there backdoors or spyware in Apache OpenOffice? > > Rob: Like we'd tell you if there were? ;-)But seriously, this > could be a topic of a standalone blog post, and maybe we should do > that. We could discuss open source security, how we handle > vulnerability reports and the advantage of open source transparency > for preventing back doors. > > --- > > 7) How many volunteers work on OpenOffice? > > Rob: We can discuss the various kinds of volunteers in different > areas and get some stats. > > --- > > > 8) Does it cost anything to upload a template online? > > Rob: No. Odd that this questions got so many votes. Any ideas on why > this is a question? > > --- > > 9) What is being done to have openoffice return to be the default > suite in linux distributions? > > Rob: Anyone have an answer for this one? > Another item that probably deserves a much longer explanation/blog etc. Currently, we have volunteers working on integration with *some* distros -- notably Fedora. So, the short answer would be to mention this. And, further explain that with so many Linux distros, we've taken a more generic approach to providing a Linux client for Apache OpenOffice. We should provide information on how we build the Linux clients now, and include information on the "standard" freedesktop desktop interface. This is used by ANY distro that uses gnome (including Unity) or kde. Additionally, we should emphasize our standard .deb and .rpm packaging approach. I don't know how valuable this kind of explanation would be to address the question of repositories, but, I think it would be worth the effort to try to offer some explanations/insights into this umbrella process. > --- > > 10) How can a new volunteer contribute to the OpenOffice project? > > Rob: Can point them to our "get involved" page. > > --- > > -
Re: Ask OpenOffice #2 Top Questions: Now for the answers....
On 27/02/2014 Rob Weir wrote: Time to wrap this up. I've gone through the 275 questions from 430 users and picked out the top ones. I don't see very interesting questions in this top 10. Indeed, some are misplaced and some can only be answered in a generic way. I'm commenting on some of them below. 1) How can it be Microsoft is a platinum sponsor of Apache when OpenOffice is competing with MS Office? Rob: This is an odd question to ask us, but I suppose we can explain how the ASF is a foundation that supports many (100+) open source projects and that a sponsor of AOO does not necessarily participate or endorse every project at Apache. But again, this is an odd question for us. Maybe we can pass it off to Ross Gardler for a better answer? It would also be important to point out the Apache policy of not paying for developers, just to put in context that donations do not necessarily result in possibilities to influence the product development. Of course, we should also add that it is possible to sponsor individual developers to get a particular feature developed for OpenOffice, and possibly integrated in the official sources. 2) A series of questions on proposed features and how we decide on new features, including: ... Rob: I thought we'd lump these all together and give an in-depth response about how features and bug fixes are prioritized in a volunteer-led open source project at Apache. I agree, even though some features, for examples the upcoming .docx export, might be worth some specific coverage. 4) What are some of the most interesting features in OpenOffice that most users don't know even exist? But maybe we can nominate 4 or 5 "hidden features" or "underused features" that users might not know about? File - Versions is a good candidate. 6) Are there backdoors or spyware in Apache OpenOffice? Rob: Like we'd tell you if there were? ;-)But seriously, this could be a topic of a standalone blog post, and maybe we should do that. We could discuss open source security, how we handle vulnerability reports and the advantage of open source transparency for preventing back doors. And we should also point out that, even though it is difficult, we try to protect users by enforcing our trademarks with search engines. 9) What is being done to have openoffice return to be the default suite in linux distributions? Rob: Anyone have an answer for this one? It's good that this gets interest. I must say that efforts are mostly stalled, but that an easier alternative is much more feasible, i.e., maintaining repositories that make it easy for Linux users to install OpenOffice on their system, without the need to use the terminal. There are some uncoordinated efforts at the moment and it is much easier to consolidate them and start with this approach rather than comply with the different distribution policies. Basically, we can address users first and distributions later. Regards, Andrea. - To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org
Re: Ask OpenOffice #2 Top Questions: Now for the answers....
On Sun, Mar 23, 2014 at 10:31 AM, Andrea Pescetti wrote: > On 27/02/2014 Rob Weir wrote: > >> Time to wrap this up. I've gone through the 275 questions from 430 >> users and picked out the top ones. >> > > I don't see very interesting questions in this top 10. Indeed, some are > misplaced and some can only be answered in a generic way. I'm commenting on > some of them below. > > > 1) How can it be Microsoft is a platinum sponsor of Apache when >> OpenOffice is competing with MS Office? >> Rob: This is an odd question to ask us, but I suppose we can explain >> how the ASF is a foundation that supports many (100+) open source >> projects and that a sponsor of AOO does not necessarily participate or >> endorse every project at Apache. But again, this is an odd question >> for us. Maybe we can pass it off to Ross Gardler for a better answer? >> > > It would also be important to point out the Apache policy of not paying > for developers, just to put in context that donations do not necessarily > result in possibilities to influence the product development. Of course, we > should also add that it is possible to sponsor individual developers to get > a particular feature developed for OpenOffice, and possibly integrated in > the official sources. > > 2) A series of questions on proposed features and how we decide on >> new features, including: ... >> >> Rob: I thought we'd lump these all together and give an in-depth >> response about how features and bug fixes are prioritized in a >> volunteer-led open source project at Apache. >> > > I agree, even though some features, for examples the upcoming .docx > export, might be worth some specific coverage. > > 4) What are some of the most interesting features in OpenOffice that >> most users don't know even exist? >> But maybe we can nominate 4 or 5 "hidden features" or "underused >> features" that users might not know about? >> > > File - Versions is a good candidate. > > > 6) Are there backdoors or spyware in Apache OpenOffice? >> Rob: Like we'd tell you if there were? ;-)But seriously, this >> could be a topic of a standalone blog post, and maybe we should do >> that. We could discuss open source security, how we handle >> vulnerability reports and the advantage of open source transparency >> for preventing back doors. >> > > And we should also point out that, even though it is difficult, we try to > protect users by enforcing our trademarks with search engines. > > > 9) What is being done to have openoffice return to be the default >> suite in linux distributions? >> Rob: Anyone have an answer for this one? >> > > It's good that this gets interest. I must say that efforts are mostly > stalled, but that an easier alternative is much more feasible, i.e., > maintaining repositories that make it easy for Linux users to install > OpenOffice on their system, without the need to use the terminal. > There are some uncoordinated efforts at the moment and it is much easier to > consolidate them and start with this approach rather than comply with the > different distribution policies. Basically, we can address users first and > distributions later. > Maybe we could start a separate thread on just this issue -- Linux installs without the need for terminal. By his I think you mean complete command line installation but I'm not sure. I agree wholeheartedly with your objective here. > Regards, > Andrea. > > > - > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org > > -- - MzK "Cats do not have to be shown how to have a good time, for they are unfailing ingenious in that respect." -- James Mason
Re: Ask OpenOffice #2 Top Questions: Now for the answers....
On 2/28/2014 8:13 AM, Roberto Galoppini wrote: > * The presence of templates that are not Gratis; * The presence of templates that are not Libre; * Some of the vocabulary used by SourceForge; Not sure I understand this, can you please clarify? I'd be happy to change what could be a source of confusion. a) One of the misconceptions about FLOSS, is that it is has to be gratis. Whilst FLOSS can be sold, the license permits everybody to race to the bottom, and offer the software for as close to gratis as their economic situation permits. This creates the expectation that the software is gratis. There are some templates that require a payment to the creator, or other third party. In some instances, that is made clear during the downloading process. In most instances, it is clear only after careful study of the licensing portion of the template. The payment usually, but not always goes to a third party --- neither The Apache Foundation, nor the creator of the template. b) Being an Apache Foundation project, my expectation is that templates be distributed under an Apache Licence. That is not the case. Instead, they range the gamut from BSD through proprietary licenses that are adamantly non-Libre. (The licenses fail Open Software Foundation, Free Software Foundation, and Debian Legal criteria for what constitutes a Libre licence What would be helpful, would be if for each template: * The license that it is distributed is clearly, and _accurately_ displayed; * The cost, if any, is clearly displayed; prior to downloading the template. FWIW, the same thing also applies to extensions. jonathon - To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org
