Commercial Open Source Software

OpenOffice.org 3.2.0 released today - GullFOSS blog reports the news enlisting the most important new features.

OpenOffice.org 3.2: 10 Years in the Making - Joe ‘Zonker’ Brockmeier posts his impressions about the new release.

300,000,000 Downloads Later, OpenOffice Ships Version 3.2 - TechCrunch reports the impressive download numbers.

3.2.0 Release Candidate 2 (build OOO320_m9) - Release Notes - Have a look at OpenOffice.org 3.2.0, it is the second RC of the future feature release.

OpenOffice.org Thumbnail plugin 1.0 released - The new OpenOffice.org Thumbnail plugin - a plugin for KDE file managers to preview OpenDocument Format files as thumbnails -  has been released.

UX meeting in Hamburg, Day Two - Discover what the Renaissance team is currently working on to tclean up Impress user interface.

The second ODF Interoperability Workshop held in Orvieto gathered together more than 30 ODF experts, developers and stakeholders from public administrations to improve ODF interoperability. People from all over the world for two days collaborated to ensure not “merely” standards’ compliance but true interoperability, below an essay of facts and figures of the event.

Continue reading ‘Second ODF Plugfest: Notes from the First Day’

Christian Biasco, author of π-Videoblog - a video series dedicated to intellectual property and intellectual freedom - has just released the video guide dedicated to OpenOffice.org. The OpenOffice.org video is the third of the PinGuide series, and it has been sponsored by two Italian LUG (LinuxTrent and FoLug).

PinGuide is a collaborative project, volunteers willing to translate videoguides are welcome, if interested contact directly Christian.

Two days ago in Orvieto we announced that in two weeks the open source and open standards world will converge in Orvieto (Italy). The second ODF Plugfest (2-3 Nov) will open the week, bringing together implementors and stakeholders from all over the world to work together on ODF interoperability.

The OpenOffice.org 2009 conference (4-6 Nov) - organized by PLIO association and Orvieto LUG - has a very rich program, including specific sessions aimed at schools and at OOo development.

OpenOffice.org development switches to Mercurial - Come to the OpenOffice.org conference in Orvieto to learn why OpenOffice.org development switched to Mercurial.

How to export OpenOffice presentations to PDF - Learn how to manage notes page and eventually print them.

Burton Group’s “Short List” of Productivity Suite Leaders Goes Beyond Microsoft - -Burton Group says that the productivity suite market is in the midst of a rebirth.

Although Microsoft remains the market leader, it is being challenged by suppliers on Burton Group’s ‘Short List’ including IBM, OpenOffice.org, and Sun.

Microsoft Office to OpenOffice.org/StarOffice Migration Overview - A white paper edited by Sun Microsystems (requires a registration) providing a simple migration blueprint introducing to a six step process (Implementing a test phase, Creating an inventory of tools and Microsoft Office dependent solutions, Identifying documents and macros that are still in use, Organizing the migration team, Converting work-flow critical documents, templates and macros and eventually Training and post-deployment support). A case study and scenarios are also discussed.

Nearly there - John Mc Creesh says it is almost time to go to the OpenOffice.org conference. Look at the Conference Programme and if you can make it don’t forget to register online, Orvieto waits for you!

Git and OpenOffice.org - ideas about how could be possible to auto merge OpenOffice document from Git.

Twelve SourceForge community choice awards have been assigned to nine different open source projects. PortableApps won four awards, included “Best Project”. OpenOffice.org, awarded with 3 prizes last year, won ‘just’ an award, resulting the “best project for Government”, getting an amazing share of votes (48.27%).

Despite PortableApps is today’s most amazing victory, I want to join the OpenOffice.org debate, recently raised by Matt Asay after Kevin Turner’s speech at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference.

Continue reading ‘SourceForge Community Awards and the Business Case for OpenOffice.org’

Sun PDF Import Extension - The extension allows to import and modify PDF documents, the perfect tool to change dates, numbers or small portions of text. Long documents or with sophisticated layouts are not suitable for the PDF Import Extension, though.

OpenOffice 3.1.0 Plus Win Portable USB (Italian) - The Italian school Ettore Majorana in collaboration with Ylvo COMPANY the created the Italian version. The English version is available at the PortableApps website.

OOo gets OCS - The OpenOffice.org Annual Conference website runs on OCS software.

The Dutch government is showing the way to go: the Minister for Foreigng Trade Frank Heemskerk opened the now famous ODF Plugfest saying that a joint course of action for developing effective ODF support in each other’s products is needed.

Last week the Italian government announced a joint effort with Sun Microsystems to foster the use of StarOffice by local public administrations, but the press release doesn’t mention either ODF or open standards. Improvements are needed, the lack of a European coherent strategic vision towards standards’ compliance.

Continue reading ‘An ODF Plugfest a Day Take the Doctor Away’