For the Italian law I am a freelance journalist, as I am a member of the Italian association and I have also subscribed for 2008.
For a small percentage of the community - in the area of marketing communications - I am a blogger, without ambitions but with a small group of followers.
For Microsoft I am neither one, or even worse - as this is really worse - I am a blogger only when I wite something that they do not like.
Otherwise, I am a “business”, as you can see from the badge I got today at the MIX event in Milan, which did not allow me neither to assist to Steve Ballmer’s press conference nor to attend the following cocktail lunch.
I was with a group of friends - journalists and bloggers - with whom I shared some Web 2.0 laughs… I suspect that Microsoft should reconsider its concept of “conversation”, otherwise monologues will - at the end - turn into a soliloquy.
Technorati Tags:
microsoft, social media, conversation, blogger
I have tried to follow the discussion about the standardization of the Microsoft Office Open XML document format, or ECMA-376:2006 or ISO/IEC DIS 29500. The fast track process is in the final stage, with the national bodies voting on the approval of the modified specs which came out of the Ballot Resolution Meeting in Geneva.
I have been reading many blogs, which seem to be the preferred communication tool for both parties: those for the approval and those against the approval. Using a handy feature of Google Reader, I have tried to collect all the posts which have been written on the subject since the start of the BRM.
If I were a “normal” user trying to understand if there was something positive for me in the standardization process, I would have probably given up after a few days. I think that it is almost impossible to get a clear picture of what has happened, what is happening and what will happen. Communications, unfortunately, does not seem to be the primary concern of all the people that have been writing on this subject.
Technorati Tags:
ooxml
Matthew Aslett of The 451 Group comments about the Geneva BRM. He is probably confused as much as I am, but he reports a number of opinions (including those that I’ve mentioned in my previous post).
I point out Matthew’s last two paragraphs:
Admittedly I am quoting selectively, but you have to wonder whether a “standard” that has been through a process that divides opinion so much is worthy of the title, whatever the result. The most damning indictment, in my personal view, comes from Yoon Kit of the Malaysian delegation:
We eventually found out that if any changes affected current implementations it would certainly be rejected. This seriously compromised any elegant solutions, and it forced us to be mindful of the “existing corpus of documents” in the wild. I don’t believe that that should be our problem, but there was a large and vocal voting bloc which would oppose any changes to the spec which would “break” Ecma 376. […]
From my informal talks with Sam Ramji of Microsoft I’ve understood that the company has already started working at the code of Office 2007, in order to make the product more interoperable. This is confirmed by the following statement, which is included in the press release distributed on February 21 to support the conference call with Steve Ballmer, Ray Ozzie, Bob Muglia and Brad Smith (you know, they use Excel to sort the list alphabetically ;-), and the software includes a non standard “hierarchy filter”):
Enhancing Office 2007 to provide greater flexibility of document formats. To promote user choice among document formats, Microsoft will design new APIs for the Word, Excel and PowerPoint applications in Office 2007 to enable developers to plug in additional document formats and to enable users to set these formats as their default for saving documents.
As a logical consequence, once ECMA has started the standardization process for Microsoft OOXML it should have been clear that the process itself could have asked for substancial amendments to the document format, and that refusing or opposing such changes would have been simply not coherent with the process.
Therefore, I’m quite surprised for Yoon Kit statement, because - if completely true (the only problem I see is the language one, as writing in English when it’s not your mother tongue is a daily challenge) - it goes not only against the principles of the standardization process but also against any reason.
The fact that during the BRM there were substantial changes to the specifications seems to be confirmed by this short sentence from Microsoft James Matusow (which I find otherwise biased, and this is the reason why I decided to ignore his post before):
After 5 months of ongoing communications about the dispositions with NSBs around the world, the constructive, positive adoption of changes to the specification was the outcome of the BRM.
This sounds logical to me. And it sounds logical that Microsoft is going to implement the changes once they have been approved, although this doesn’t mean that OOXML - once all the changes have been implemented - it’s going to be an interoperable standard, as the changes - many of them - are just one of the necessary steps in the right direction.
I’m puzzled and confused… Any help?
UPDATE: ECMA has issued a press release about the Ballot Resolution Meeting, with a couple of paragraphs which clarify the outcome of the BRM:
The final DIS 29500 text includes updated dispositions to a number of key comments, such as multi-part standard; transitional vs. strict conformance classes; more strict date system in spreadsheets based on the ISO standard; flexible units of measurement and very significant advances in accessibility, internationalization (BiDi) and multi-platform support.
Several of the issues which will not be reflected into the final DIS text have been deferred to consideration during the maintenance phase, which, if the standard is approved would be managed by ISO/IEC JTC 1 with the active collaboration of Ecma International.
Although I understand that a huge effort has been put by all the participants in order to get to this stage, I think that this is a result that doesn’t allow the standardization of OOXML, as there are still several issues unresolved.
Tags: communication, softwareI think my trip to Geneva is going to be exciting. Exciting and interesting at the same time. There will be surprizes, laughters, and laments. But mind you, Geneva does not matter. It never mattered. The OOXML camp is trying to lure you into thinking that anything bad that could happen in Geneva during the BRM sessions will be caused by the likes of IBM (including my company; I’m rolling on the floor laughing.) What they hold to be much more important takes place after the BRM, during the month of March, when every national standardization board will have to cast a ballot, once again (this time will be the final ballot) on the proprietary OOXML. Expect pressures and moves behind curtains of all sorts coming from the OOXML camp. They have the might, they have the money, and they have the clout. But will it be enough?
What is wanted out of that quite concerted campaign involving a former chairman of Ecma International is the banning of any form of communication between the delegates and the conference on open standards. I understand that the JTC-1 delegates need quiet, reflective seclusion, but as Rob Weir pointed out himself, why didn’t the JTC-1 react in the light of so much contacts between the national standards bodies and Microsoft (the original author of the contentious Ecma specification) during the ballot period? Why did the ISO’s JTC-1 never react when insistant rumours -not to say evidences- of collusion and corruption started to appear? The past cannot be undone. But each of us can learn from our mistakes, including the ISO.
Oh, and there will be the dirty tactics and the cunning rethorics, too. There will be attempts to slip VML back into OOXML because it is difficult at this stage to have the problematic specification register as an ISO technical specification (ISO T-S, which is not an ISO standard). There will be attempts to confuse delegates, refusals to answer some good questions, just like the Afnor’s proposal for convergence was bluntly refused by the Ecma. Nonetheless, the Afnor should and will carry on, despite the procedural arguments that will be thrown against it: The Ecma wants to keep its record of being the sole industrial standardization agency that has never refused the standardization of any specification it was in charge of. Nevermind the money.
Last but not least, some measures have to be taken in order to ease the standardization of the controversial OOXML itself. There seems to be a need for its supporters to balance their lack of popularity. After all, it’s pretty hard to gather more than eighty thousands people signing against a controversial candidate for standardization. At the very least, it’s a pretty impressive score for a not so mainstream topic. So instead of amending their ways, (for some it’s too late) the OOXML proponents have devised this new -and probably impressiveto their own eyes- strategy of making the ODF camp look evil. I’m laughing once again, because it’s just pathetic. This monopoly is trying hard to make others look bad, using deceptive tactics and will fail to do so because it still has not understood that people always prefer the victims and not their torturer.
So here’s my message to the employees of Microsoft Corporation and the employees of all their Gold Partners who will attend the Geneva BRM: Try harder, you still ain’t there.
Tags: communication, Open Document Format, software
If you were an early adopter of mobile telephones – perhaps you have a car phone, a bag phone, or an expensive handset like the Motorola MicroTAC – you used the analog AMPS cellular phone system.
AMPS, or Advanced Mobile Phone Service, used FM signals in the 800MHz band. Range wasn’t great, but when you had a phone connection, the sound quality was generally good.
While AMPS got the U.S. mobile phone system off the ground in 1983, carriers hated it, because each tower could only handle a small number of connections.
That’s why carriers were quick to move toward multiplexed digital systems, such as GSM and TDMA, because they could support more callers per frequency (and therefore, at lower cost). Sure, digital signals sounded much worse than the analog AMPS calls, but too bad.
AMPS-based telephony also had other problems. If you had wide-spectrum UHF receiver or scanner, you could listen to the analog phone calls. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission swiftly required that new scanners and receivers omit the AMPS band, but older “gapless” radios (like the Yaesu FRG-9600) could handle such signals.
The AMPS cellular network was also the foundation of appliances, such as wireless security systems. Unlike landline-based security systems, whose phone lines could be cut, the transmitter of an AMPS-based security system could still call for help if needed.
For years, the FCC has mandated that some carriers continue to operate their AMPS networks, in order to support those security systems, and also serve customers with older handsets. However, that requirement ends on Feb. 18, 2008, when the FCC “Analog Sunset Order” goes into effect. At that time, we can expect to see AMPS turned off.
Goodbye, analog cellular. You did your job well.
Announcements
OpenOffice.org Community Innovation Program
"On 7 December 2007, Sun Microsystems Inc. announced a new million-dollar fund to foster innovation in six of the open-source projects it
sponsors and contributes to. We are pleased to report that OpenOffice.org was included. The contest, which we have titled the OpenOffice.org Community Innovation Program, commences tomorrow, 30 January, and we invite OpenOffice.org Community members to participate".
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=350
OOoCon 2008 Call for Location - deadline extended
"Last month we set a deadline of January 31st for the receipt of proposals for hosting the OpenOffice.org Annual Conference 2008 - see http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=345. In response to a number of requests from organising teams, we have agreed to put back the deadline to midnight UTC February 10th. We will aim to open the community voting process a few days later, and announce the winning bid on March 1st".
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=349
Fosdem 2008
"Fosdem 2008 (23-24 February, Brussels, Belgium) [0] is legendary for being a focused and exciting developer and contributor conference. This year, it will host a Developer Room (DevRoom) for OpenOffice.org from 23-24 Feb. (the weekend). The purpose of the Developer Room is to give developers and other contributors the space and time to present and conduct workshops on OpenOffice.org and related technologies. We will have this room for the weekend, from morning to evening. All interested are welcome to participate, and if you have a new integration, extensions, add-on or functionality, here is your chance: you are invited!".
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=348
Success Stories
Sears starts selling $199 PC
"I just learned that the large retailer Sears just started selling $199 PC’s (after $100 mail-in rebate) which have Freespire pre-installed. As can be read on the Freespire homepage, this means that buyers of this PC will get access to the Sun StarOffice software. Since Freespire is Linspire’s free offering, I guess people have to pay in order to get StarOffice, but AFAIK Freespire also allows includes OpenOffice.org as a free option. This is yet another example of a major retailer selling low-cost PC’s with an ODF implementation pre-installed, or at least very closely attached. BTW, I just learned that the Eee PC will start selling in Germany on January 24. I’m anxious to get my hands on one of those little guys."
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/sears_starts_to_sell_199
Indian organization saving money with OpenOffice.org
"Umashankar says that his office uses the Openoffice.org suite. This saves them close to Rs 12,000 on each desktop. We buy Intel dual core desktops with 19" TFT monitors for Rs 21,600 including the Linux OS. If we bought a proprietary office suite at Rs 12,000 for each desktop, the cost of commissioning infrastructure would go up to Rs 33,600 - a 55 percent increase", he says. "And when you have to refresh over 30,000 PCs, that’s a figure that can add up: to about Rs 17 crore. And that’s not all. These figures don’t take into account software upgrades for applications. By using the free Openoffice.org suite and a Linux OS, Elcot has bypassed yearly licensing fees for proprietary software".
http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=46692
Lenovo now also pre-installing Linux and OpenOffice.org, too
"I just read this article. Apparently Lenovo will pre-install Linux and OpenOffice.org, too. I wonder what high-profile hardware vendor comes next!?".
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/01/now_lenovo_load.html
Yet another cheap laptop with OpenOffice.org pre-installed
"Measuring 9" in length and 2 pounds in weight, the Everex CloudBook caters to users seeking the latest in mobile computing. With its 1.2GHz VIA C7-M ULV mobile processor, the laptop averages 5 hours of battery life on a 4-cell, lithium-ion battery. Unlike many of its competitors, the CloudBook also features 30GB of internal storage, digital video output (DVI-I), 4-in-1 card reader and 1.3MP webcam.
…
The CloudBook, model CE1200V, showcases the Linux based gOS operating system and familiar applications from Mozilla, Skype, Google, Facebook, Faqly and OpenOffice.org. Available January 25th, the computer will be available at Walmart.com for $399". The full announcement can be found here. I’m pretty sure that all these low-cost laptops will increase the global acceptance and market share
of open source desktop software like OpenOffice.org. As a consequence, the OpenDocument Format (ODF) will become increasingly popular, too.
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/yet_another_cheap_laptop_with
Alternatives to Word and Windows at Israeli schools
"Even the unadventurous Israeli education system may soon discover that there is (computerized) life after Microsoft. The country’s schools will forgo Word and Windows in favor of parallel programs from Sun Microsystems. For the first time, the education system’s tenders committee has authorized cooperation in principle with Sun, in a move that could undermine Microsoft’s sovereignty in Israeli
classrooms".
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/939224.html
Usage of OpenOffice.org in Vietnam
"Weeks ago, the Ministry of Information and Communication recommended a list of open software solutions for use in State agencies and the education sector, comprising Open Office, Thunderbird, Firefox and Unikey. In the same gesture, the Office of the Vietnam Communist Party has announced it has replaced Microsoft Office by Open Office, and by the end of 2008, all 20,000 desktops at Party organs throughout Vietnam will be installed with Open Office. Other state agencies like the Department of Post and Telematics of Khanh Hoa Province, and three departments of Trade, Science and Technology, and Post and Telematics in HCMC are using Open Office on a trial basis. After this stage, HCMC agencies will expand the trial use of this open source software to three more departments and five districts in the first half of this year. An official of the HCMC Department of Post and Telematics says that the trial time shows that Open Office meets the requirements of the department".
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2008/01/762523/
Featured News
French Gendarmerie Adopts Ubuntu
"The gendarmerie’s 70,000 desktops currently use Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system. But these will progressively change over to the Linux system distributed by Ubuntu, explained Colonel Nicolas Geraud, deputy director of the gendarmerie’s IT department. "We will introduce Linux every time we have to replace a desktop computer," he said, "so this year we expect to change 5,000-8,000 to Ubuntu and then 12,000-15,000 over the next four years so that every desktop uses the Linux operating system by 2013-2014". There are three reasons behind the move, Geraud said at the Solution Linux 2008 conference here. The first is to diversify suppliers and reduce the force’s reliance on one company, the second is to give the gendarmerie mastery of the operating system and the third is cost, he said".
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iU4Lq7tOR_WVOJLZ3IeRaIH03×6w
"Open source software has the ability to change the face of the Education Industry"
"A number of education institutions around the globe are looking towards open source software (OSS) as a means to gain more control over their solutions. From this a new report by independent market analyst Datamonitor predicts that spend on OSS (including maintenance and services) by the Education sector globally will reach $489.9 million by 2012, compared to $286.2 million today, providing sizeable opportunities for technology vendors".
Advice for the Dutch public sector on Open Source
"The programme OSOSS informs and advises the Dutch public sector about the possibilities of open source software and stimulates the use of open source software in their information systems. The acronym OSOSS stands for “Open Source as an Option in your Software Strategy”. The OSOSS programme offers concrete support by providing information, knowledge and instruments that governmental bodies can use to start using open source software. The programme is run by the foundation for
e-government, ICTU, on request by the Ministries of the Interior and of Economic Affairs".
http://www.ososs.nl/about_ososs
Tips & Tricks
Alternative to Endnote (bibliography / citation)
"I just found out about Citavi. Citavi is an alternative to bibliography / citation tools like Endnote. Currently, Citavi is only available in German, but I guess the company is willing to add more languages based on user feedback. Thus, send your language and feature requests per email to Citavi! The interesting thing about Citavi is that there is a free entry version of Citavi which should be sufficient for the needs of most students, at least for the first years.
…
Have you heard of Zotero? Zotero is a Firefox extension for managing bibliographies that has a "cite as you write" extension for OOo. It works great, is cross-platform (Linux, OS X, and Windows all supported), and, most importantly, it has a Free software license.
Zotero incorporates the open standard CSL citation language developed by the co-leader of the OOo bibliographic project team (OOoBib), Bruce D’Arcus, who recommends Zotero for everyday use:
http://www.mail-archive.com/dev@bibliographic.openoffice.org/msg00896.html"
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/alternative_to_endnote_bibliography
New Chart features in OpenOffice.org 2.4
"Now, it is possible to display the equation for a trend line (regression curve) next to it. The formula object can be moved around, formatted with a number format, font and graphical formatting.
…
Axes can be reversed, i.e. they point in a different than usual direction. In the example the y-axis points down from the top, instead of the usual orientation.
…
You can set individual number formats for the value displayed in a data label, as well as for the percentage".
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/new_chart_features_in_openoffice
Improved picture cropping for Draw/Impress
" Of course there is an existing OpenOffice.org Issue for this (i3545) and in my daily work I get a lot of feedback from users who need and want this functionality, too. But unfortunately our developers are busy with more important features. So I decided to specify the needed redesign in my free time and I found a developer who saw the same need for this improvement. Christian Lippka from the Graphics team supported me and helped in his free time to get this working. Great job, thanks again! By now there is a quite good beta version implemented in CWS cropmaster2000 and there is not much work left to be done. So I hope soon this will make its way into the master build. And this is how it works: Selecting an inserted picture brings up the picture toolbar. Clicking on the cropping-button brings up 8 blue object-handles on the sides and angles of the picture. Moving the mouse cursor over these handles shows the cropping cursor. Now you can easily grab one of those and crop the picture by dragging these handles. It’s as simple as that and works in Draw and Impress".
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/improved_picture_cropping_for_draw
Macros in Database Documents – Milestone 1
A while ago, I talked about macros in database documents, and that we had finished the work to re-factor various parts of OpenOffice.org’s application and scripting frameworks, so that we could start embarking upon implementing the real feature: Basic macros as well as JavaScript, BeanShell and Python scripts embedded in database documents. Nearly 3 months passed, and what I now want to advertise is the first milestone of this implementation: If you’re interested in, you can get your hands onto a version of OpenOffice.org which allows you to put your macros into your database document, and then run those macros from all sub components of the database: from within your forms, reports, the query, table and relation designer, and from within the table data view. Well, of course also from within the database document itself. The CWS which is dedicated to implementing the feature is called odbmacros2, and a snapshot of it is available to everybody for download, as Linux and as Windows version. For the details of what you can expect, please refer to the feature specification in our Wiki, and to the release notes in the download directory.
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/macros_in_database_documents_milestone
ODF News
Arcor introducing web conferencing with ODF support
"According to this German article, Arcor is introducing a new phone and web conferencing solution which supports sharing ODF documents among participants".
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/arcor_introducing_web_conferencing_with
Yet another reporting tool with ODF support
"Adding FastReport VCL to your application is a breeze. You need to put several necessary components on the visual form, then connect to needed data sources and make a report form. It’s as easy as working in Corel Draw. The end user who got FastReport VCL in an application can edit templates and available reports, convert reports to 15 formats (such as PDF, XLS, RTF, and ODF), and send reports by email directly from the application".
http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/538737
Book about ODF vs. OOXML discussions
"This article reminded me that I had not written about Andy Updegrove’s book project. I’m sure it will be an interesting story!".
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/book_about_odf_vs_ooxml
ODF Alliance Publishes Response to Burton Group Report
"In case you had not noticed, the ODF Alliance just published a response to the recent Burton Group report".
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/odf_alliance_publishes_response_to
Poll regarding ODF and OOXML
"Here is an interesting poll regarding ODF and OOXML. I’m curious about the results!".
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/poll_regarding_odf_and_ooxml
Dispelling Myths Around ODF
"Yes, ODF 1.0 did not specify a formula language but allowed arbitrary formula languages instead. This was recognized as an interoperability issue and is thus being addressed by ODF 1.2. However, many ODF 1.0 based products from different vendors even don’t have an interoperability issue in the formula area because they are based on the same code base. It would have been fast and easy to define a formula language by simply documenting the formula language of one single application. However, ODF chose to specify formulas based on broad industry experience and best practices.
The formula language in ODF 1.2 is based on the following applications:
- Microsoft Excel (many different versions)
- OpenOffice.org / StarOffice
- Lotus 1-2-3
- Quattro Pro
- Gnumeric
- Koffice Kspread
- WikiCalc
- SheetToGo
- Mathematica
- Macsyma
- Octave
And the key benefits of the ODF 1.2 formula language are:
- Broad application coverage, incl. Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3 and OpenOffice.org
- Innovative functions, e.g. XOR, BASE, SEC, etc.
- Reuse of standards, e.g. ISO 8610 date and time representation
- Support for supplier-unique namespaces, enables rapid, decentralized innovation
- Avoids bugs like the „1900 leap year bug“
- No limitation to the number of rows and columns
- No constraints on the user interface
- Predefined function sets for different application areas
Thus, the ODF 1.2 formula language covers all key areas without sacrificing vendor independence and openess".
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/dispelling_myths_around_odf
Becta supporting ODF
"I guess you have all read the news articles about the latest Becta report about Vista and Office 2007. It is great to see that Becta is supporting ODF. In case you haven’t seen the report yet, you can find it here".
http://blogs.sun.com/dancer/entry/becta_supporting_odf
New ODF-XSLT Project
"Lone Wolves is happy to announce the ODF-XSLT project. The ODF-XSLT Document Generator is a library written in PHP 5 that brings the full power of XSLT to your OpenDocument files".
http://www.linuxpr.com/releases/10303.html
ODF making ‘amazing progress’
"Twelve countries and six regional governments have adopted "pro-ODF policies," according to the group, composed of companies and organisations that advocate for the format. The latest countries are the Netherlands and South Africa, which require government agencies to use the format. Also, more than 40 applications now support ODF and the Alliance’s membership ranks are set to rise above 500, according to the report".
http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/opensource/applications/news/index.cfm?newsid=6851
According to Microsoft, SQL Server 2008 is delayed to the third or fourth quarter of 2008. That’s a disappointment, as SQL Server 2005 is getting long in the tooth, and developers have been looking forward to the new release… and had hoped it might ship in the first or second quarter of this year.
In his TechNet posting, “Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Roadmap Clarification,” Microsoft’s Francois Ajenstat, director of SQL Server marketing, writes,
“To continue in this spirit of open communication, we want to provide clarification on the roadmap for SQL Server 2008. Over the coming months, customers and partners can look forward to significant product milestones for SQL Server. Microsoft is excited to deliver a feature complete CTP during the Heroes Happen Here launch wave and a release candidate (RC) in Q2 calendar year 2008, with final Release to manufacturing (RTM) of SQL Server 2008 expected in Q3. Our goal is to deliver the highest quality product possible and we simply want to use the time to meet the high bar that you, our customers, expect.”
Translation: The software’s running late due to quality problems.
“Heroes Happen Here,” by the way, doesn’t refer to a new computer game. It’s the combo launch of Windows Server 2008 (”Longhorn Server”), Visual Studio 2008 (”Orcas”) and SQL Server 2008 (”Katmai”), happening on Feb. 27. The fact that the software’s not ready has little do with the launch, apparently.
Indeed, as Microsoft’s Anthony Carrabino, SQL Server’s senior product manager, explains in his blog post, “SQL Server 2008 and Launch,”
We often get questions about our upcoming Launch event in Los Angeles on Feb. 27th, and when SQL Server 2008 will actually ship. The two events are loosely connected but they are not the same. The Launch event in Los Angeles is actually a marketing event designed to tell the world about SQL Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and Windows Server 2008. The Launch event allows the marketing teams for each product to efficiently deliver in-depth product information to our customers, partners and to our own sales field. Since all three Microsoft products are being Released to Manufacturing (RTM) within months of each other, it makes sense for us to create a single event for delivering information about these exciting new releases. As a result, the Launch event provides IT Professionals, Developers and Software Enthusists alike with an exciting and convenient way to have fun learning about all three products in one place. In honor of our customers worldwide, the Launch event is called “Heroes Happen Here”.
It’s good news that we’ll at least have a real Community Technology Preview in February; the November CTP was incomplete. It seems possible that we’ll have the first release candidate by June’s TechEd conference.
If you are bemused, as I am, by the Microsoft-speak in these official announcements, you’ll enjoy Phil Factor’s application of that “technology” to another deadline-driven environment: high school history class.
2008 will be a year many will remember. At least, it will be known as the year where the stock market plummeted and the subprime-inducted crisis took millions of Americans out of their home. On a lighter note, 2008 will also be remembered as the year of the “3.0″ for OpenOffice.org.
Besides the obvious symbolic value of the version number, the OpenOffice.org is readying itself to what will be a crucial release for its future.
The Marketing Project, thanks to the leadership of John McCreesh and Florian Effenberger, is busy revamping entire portions of the web site, while new means of communication (a blog aggregator) are being tested. Other teams have quietly been rolling out new services and projects in order to improve almost every aspect of what can be referred to as “the OpenOffice.org experience”.
The User Interface project fosters users’ input in order to improve the existing user interface, while the Quality Assurance project redesigned its project’s page and ran several months ago its QA Track services (a second version being expected soon). Much in the same line, the overall infrastructure requirements for the project are being discussed and solutions defined . A much expected addition to the project was the integration of full-featured user forums. They provide a new venue for users who may not be comfortable with mailing lists. Creation of multi-lingual forums is on its way.
Wether the 3.0 will be released according to the expected schedule does not really matter though. What will ultimately matter is what can be described as the explosion - implosion of OpenOffice.org both as a project and as product. As a product, the 3.0 will allow a lot more extendability and the extensions web site will also be fully functional. The extension and the creation of a real ecosystem will be perennial to the OpenOffice.org success as a product. On a technical level, the 3.0 will be an important milestone in the architectural changes going on deeply inside the code base. The 3.0 will be the base platform for componentizing OpenOffice.org and build a rich client based on the UNO technology.In this regard, one can call this the explosion of OpenOffice.org but in a good sense of course.
The implosion (also heard in a positive way) refers to the changes happening inside the OpenOffice.org project. The coming of new corporate members changes the ratios, pushing some to the bottom of the contributors (as Novell), some others to the most important contributors of the project (RedOffice) while the community of individuals, wether code contributors or contributors in other ways, still amounts for the second largest contributing party in the project. The integration of new corporate members, such as IBM, is mostly seen as a welcome and much desired addition to the project. However, the issue of representativity and the fear of having the project’s governance being swallowed up in the heap of corporate interests, as enlightened as they can sometimes be, does exist and must be addressed. The setup of an advisory board has eased some of these concerns as it acts as a communication platform between all the contributors, but it also needs to show it can last in time. Moreover, the governance of OpenOffice.org has to show that it can adapt to the rising challenge of new contributors while improving representativity.
2008 will thus be an opportunity for OpenOffice.org to drive forward deep changes that will, if they’re carried on succesfully, help sustain its adoption and secure its technology and project for the years to come. My (humble) take on this is that we’re nowhere better than when we face this kind of challenges, and I think OpenOffice.org has much to show to the world and to its community.
Have a great week-end!
Tags: communication, marketing, openofficeBrigadier General Nickolas G. Justice, Program Executive Officer, Command Control and Communications Tactical (C3T) of the US Army:
Open source software is part of the integrated network fabric which connects and enables our command and control system to work effectively, as peoples lives depend on it. When we rolled into Baghdad, we did it using open source.
Found here.
Someone should point this to those people that still blame open source because is - theoretically - less secure than proprietary software.
