Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, has said: “The great task in front of us over the next two years is to lift the experience of the Linux desktop from something that is stable and robust and not so pretty, into something that is art. Can we not only emulate, but can we blow right past Apple?”.
He added: “I see this [need] for free software - beautiful, elegant software. We have to invest in making the desktop beautiful and useful. The iPhone, for instance, is effectively a pure software experience”.
Being a Windows/MacOS user, and a close watcher of the Ubuntu distribution (which will replace Windows sometimes in the future, although I will probably keep on using XP as long as I can, just because I’m lazy), I saw this objective getting closer and closer with every new release of Ubuntu.
Today, MacOS X is the best flavour of Linux in terms of usability. Therefore, any Linux distribution should be able to emulate the “look and feel” of MacOS X with a few tweaks and a better integration with hardware platforms.
This, in my opinion, is the real challenge, as a Linux distribution must be compatible with most personal computers while MacOS X has been developed for a specific hardware. The technology, though, should be capable of solving this problem.
Technorati Tags:
apple, innovation, iphone, macos x, open source, linux
Yochai Benkler, the leading intellectual of the information age, explains how collaborative projects like Wikipedia and Linux represent the next stage of human organization.
Technorati Tags:
open source, innovation
Just brilliant… MacOS X is actually the best implementation of Linux, followed by Ubuntu. The gap is closing, although Ubuntu will never get where MacOS X is because of the better hardware integration of the latter (although you pay the integration and the ease of use with stability, as the MacBook is definitely the most fragile of my three machines - Ubuntu, Windows XP and MacOS X - being the first one that slows down and then freezes when I open more than 100 tabs with Firefox).
When Microsoft will stop maintaining and supporting Windows XP, I will definitely switch to Ubuntu and MacOS X. With a little bit of research, I have been able to configure the two PCs in the same way, using mostly open source software. Switching between the two machines is just a question of syncing a few directories.
Technorati Tags:
microsoft, apple, windows, macos x
CIO.com has conducted a survey of IT and business executives, collecting data from 328 respondents. The results of the survey show that 53% of the respondents are using open source applications in their organization today, and an additional 10% plan to do so in the next year.
Among those currently employing open-source solutions, the primary uses are operating systems such as Linux (78%), infrastructure applications, such as back end databases and Web servers (74%), and software development tools like Eclipse (61%).
Business application use isn’t far behind: 45% of the respondents are using desktop applications such as OpenOffice.org, and 29% use open source enterprise applications (the most popular being collaboration tools, customer relationship management tools and ERP applications).
Close to three in five respondents (58%) strongly agree or agree with the statement that Linux is reliable enough to depend upon for mission-critical applications.
The primary reasons of open source adoption are financial: lower total cost of ownership (59%) and acquisition costs (56%) lead the pack, followed by greater flexibility (32%) and access to source code (30%).
Unfortunately, there are still barriers to adoption. The primary reason is product support concerns (45%), followed by the awareness or knowledge of available solutions (29%), security concerns (26%) and lack of support by management (22%).
Software quality issues are cited as a primary barrier to adoption by 20% and customization concerns by 15%. So if you’re trying to sell the boss on the virtues of open source, spend more time on reassurance about tech support availability and quality than you do on customization opportunities.
While more than half of enterprises use open source today, the degree of intimacy with the philosophy varies quite a bit. Companies may often (43%) or sometimes (24%) treat such applications as just free software, although 49% contribute to the community and 11% have open-source committers on their staff.
You can find the CIO.com article about the survey here.
Technorati Tags:
open source, research
Just an idea of the 3D transitions you can use with OpenOffice.org 2.4 on Linux.
I was a little bit surprised when I looked at the Best Buy web site: Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 Windows and Norton AntiVirus 2008 Windows are both listed as accessories for the Asus EEE PC, which runs a dedicated version of Xandros Linux. Apart from the platform compatibility (just a minor issue) both software exceed the hardware specifications of the small PC (a very good product, by the way).
I have a question: would you buy any IT product from such an incompetent retailer?
I’ve had a long phone conversation with Sam Ramji today. It was plagued by some bandwidth problems on my side (next time I will have a dedicated PC for Skype) but it was definitely constructive for both of us: Microsoft and Associazione PLIO. We are both committed to start working about and around interoperability, maintaining our respective independence and therefore our different views on some issues.
During the call, Sam has pointed out that a very large percentage of OpenOffice.org users (close to 90%? maybe, although every Linux user and an increasing number of Mac users adopt it) are also Windows users (from the emails and phone calls that we receive on a daily basis, I would dare to say that all the Italians that use Vista have already switched to OpenOffice.org).
Therefore, interoperability is a key factor for Microsoft, because a malfunctioning OpenOffice.org on Windows would raise question marks about the operating system, and is a key factor for OpenOffice.org, because there are areas where performances can be improved with a better understanding of Windows.
Then there are document formats. During the recent press conference, Microsoft has stated the following:
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.
Unfortunately, only a few people understand the implications of standard document formats for the user. During the last couple of weeks I have talked with many Italian journalists about this subject, and I have realized that their knowledge is still limited and sometimes even confused. We have a long education process in front of us.
Given this limited understanding, the chaos around standard formats has raised more than one eyebrow in those who have followed the discussion on the press. It’s time to stop being negative and start being positive, for the sake of the user.
Tags: Linux, openofficeAny idea about the author of this sentence?
The world is different today than it was 10 years ago, and so are we. Here on the city campus, MacBook Pros aren’t unheard of, and people with knowledge of Linux are in demand. Some of those MacBooks are running Vista, administrators are running PHP and ASP.NET on the same machine, and we’re seeing adoption of open source in and on top of a range of our technologies. As the world has changed, so have we, to the benefit of the company and our customers.
I have met this gentleman in the US a couple of weeks ago, at the Open Source ThinkTank. Still clueless? Then read the entire post: Why I’m excited about Yahoo!
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
Thanks to Italian journalists, who have written around 2.000 articles about OpenOffice.org in 2007 and have made the Italian version of the suite the most "wanted" on Google. If you compare OpenOffice.org with Microsoft Office using Google Trends you can see the results here: http://www.google.com/trends?q=openoffice%2C+microsoft+office (don’t forget to select "Italy" to see what happens at local level). Thanks to all the Italians (1.788.076) who have downloaded OpenOffice.org in their own linguistic version, to those that haven’t downloaded it becuse it was already inside their Linux distro (around 300.000), to those that have installed it from a covermount CD of a trade magazine, and to those - italians and foreigners - that have downloaded OpenOffice.org in English (for a personal choice) or in another linguistic version, from the French, German and Slovenian - official languages of the Italian republic - to the mother tongue for all the immigrants (OpenOffice.org can be used in the mother tongue version by 95% of the world population, a key advantage over all the other office suite). Thanks also to all the people that have bought Microsoft Office 2007, because they have pushed the community of volunteers beyond their limits. Today, no one in Italy - with the exception of a few fanatics - can consider OpenOffice.org as a niche fenomenon, and this is reflected in the increasing number of enterprises, organizations, families and individuals that every day migrate - alone or with the help of a consultant - to the free office suite. They enter a new dimension, where they are not tied to the strategies of a single company - which may decide, out of the blue, to stop supporting the file format of their documents - but are protected by a community based on the freedom of software and formats. Associazione PLIO wishes to all of you a happy 2008, the year of OpenOffice.org 3.0.
