Nabble - openoffice - announce

OpenOffice.org Newsletter - November 2009 Edition

2009-12-15T12:07:15Z

OpenOffice.org Newsletter

November 2009

The Community Needs your Help !

There are dozens of opportunities to support the community and you do not have to be a developer to help out. Here are just two out of many examples:

Are You Interested in Marketing?
Go ahead an help the OpenOffice.org marketing project!
Help spread the word and by the way it looks good in your resume.

Do You like to Write Articles or Short Manuals ?
The documentation project is always looking for new and exciting articles.

Don't be shy and start volunteering today!

Find out how to contribute
Do not miss the videos on Facebook

Success Stories

OSOR: OS resource centre awards Kongsberg municipality

Kongsberg uses the open source suite of office applications OpenOffice.org in the municipal offices and at schools. Read More »

Featured News

Linux Journal: 3 recent OpenOffice.org extensions

These days, many extensions are language-specific or clipart collections that most people will never use. Read More »

eWeek: Ditch Microsoft, Save £269m Says Hungarian Open Source Group

Despite a struggling economy and public debt, the Hungarian government continues to spend millions on Microsoft licenses when cheaper alternatives exist, open source groups say Read More »

eGov: Danish Municipality of Rødovre Expects OpenOffice.org To Reduce Costs Over Long Term

The municipality announced on 6 November 2009 that, as from the next week, it will start to use OpenOffice.org alongside its proprietary alternative. Read More »

epmonthly: Why I Dumped Microsoft Office

Its been a while since I did a computer-related post. For those of you who didn’t read my old blog, I’m kind of a computer geek. Read More »

Freelance: Free Spell Checkers and Grammar Checkers for Writers

A good grammar and spell checker is required if you write for a living. Although it can't replace a careful proofread of your work Read More »

GullFOSS: Improved websites to download OO.o builds

The current setup of websites for downloading OO.o installation sets provides builds for several languages and operating systems. Read More »

GullFOSS: Odt2DAISY - create DAISY Digital Talking Books with OpenOffice.org!

Vincent Spiewak has finished his OpenOffice.org extension for converting ODF text documents to DAISY Digital Talking Books Read More »

GullFOSS: Videos: Clayton, Rafaella and You?

Did you know that OOo has its own YouTube channel? Check out the interesting and informative new videos available for your viewing and listening pleasure. Read More »

Tips & Tricks

Linux Journal: Graphic styles in OO.o Draw and Impress

One of OpenOffice.org's greatest strengths is its emphasis on styles. Some users balk at styles, claiming they are restrictive, but no other feature repays a little organization with so much ease of use and saving of time. Read More »

ComputerActive: Guide to using OpenOffice.org templates

OpenOffice.org Writer is a great word processor and we often recommend it as an alternative to Microsoft Word if all you need to do is create simple documents. Read More »

Linux.com: Lesser Known, But Very Helpful Features in OpenOffice.org Writer

Anyone using Linux (or any operating system for that matter) should know about the OpenOffice.org office suite. Read More »

Solveig Haugland: How to do a holiday letter using mail merge, and print labels for the envelopes

've tried to make it as complete as possible without actually rising up out of the browser and knocking you over the head with painful details. Read More »

Solveig Haugland: Modifying raster shape colors with the RGB and Brightness tools in OpenOffice.org Draw

If you want to change how a drawing shape looks, you can easily use the border and fill shapes. Read More »

OpenDocument (ODF)

OSOR: Chair of Denmark's standards committee:
'Microsoft is lying'

Mogens Kühn Pedersen, chair of the Danish Standards Committee, says Microsoft is lying when it says it will implement ISO OOXML in the next version of its suite of office applications.... Read More »

Second ODF Plugfest: Notes from the First Day

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. Read More »

Solution of the Month

Screenwright(R) screenplay formatting template

This free Writer template, winner of a cash prize in
the Sun Microsystems/OO.o Community Innovation Program
Awards competition, will format your movie script to industry
standards. Other formatters include: sitcom, theater/stage play, and
audio-visual dual-column corporate video / industrial film. A4 and
Letter versions. Read More »

Please Note:

This section introduces a single solution which provides a OO.o integration or based on OO.o technology. The idea behind it is to support vendors who have an OO.o integration.

Full list of OpenOffice.org solutions

dev@...dev@..., if you want to have your solution listed.

Announcements

OpenOffice.org Bloggers

The OpenOffice.org Planet has the widest collection of OO.o content with community members blogging on a wide variety of helpful topics. Read More »

OO.o Conference 2009 - Orvieto

Most of the conference sessions were recorded. The videos are available here.

Oracle's Plan for OpenOffice.org

Oracle announced in a FAQ they intention to continue developing and supporting OpenOffice.org as open source. Read More »

News to Spread ?

Please send news clippings to :
dev@...

Unsubscribe

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
announce-unsubscribe@...

OpenOffice.org Newsletter - 10/2009

2009-11-04T09:46:21Z

OpenOffice.org Newsletter

October 2009

The Community Needs your Help !

There are dozens opportunities to support the community and you do not have to be a developer to help out. Here are just two of many examples:

Are You Interested in Marketing?
Go ahead an help the OpenOffice.org marketing project!
Help spread the word and by the way it looks good in your resume.

Do You like to Write Articles or Short Manuals ?
The documentation project is always looking for new and exiting articles.

Don't be shy and start volunteering today!

Find out how to contribute
Do not miss the videos on Facebook

Success Stories

OSOR: OpenOffice boom in Belgium

The number of public administrations in Belgium that use the open source office productivity suite OpenOffice is rising steadily. And with it the use of the open document format ODF. Read More »

OSOR: OS resource centre awards Kongsberg municipality

Kongsberg uses the open source suite of office applications OpenOffice in the municipal offices and at schools. Read More »

Featured News

Happy 9th Birthday OpenOffice.org!

Nine years ago today, Oct 13th, OpenOffice.org was called into being. Read More »

German City Münster Launches Pilot Project For its Schools To Adopt Open Source Software

At the moment, teachers are trying out OpenOffice in two schools. The suite will be made available to all schools in November 2009. "We plan to make OpenOffice the default office application for schools" Read More »

TechRepublic: Product Spotlight: OpenOffice PDF Import Extension

The Sun OpenOffice.org PDF Import Extension is for anyone on a budget that needs to be able to directly edit non-hybrid PDF documents. And because the extension imports into OpenOffice.org Draw, editing is very user-friendly. Read More »

gHacks: Open Office 4 Kids

The idea behind Open Office 4 Kids is to provide a version of Open Office for children between the age of 7 and 12. The project is in its early stages with version 0.5 recently released to the public. Read More »

Linux-magazine: OpenOffice Renaissance Provides Usage Click Charts for Impress

The Renaissance UI improvement project for OpenOffice has rendered a click chart in Impress based on usage feedback data. Read More »

ComputerWeekly: Snapshot Survey 2009 -> OO.o 13%

The Computer Weekly IT panel was launched in April 2009 and comprises of almost 4,000 IT. 13% plans to use OO.o Read More »

Applelinks: OO.o Clocks up 100 Million Downloads

The OpenOffice.org Community is celebrating one hundred million recorded downloads for the latest version of its software, launched barely one year ago. Read More »

GullFOSS: October Status Update for Project Renaissance

Thinning out process for the existing OOo user interface has started. Focus for OOo 3.3 will be on Impress. Read More »

GullFOSS: Impress User Interface Click Map - What's Hot & What's Not

The goal of this process is to improve the most common interactions for Impress 3.3. This process is based on data from the User Feedback Program, customer interviews, surveys and usability issues. Read More »

GullFOSS: New Chart features in OpenOffice.org 3.2

Interested in the new Chart features that will be available in OOo 3.2? Have a look: Read More »

Tips & Tricks

suite101: Changing the Default Font in OpenOffice.org

The OpenOffice default font is over-used and often poorly received. Changing it on each new document can be annoying. Changing the default template is a quick solution. Read More »

openark: How to export OpenOffice presentations to PDF

OpenOffice 3.x has an improved PDF export mechanism. With File->Export as PDF…, one can export a presentation file (*.odp) to PDF format. Read More »

Solveig Haugland: Using Scenarios in OpenOffice Calc spreadsheets to figure out what to do

Here's an example of how you could use two scenarios to really get serious with pros and cons and the amount of money you'd be spending Read More »

Solveig Haugland: How to make text wrap around a graphic (and resizing the graphic proportionately) in OpenOffice Writer

When you insert a graphic, it usually looks like this. You can't get the text on either side of it. Read More »

OpenDocument (ODF)

OSOR: Government publishes OS mobile phone text reader

Cenatic, Spain's national reference centre for Open Source, on Monday published a beta version of a mobile phone application to display office documents saved in the Open Document Format. ...
Read More »

ODF plugfest in Orvieto

The second in a series of events that will bring together implementors of OASIS OpenDocument Format/ISO 26300 to unilaterally test and discuss implementation issues of ODF with each other Read More »

Solution of the Month

MySQL Connector for OpenOffice.org

The MySQL Connector for OpenOffice.org installs a native MySQL database driver. It is faster, seamless integrated, easier to administrate and there is no need to install and setup a JDBC or ODBC driver separately. It was never easier to use MySQL databases in OpenOffice.org Base. Read More »

Please Note:

This section introduces a single solution which provides a OO.o integration or based on OO.o technology. The idea behind it is to support vendors who have an OO.o integration.

Full list of OpenOffice.org solutions

dev@...dev@..., if you want to have your solution listed.

In this issue

Success Stories
Featured News
Tips & Tricks
OpenDocument (ODF)
Solution of the Month

Announcements

OpenOffice.org Bloggers

The OpenOffice.org Planet has the widest collection of OO.o content with community members blogging on a wide variety of helpful topics.
Read More »

OO.o Conference 2009 - Orvieto

OpenOffice.org Community meets for its seventh Annual Conference in the historic city of Orvieto, Italy Read More »

100,000,000 downloads of OpenOffice.org 3

On October 28th. 2009, the one hundred millionth person clicked on the Download OpenOffice.org button since version 3.0 Read More »

Oracle's Plan for OpenOffice.org

Oracle announced in a FAQ they intention to continue developing and supporting OpenOffice.org as open source. Read More »

News to Spread ?

Please send news clippings to :
dev@...

Unsubscribe

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter
announce-unsubscribe@...

One hundred million downloads of OOo 3

2009-10-29T06:55:05Z

Yesterday, Wednesday 28th., the one hundred millionth person clicked on
the "Download OpenOffice.org" button since version 3 of the software was
announced just over one year ago.

What makes the statistics impressive is that we only record downloads
via the OpenOffice.org website, and exclude for example large numbers of
Linux users who generally download software from their own distributor.
In addition, many users obtain OpenOffice.org via other mirrors,
peer-to-peer networks, CDs, or other media.

Congratulations to all community members who have contributed to this
milestone in any way. We hope many of you will be able to celebrate with
us at OOoCon 2009 next week in Orvieto, Italy - the "Cento Milioni
Conference"

Download counter: http://marketing.openoffice.org/marketing_bouncer.html
OOoCon 2009: http://www.ooocon.org
PR: http://www.prweb.com/releases/ooo/centomilioni/prweb3108474.htm

Global Press Contacts

John McCreesh (UTC +01h00)
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Lead
jpmcc@...
+44 (0)7 810 278 540

Florian Effenberger (UTC +01h00)
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Co-Lead
floeff@...
+49 8341 9966 0880

Louis Suárez-Potts (UTC -04h00)
OpenOffice.org Community Manager
louis@...
+1 (416) 625-3843

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OpenOffice.org 3.2 Beta Release available

2009-10-18T04:41:31Z

The OpenOffice.org Community is proud to announce the availability of a
beta release of its upcoming 3.2 version. This first preview is for
everyone interested in the new features and enhancements of the final
3.2 release, expected in December.

A list of all changes is available at
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Feature_Freeze_Testing_3.2 and
the actual download can be found on http://download.openoffice.org/next/

The OpenOffice.org Community invites everyone interested in the people
behind the productivity suite, its future and talks about open
standards, to join us on our annual gathering: the OpenOffice.org
Conference, which takes place in Orvieto, Italy, from November 3rd to
6th. More information can be found at http://www.ooocon.org

Global Press Contacts

John McCreesh (UTC +01h00)
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Lead
jpmcc@...
+44 (0)7 810 278 540

Florian Effenberger (UTC +01h00)
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Co-Lead
floeff@...
+49 8341 9966 0880

Louis Suárez-Potts (UTC -04h00)
OpenOffice.org Community Manager
louis@...
+1 (416) 625-3843

A list of local marketing contacts is available at
http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts.html

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OpenOffice.org Newsletter - 09/2009

2009-10-05T00:19:21Z

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OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER

09/2009

Please send news clippings to:
dev@...

#########################################################################

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Survey about the preferred format of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter.

We are asking for your opinion how the next OO.o Newsletter should look
like. We can keep the layout of the newsletter as it is today or we
change it to an improved and, in our opinion, easier readable layout
This is how the newsletter will look like in a improved layout
http://marketing.openoffice.org/tryouts/newsletter/OOoHTMLNewsletter.html

Your opinion on this topic is important. Please fill out the survey.
It is just one question.
http://surveys.services.openoffice.org/surveys/index.php?sid=88144&lang=en

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Contents
#########################################################################

1. Announcements
================
* OpenOffice.org Bloggers
* Come to Italy for the OpenOffice.org Annnual Conference

2. Success Stories
==================
* ZDNet Asia: Malaysian public sector bolsters OSS adoption

3. Featured News
================
* NotebookReview.com: OpenOffice 3.1 Review
* Datamation: Open source software can save India $2 bn
* Infoworld: Track key trends in Windows systems->OO.o market share 12%
* GullFOSS: Results of the Renaissance Prototype Survey
* GullFOSS: List of features of OpenOffice.org 3.2
* SIL.org: OpenOffice accepts Graphite software for version 3.2

4. Tips & Tricks
================
* TechRepublic: How do I install extensions in Open Office 3.1?
* gHack: Use OpenOffice Impress for flash card learning
* ComputerActive: Make your own business cards in Openoffice
* Solveig Haugland: Printing a selected print range in OpenOffice Calc

5. ODF News
===========
* 2nd ODF 'plugfest' Nov 2-3 in Orvieto, Italy
* ODF To be obligatory in Norwegian Public Sector
* Malaysia approve odf as a national standard
* ODF Workshop and CONSEGI 2009

6. OpenOffice.org solution of the month
=======================================
* MySQL Connector for OpenOffice.org

#########################################################################
The Community Needs your Help !

There are dozens opportunities to support the community and you do not
have to be a developer to help out. Here are just two of many examples:

Are You Interested in Marketing?
Go ahead an help the OpenOffice.org marketing project!
Help spread the word and by the way it looks good in your resume.

Do You like to Write Articles?
The documentation project is always looking for new and exiting articles.

Don't be shy and start volunteering today!
http://contributing.openoffice.org/index.html

#########################################################################

Announcements
#########################################################################

OpenOffice.org Bloggers
=======================

The OpenOffice.org Planet has the widest collection of OO.o content with
community members blogging on a wide variety of helpful topics.

http://www.openoffice.org/editorial/blogs.html

OpenOffice.org Conference 2009 is in Orvieto/Italy
==================================================

Registration officially has opened for the OpenOffice.org annual
international conference 2009 (OOoCon), to be held in the beautiful and
historic city of Orvieto, Umbria, Italy.

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=401
http://conference.services.openoffice.org/index.php/ooocon/2009

OpenOffice.org release 2.4.3 available for download
===================================================

The OpenOffice.org Community is pleased to announce the release of
OpenOffice.org 2.4.3, a minor update to the legacy OpenOffice.org 2.x
series.

http://download.openoffice.org.
http://development.openoffice.org/releases/2.4.3.html
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=400

Andreas Bartels describes the concepts for a new User Interface
===============================================================

Andreas Bartels lead of the UX project and Florian Effenberger
describing in a video the concepts for a new user interface and a FAQ
addresses the questions and concerns raised so far.

http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Renaissance/FAQ#Interview

Do you have something to share?
===============================

If you do, then this conference is the place to do it! We particularly
welcome proposals from developers with information to share with fellow
developers, ranging from how to get started on simple extensions, to the
deepest most complex technical aspects of the OpenOffice.org codebase.

Success Stories
#########################################################################

DK: Lyngby-Taarbæk moves schools to OpenOffice
==============================================

The administration of the Danish municipality of Lyngby-Taarbæk is
installing OpenOffice on some 1700 school desktop PCs [...]
The first school where OpenOffice will be installed is the Lindegård school.

http://www.osor.eu/news/dk-lyngby-taarbek-moves-schools-to-openoffice

Featured News
#########################################################################

NotebookReview.com: OpenOffice 3.1 Review
===================================================

For the vast majority of users, OpenOffice 3.1 will prove utterly
interchangeable with Microsoft Office 2003. Only power users --
particularly those of us who build slick custom Macros or who have
memorized every keyboard shortcut -- will be hindered by OpenOffice's
particulars.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5249&review=openoffice+3.1+review

Datamation: Open source software can save India $2 bn
===============================================================

As Indian consumers and enterprises evaluate the option of upgrading to
Microsoft’s much-touted operating system (OS) Windows 7, to be
officially launched on October 22, the free and open source software
(FOSS) community has fired yet another salvo at proprietary software.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/open-source-software-can-save-india-2-bn/369858/

Infoworld: Track key trends in Windows systems -> OO.o market share 12%
=======================================================================

A dashboard widgets on this page to track the actual state of Windows
usage across the globe. The data is updated daily based on data from the
exo.performance.network's nearly 20,000 monitored PCs

http://www.infoworld.com/windows-pulse

GullFOSS: Results of the Renaissance Prototype Survey
=====================================================

53% answered that they agree or agree totally that the current version
of OpenOffice.org need a UI redesign. 32% answered that they disagree or
disagree totally. This tendency supports the idea of project Renaissance.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/results_of_the_renaissance_prototype

GullFOSS: List of features of OpenOffice.org 3.2
================================================

Some weeks ago I announced here that I will finalize the feature-list
for this release soon after the last build with the last features is
ready for use. I am ready and you can check the wiki page, if you are
interested in all feature announcements for OOo 3.2.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/list_of_features_of_openoffice

SIL.org: OpenOffice accepts Graphite software for version 3.2
=============================================================

Graphite is designed to be an extensible mechanism adequate to handle
any orthographic phenomenon that might arise in any writing system based
on any modern script.

http://www.sil.org/sil/news/2009/graphite-in-open-office3.2.htm

Tips & Tricks
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TechRepublic: How do I install extensions in Open Office 3.1?
============================================================

...With the latest OpenOffice you can expand the capabilities of this
outstanding office suite by adding various types of extensions...

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=1599

gHack: Use OpenOffice Impress for flash card learning
======================================================

If you are currently taking classes, or are in any situation where you
need to learn a large amount of facts you may have taken it upon
yourself (or are wanting) to create flash cards to help you with the
learning process.

http://www.ghacks.net/2009/09/24/use-openoffice-impress-for-flash-card-learning/

ComputerActive: Make your own business cards in Openoffice
==========================================================

If you need some business cards quickly and don’t want to have to wait
for them to be printed, why not make some of your own?

http://www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive/q-and-a/2249319/own-business-cards-business-4550178

Solveig Haugland: Printing a selected print range in OpenOffice Calc
====================================================================

When you have an enormous spreadsheet, you don't always want to print
the whole thing every time. You want to print just a chunk. Also, when
you have an enormous spreadsheet, you don't want to have to re-specify,
every single time, exactly which range you want to print.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2009/09/printing-a-selected-print-range-in-openoffice-calc-spreadsheets.html

OO.o TNT : Those Drawing Icons
==============================

The Drawing toolbar has icons for drawing shapes. In Writer, you must
first enable the Drawing toolbar by View - Toolbars - Drawing, or by
clicking the Show Draw Function icon on the Standard toolbar. In Draw,
you see this toolbar by default near the bottom of the document window.

http://blogs.sun.com/oootnt/entry/all_those_icons

ODF News
#########################################################################

2nd ODF 'plugfest' Nov 2-3 in Orvieto, Italy
============================================

The second in a series of events bringing together ODF implementers to
fine-tune their interoperability capabilities and develop test
scenarios, recommendations and best practices will take place November
2-3, 2009, in the Italian city of Orvieto.

http://plugtest.opendocsociety.org/doku.php?id=plugfests:200911_orvieto:info

ODF To be obligatory in Norwegian Public Sector
====================================================

Beginning on January 1, 2011 it will be obligatory to use ODF or PDF
when exchanging documents as e-mail attachments between government
institutions and users in Norway

http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/fad/press-centre/press-releases/2009/new-obligatory-it-standards-for-the-stat.html?id=570650

Malaysia approve odf as a national standard
============================================

ODF was approved by the Malaysian national standards body SIRIM

http://mszt.hu/angol/general.htm

ODF Workshop and CONSEGI 2009
=============================

...participating in the ODF Workshop and CONSEGI 2009 and I would like
to share with you here some things that I saw, heard and spoke there...

http://homembit.com/2009/09/odf-workshop-and-consegi-2009.html

OdfAlliance.org: Impressions from the ODF Workshop in Brazil
============================================================

The growing public-sector support for ODF was on display at the 3rd
International ODF User Workshop, which concluded last week in Brasilia.
The event—organized by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SERPRO

http://www.odfalliance.org/blog/index.php/site/odf_brazil_workshop/

OpenOffice.org solution of the month
====================================
MySQL Connector for OpenOffice.org

The MySQL Connector for OpenOffice.org installs a native MySQL database
driver. It is faster, seamless integrated, easier to administrate and
there is no need to install and setup a JDBC or ODBC driver separately.
It was never easier to use MySQL databases in OO.o Base.

http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/mysql_connector

********************************************************************************
This section introduces a single solution which provides a OO.o
integration or based on OO.o technology. The idea behind it is to
support vendors who have an OO.o integration. The full list of solutions
is available here :
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org_Solutions

Drop me an email, if you want to have your solution listed.
********************************************************************************

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Newsletter Archive
#########################################################################
Past issues of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter can be found in the archive
of the announce mailing list:

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce

Contact Information (regarding this newsletter)
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dev@...

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Come to Italy for the OpenOffice.org Annnual Conference

2009-10-01T00:08:42Z

Registration officially opens today for the OpenOffice.org annual
international conference 2009 (OOoCon), to be held in the beautiful and
historic city of Orvieto, Umbria, Italy. Following pre-conference meetings
on Nov.3rd, the main OOoCon events run from Nov 4th-6th. The Conference
will include presentations not only from OpenOffice.org individual
contributors, but also from the main commercial players in the
OpenOffice.org / OpenDocument Format (ODF) world, including Sun
Microsystems, IBM, Redflag 2000, Novell, and Microsoft.

The main conference theme this year is "OpenOffice.org and Free/Libre Open
Source Software (FLOSS) in Education", with case studies, best practice,
and research results. In other tracks, members of the OpenOffice.org
Renaissance project will explain how they are aiming to improve the User
Experience of OpenOffice.org, and compare their approach with their
opposite numbers from Lotus Symphony and RedOffice. Workshops will
encourage attendees to join in this activity, help in the QA process, or
join the OpenOffice.org developers.

There will also be a series of sessions around ODF, the ground-breaking
international open standard for storing office software files. Commercial
adopters of the standard will explore how ODF is living up to its promise,
including presentations from Sun Microsystems (StarOffice), Microsoft
(Microsoft Office), RedFlag (RedOffice), and IBM (Lotus Symphony).

The draft Conference Programme, published today, provides abstracts and
speaker biographies for the conference sessions. People interested in
attending are urged to visit the Conference web site
http://www.ooocon.org, download the draft Programme, and register to
secure a place at the conference. Registering in advance helps the
Conference organisers know how many people are coming, and saves
congestion on the first day. Registration costs 10 Euro standard, with a 2
Euro concessionary rate.

The organisers wish to record their thanks to this year's sponsors:
Platinum: AICA, EurOffice, IBM, and Sun Microsystems; Gold: Oracle,
Redflag 2000, and Yacme; Silver: Engineering without whose generous
support OOoCon could not take place. Sponsorship opportunities are still
available - please see the 'Sponsors' link on the website.

The Conference Team

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OpenOffice.org release 2.4.3 available for download

2009-09-03T15:53:52Z

The OpenOffice.org Community is pleased to announce the release of
OpenOffice.org 2.4.3, a minor update to the legacy OpenOffice.org 2.x
series.

OpenOffice.org 2.4.3 is available for immediate download from
http://download.openoffice.org. Please contact the appropriate
native-language project http://projects.openoffice.org/native-lang.html
for details of availability in other languages, and the appropriate
porting project http://porting.openoffice.org for details of platforms.

Full details of the bugs fixed may be found in the release notes
http://development.openoffice.org/releases/2.4.3.html. Details of the
security vulnerabilities fixed will be published in our security
bulletin http://www.openoffice.org/security/bulletin.html on September
11th when the standard public disclosure embargo expires. To our
knowledge, none of these vulnerabilities has been exploited.

We recommend all users of legacy OpenOffice.org versions to upgrade to
the 3.x series. The current version 3.1.1 has been released on August 31st.

The next version of OpenOffice.org to contain significant new
functionality, OpenOffice.org 3.2, is expected to be available around
the end of November 2009.

The OpenOffice.org Community

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OpenOffice.org Newsletter - Volume 07 - Issue 26 - 08/2009

2009-09-03T02:44:09Z

#########################################################################

OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER

Volume 07 - Issue 26 - 08/2009

Please send news clippings to:
dev@...

#########################################################################

Contents
#########################################################################

1. Announcements
================
* OpenOffice.org Bloggers
* OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 Available for Download
* OpenOffice.org Conference 2009 is in Orvieto/Italy

2. Success Stories
==================
* ZDNet Asia: Malaysian public sector bolsters OSS adoption

3. Featured News
================
* Infoworld: Best of Open Source Software Awards 2009
* Datamation: OpenOffice.org and the 'Ribbons' Interface Brouhaha
* PC Pro: OpenOffice 3.1 deep dive
* OO.o TNT: Meta and the Semantic Web
* OSTATIC: Ten Productivity-Boosting OpenOffice.org Extensions
* GullFOSS: Feedback on Feedback
* German OpenOffice.org conference on economic and management
* Cross-project Open-Source Meeting [German]

4. Tips & Tricks
================
* gHacks: Creating forms to aid OpenOffice.org Base data entry
* Solveig Haugland: Using SUMIF() in OpenOffice Calc spreadsheets
* OO.o TNT: Creating images with multiple hot spots

5. ODF News
===========
* CIO.com: Group: 2008 progress shows ODF will prevail
* eWeek: ODF safe from Microsoft / i4i Lawsuit
* Andy Updegrove: So What About Those XML Patents, Anyway?
* The H: ODF and OOXML only just compatible
* Rob Weir: How Not to Read a Patent
* Microsoft offers Office 2010 file format 'ballot'

#########################################################################
The Community Needs your Help !

There are dozens opportunities to support the community and you do not
have to be a developer to help out. Here are just two of many examples:

Are You Interested in Marketing?
Go ahead an help the OpenOffice.org marketing project!
Help spread the word and by the way it looks good in your resume.

Do You like to Write Articles?
The documentation project is always looking for new and exiting articles.

Don't be shy and start volunteering today!
http://contributing.openoffice.org/index.html

#########################################################################

Announcements
#########################################################################

OpenOffice.org Bloggers
=======================

The OpenOffice.org Planet has the widest collection of OO.o content with
community members blogging on a wide variety of helpful topics.

http://www.openoffice.org/editorial/blogs.html

OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 Available for Download
============================================

Full details of the bugs fixed may be found in the release notes
http://development.openoffice.org/releases/3.1.1.html.

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=398

OpenOffice.org Conference 2009 is in Orvieto/Italy
==================================================

The annually OpenOffice.org Conference (OOoCon) will be this year in
Orvieto, Italy on November 4rd to November 6th 2009

http://conference.services.openoffice.org/index.php/ooocon/2009

Do you have something to share?
===============================

If you do, then this conference is the place to do it! We particularly
welcome proposals from developers with information to share with fellow
developers, ranging from how to get started on simple extensions, to the
deepest most complex technical aspects of the OpenOffice.org codebase.

Success Stories
#########################################################################

ZDNet Asia: Malaysian public sector bolsters OSS adoption
==================================================================

...295 agencies have deployed OpenOffice.org, totaling almost 20,000
installed seats and saving the Malaysian government over 18.8 million
ringgit (US$5.4 million) in licensing fees...

http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62056398,00.htm

Featured News
#########################################################################

Infoworld: Best of Open Source Software Awards 2009
===================================================

OpenOffice.org won the Infoworld Bossies award 2009

http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source/best-open-source-software-awards-2009-628

Datamation: OpenOffice.org and the 'Ribbons' Interface Brouhaha
===============================================================

Two weeks ago, Project Renaissance, the OpenOffice.org team tasked with
overhauling the interface of the popular free office application,
unveiled its first prototype.

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/3834986/OpenOfficeorg-and-the-Ribbons-Interface-Brouhaha.htm

PC Pro: OpenOffice 3.1 deep dive
================================

OpenOffice 3.1 brings some welcome new features and some much needed
polish, says Simon Jones

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/realworld/350737/openoffice-3-1-deep-dive

OO.o TNT: Meta and the Semantic Web
===================================

...If you are into technical writing, publishing documentations, you
will need standardized metadata in your documents. Every document should
have a feedback link, and creation data, page count, copyright
information, and more....

http://blogs.sun.com/oootnt/entry/meta_and_the_semantic_web

OSTATIC: Ten Productivity-Boosting OpenOffice.org Extensions
============================================================

OpenOffice.org is a terrific suite of office applications in its own
right, but it's out of this world when paired with extensions that add
extra functionality. There are plenty of extensions to choose from, but
let's take a look at a few that will really make your productivity soar.

http://ostatic.com/blog/ten-productivity-boosting-openoffice-org-extensions

GullFOSS: Feedback on Feedback
==============================

The prototype phase didn't end on July 4 after as originally planned. It
is still going strong and eliciting a great deal of enthusiasm and
feedback. In this blog post we want to provide answers to some of the
negative comments we've received.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/prototyping_a_new_user_interface

Tips & Tricks
#########################################################################

gHacks: Creating forms to aid OpenOffice.org Base data entry
============================================================

In the first entry to this “series” I worked through the process of
creating a database with OpenOffice.org Base. Upon completion of that
article you found yourself with a working database with no data

http://www.ghacks.net/2009/08/30/creating-forms-to-aid-openoffice-or-base-data-entry/

Solveig Haugland: Using SUMIF() in OpenOffice Calc spreadsheets
===========================================================

SUMIF(), like other functions, works the same way in Calc as in Excel.
However, it's a powerful function that I want to make sure readers know
about, if they don't already.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2009/08/using-sumif-in-openoffice-calc-spreadsheets-.html

OO.o TNT: Creating images with multiple hot spots
=================================================

Here are the two very nice shortcut features that let you slap in a
bunch of text with just a couple keystrokes.

http://blogs.sun.com/oootnt/entry/dont_be_shy_of_pictures

German OpenOffice.org conference on economic and management
===========================================================

The first German OpenOffice.org conference dedicated to public
administration will be held in the thermal city of Wiesbaden, Germany,
on 6 and 7 October 2009.

http://www.osor.eu/events/german-openoffice.org-conference-on-economic-and-management
http://www.oookwv.de [Page of the conference. [German]]

Cross-project Open-Source Meeting [German]
==========================================

The open source meetings, organized jointly by OOo and Mozilla will take
place in more cities

http://www.opensourcetreffen.de [German]

ODF News
#########################################################################

CIO.com: Group: 2008 progress shows ODF will prevail
====================================================

It was a good year for Open Document Format (ODF), which gained support
from governments across the world in 2008 as its backers continued to
promote it as an international standard for XML-based document exchange,
according to the ODF Alliance.

http://www.cio.com/article/472514/Group_2008_progress_shows_ODF_will_prevail

eWeek: ODF safe from Microsoft / i4i Lawsuit
============================================

Open Document Format uses different technology and so is immune to the
lawsuit that struck Microsoft, according to experts

http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/odf-safe-from-microsoft---i4i-lawsuit-1620

Andy Updegrove: So What About Those XML Patents, Anyway?
=========================================================

The wars to which I refer, of course, broke out with the announcement
early in the month that Microsoft had been granted an XML-related
patent... ...second front opened when a small Canadian company, named
i4i, won a stunning and unexpected remedy

http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20090821090244256

The H: ODF and OOXML only just compatible
=========================================

The Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communications Systems (FOKUS) has
been investigating the compatibility of the ISO standardised document
formats, Open Document Format (ODF, the standard format of OpenOffice)
and Open Office XML (OOXML, from Microsoft) and have now published the
results of their studies.

http://www.h-online.com/open/Fraunhofer-ODF-and-OOXML-only-just-compatible--/news/114045

Rob Weir: How Not to Read a Patent
==================================

There is perhaps no occasion where one can observe such profound
ignorance, coupled with reckless profligacy, as when a software patent
is discussed on the web. Note the recurring pattern, which is repeated
every two weeks or so.

http://www.robweir.com/blog/2009/08/how-not-to-read-patent.html

ComputerWorld: Microsoft offers Office 2010 file format 'ballot' to stop
EU antitrust probe
==================================

Microsoft will add a file format "ballot" to Office 2010, part of a
wider move to fend off European Union (EU) antitrust regulators and
block massive fines.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9136296/Microsoft_offers_Office_2010_file_format_ballot_to_stop_EU_antitrust_probe?taxonomyId=125

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Newsletter Archive
#########################################################################
Past issues of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter can be found in the archive
of the announce mailing list:

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce

Contact Information (regarding this newsletter)
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OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 is now available for download

2009-08-30T23:58:14Z

The OpenOffice.org Community is pleased to announce the release of
OpenOffice.org 3.1.1, a minor update to OpenOffice.org 3.1.0 released in
May 2009. OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 (EN-US for Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux,
and Solaris) is available for immediate download from
http://download.openoffice.org. Please contact the appropriate
native-language project http://projects.openoffice.org/native-lang.html
for details of availability in other languages, and the appropriate
porting project http://porting.openoffice.org for details of other
platforms.

Full details of the bugs fixed may be found in the release notes
http://development.openoffice.org/releases/3.1.1.html. Details of the
security vulnerabilities fixed will be published in our security bulletin
http://www.openoffice.org/security/bulletin.html on September 11th when
the standard public disclosure embargo expires. To our knowledge, none of
these vulnerabilities has been exploited; however, in accordance with
industry best practice, we recommend all users of earlier versions to
upgrade to 3.1.1.

The next version of OpenOffice.org to contain significant new
functionality, OpenOffice.org 3.2, is expected to be available around the
end of November 2009.

The OpenOffice.org Community

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Presenting at OOoCon? two weeks to go!

2009-08-16T23:21:55Z

Are you interesting in presenting at this year's OpenOffice.org Annual
Conference? If so, you have only one week left to let the OOoCon
organisers know, and one further week in which to send in your proposal.

For full details, please visit the OOoCon website
http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2009/ and click on the 'Call for
Papers', 'Track Policies', and 'Timeline' links.

The OOoCon 2009 Team

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OpenOffice.org Newsletter - Volume 07 - Issue 25 - 07/2009

2009-08-04T00:07:56Z

#########################################################################

OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER

Volume 07 - Issue 25 - 07/2009

Please send news clippings to:
dev@...

#########################################################################

Contents
#########################################################################

1. Announcements
================
* OpenOffice.org Bloggers
* OpenOffice.org Conference 2009 - Call for Papers
* Social Desktop Contest

2. Success Stories
==================
* ZDNet Asia: Malaysian public sector bolsters OSS adoption

3. Featured News
================
* Telefonica Spain offers professional OO.o support
* German OpenOffice.org conference on economic and management
* OO.o won a SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards
* CourierPress: Microsoft feels pressure for 'free' software
* Networkworld: Open Source vendors band together against Microsoft
* Prototyping a New User Interface for OOo - July Status Update

4. Tips & Tricks
================
* OpenOffice.org Calc: The Mysteries of DataPilots Revealed
* ghacks.net: Open and edit PDF files in OpenOffice
* Solveig Haugland: Creating Keyboard Shortcuts in OpenOffice
* Solveig Haugland: Reusable Information in OpenOffice Writer

5. ODF News
===========
* Computerworld: New IT-standards in the Norway [translated]
* Battle for multi-billion dollar e-governance projects hots up
* ODF in FISL 10

6. OpenOffice.org solution of the month
=======================================
* TeamDrive Plug-in for OpenOffice

#########################################################################
Want to help OpenOffice.org? Find out hot to contribute or see our
To Do List!!

http://contributing.openoffice.org/index.html
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/To-Dos/index.html
#########################################################################

Announcements
#########################################################################

OpenOffice.org Bloggers
=======================

A Planet is a web page which consolidates posts by a number of bloggers.
There are a number of OpenOffice.org Planets: the OpenOffice.org Planet
is the widest collection, with people blogging on a wide variety of
OpenOffice.org topics.

http://www.openoffice.org/editorial/blogs.html

OpenOffice.org Conference 2009 - Call for Papers
================================================

The OOoCon Team are now accepting proposals from potential OOoCon 2009
speakers.
For full details click on the 'Call for Papers', 'Track Policies', and
'Timeline' links.

http://conference.services.openoffice.org/index.php/ooocon/2009

Social Desktop Contest
======================

The concept behind the Social Desktop is to bring the power of online
communities and group collaboration to desktop applications and the
desktop shell itself.
Here is the challenge: create and submit applications, widgets,
plasmoids or web services etc. as part of the contest and win one of our
wonderful prizes.

http://www.socialdesktop.org/contest/

Do you have something to share?
===============================

If you do, then this conference is the place to do it! We particularly
welcome proposals from developers with information to share with fellow
developers, ranging from how to get started on simple extensions, to the
deepest most complex technical aspects of the OpenOffice.org codebase.

Success Stories
#########################################################################

ZDNet Asia: Malaysian public sector bolsters OSS adoption
==================================================================

...295 agencies have deployed OpenOffice.org, totaling almost 20,000
installed seats and saving the Malaysian government over 18.8 million
ringgit (US$5.4 million) in licensing fees...

http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62056398,00.htm

Featured News
#########################################################################

Telefonica Spain offers professional OO.o support
=================================================

Article and support available in Spanish only !

http://www.vivalinux.com.ar/biz/telefonica-openoffice-respuesta-profesional

German OpenOffice.org conference on economic and management
===========================================================

The first German OpenOffice.org conference dedicated to public
administration will be held in the thermal city of Wiesbaden, Germany,
on 6 and 7 October 2009.

http://www.osor.eu/events/german-openoffice.org-conference-on-economic-and-management
http://www.oookwv.de [Page of the conference. [German]]

Cross-project Open-Source Meeting [German]
==========================================

The open source meetings, organized jointly by OOo and Mozilla

http://www.opensourcetreffen.de [German]

OO.o won a SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards
==================================================

-> Best Project for Government

http://sourceforge.net/community/cca09/

CourierPress: Microsoft feels pressure for 'free' software
============================================================

...Microsoft's real struggles are over how to price this product and how
to handle the online component. Give away too much Office online and the
company risks giving away a huge financial portion of its business...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/jul/17/microsoft-feels-pressure-for-free-software/

Networkworld: Open Source vendors band together against Microsoft
=================================================================

...The coalition calls itself Open Source for America and its motives
are seen as specifically targeting government no-bid renewals of
Microsoft products...

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/43780

GullFOSS: Prototyping a New User Interface for OOo - July Status Update
=================================================================

The prototyping phase, to create a new user interface for
OpenOffice.org, has ended last week....
...and try the prototype yourself (Java 6 required). It is not only
about Impress, we are working on a UI for the entire OOo. You will be
asked to give feedback when closing the prototype.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/prototyping_a_new_ui_july

Tips & Tricks
#########################################################################

LinuxJournal: OpenOffice.org Calc: The Mysteries of DataPilots Revealed
=======================================================================

If you're coming fresh from Microsoft Excel, you might wonder where the
Pivot tables are in OpenOffice.org Calc. The problem is, they're
masquerading under the name of DataPilots

http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/openofficeorg-calc-mysteries-datapilots-revealed

ghacks.net: Open and edit PDF files in OpenOffice
=================================================

I get this a lot “How can I open and edit PDF files without having to
purchase a costly application like QarkXPress”? Before OpenOffice
extensions came about my answer to that would be “Not easily”.

http://www.ghacks.net/2009/07/28/open-and-edit-pdf-files-in-openoffice/

Solveig Haugland: Creating Keyboard Shortcuts in OpenOffice
===========================================================

However, in OpenOffice.org you can set your keyboard shortcuts pretty
much any way you want. You can even assign shortcut keys to styles. This
means that...

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2009/07/creating-keyboard-shortcuts-in-openoffice-including-assigning-keyboard-shortcuts-to-styles-a-great-f.html

Solveig Haugland: Reusable Information in OpenOffice Writer
===========================================================

Here are the two very nice shortcut features that let you slap in a
bunch of text with just a couple keystrokes.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2009/07/inserting-stored-reusable-information-in-openoffice-writer-one-of-the-most-useful-features-in-openof.html

ODF News
#########################################################################

Computerworld: New IT-standards in the Norway [translated]
===================================================================

The Norwegian Ministry of Government Administration and has completed
step two in a long-term effort to determine the recommended and required
it standards that public companies should take:
For the exchange of documents as attachments to e-mail between
government and users, it is mandatory from 1.1.2011 to use document
formats PDF or ODF

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A//www.idg.no/computerworld/article137544.ece&hl=en&langpair=auto|en&tbb=1&ie=ISO-8859-1

Business-Standard: Battle for multi-billion dollar e-governance projects
hots up
========================================================================

The battle over standards for the multi-billion dollar e-governance
projects is once again hotting up. IT majors like IBM, Sun Microsystems
and Red Hat have shot letters to industry bodies

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/battle-for-multi-billion-dollar-e-governance-projects-hots-up/363310/

ODF in FISL 10
==============

The FISL 10 (International Forum of Free Software) was for me the best
FISL ever. ...President of Brazil Lula wearing a ODF cap...

http://homembit.com/2009/07/odf-in-fisl-10.html

OpenOffice.org solution of the month
====================================
TeamDrive Plug-in for OpenOffice

The new TeamDrive OpenOffice Plug-in allows users to collaborate easy
right out of OpenOffice.org. TeamDrive enhances OpenOffice.org with an
automatic version control system.

http://www.teamdrive.net/en/teamdrive/openoffice-plugin

********************************************************************************
This section introduces a single solution which provides a OO.o
integration or based on OO.o technology. The idea behind it is to
support vendors who have an OO.o integration. The full list of solutions
is available here :
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org_Solutions

Drop me an email, if you want to have your solution listed.
********************************************************************************

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Newsletter Archive
#########################################################################
Past issues of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter can be found in the archive
of the announce mailing list:

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce

Contact Information (regarding this newsletter)
#########################################################################
dev@...

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OpenOffice.org Newsletter - Volume 07 - Issue 24 - 06/2009

2009-07-07T00:21:17Z

#########################################################################

OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER

Volume 07 - Issue 24 - 06/2009

Please send news clippings to:
dev@...

#########################################################################

Contents
#########################################################################

1. Announcements
================
* OpenOffice.org Bloggers
* OpenOffice.org Conference 2009 - Call for Papers

2. Success Stories
==================
* Gribskov: Municipality uses OO.o and saves a million DKK per year

3. Featured News
================
* Take the new Sun OpenOffice.org Specialist Certifications.
* EndNote X3 for Windows Released - With OO.o support
* Chin Wong: Shifting to OpenOffice
* PHC Software now supports OpenOffice.org Calc
* Connected Internet: OpenOffice.org vs Google Docs
* GullFOSS: The framework project, OpenOffice.org 3.2 and Windows 7
* GullFOSS: UI Design Proposals Wrap Up and a Look Forward

4. Tips & Tricks
================
* Linux Journal: Creating Queries in OpenOffice.org Base
* Linux Beacon: Getting the most out of OpenOffice.org Writer
* Suite101: How To Create an OpenOffice.org Database Log On
* Solveig Haugland: How to put a drawing into a Writer document
* GullFOSS: Does OpenOffice.org 3.x have a general quality issue?

5. ODF News
===========
* Another Vendor to Fully Support ODF: GemBox Software
* iTunes: FileAid, the first OpenDocument (OpenOffice) reader for
* H Open: "Productive" Open Document Plugfest
* sdtimes : Microsoft focuses on 'pragmatic interoperability'

#########################################################################
Want to help OpenOffice.org? Find out hot to contribute or see our
To Do List!!

http://contributing.openoffice.org/index.html
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/To-Dos/index.html
#########################################################################

Announcements
#########################################################################

OpenOffice.org Bloggers
=======================

A Planet is a web page which consolidates posts by a number of bloggers.
There are a number of OpenOffice.org Planets: the OpenOffice.org Planet
is the widest collection, with people blogging on a wide variety of
OpenOffice.org topics.

http://www.openoffice.org/editorial/blogs.html

OpenOffice.org Conference 2009 - Call for Papers
================================================

Do you have something to share?

If you do, then this conference is the place to do it! We particularly
welcome proposals from developers with information to share with fellow
developers, ranging from how to get started on simple extensions, to the
deepest most complex technical aspects of the OpenOffice.org codebase.

Success Stories
#########################################################################

Gribskov: Municipality uses OpenOffice and saves a million DKK per year
==================================================================

The Danish municipality of Gribskov has saved two million DKK, about
270,000 euro, over the past two years by switching the public
administration and schools to OpenOffice, Michel van den Linden,
responsible for IT in the municipality says in an interview with the
Danish IT news site Computerworld.

http://www.osor.eu/news/dk-municipality-uses-openoffice-and-saves-a-million-dkk-per-year

Featured News
#########################################################################

Take the new Sun OpenOffice.org Specialist Certifications.
============================================================
Register now at Prometric Test Centers to take the new Sun
OpenOffice.org Specialist Certifications. OpenOffice.org certification
allows you to prove your skills in three areas of the OpenOffice.org
suite; OpenOffice.org Writer 3, OpenOffice.org Calc 3, and
OpenOffice.org Impress 3.

http://www.prometric.com/OpenOffice/default.htm

EndNote X3 for Windows Released - With OO.o support
============================================================

...EndNote X3 expands ways to group references and find full text when
off campus. Cite While You Write now integrates with OpenOffice.org
Writer 3 ... users can search for and insert citations within
OpenOffice.org Writer documents and format bibliographies instantly,
just as they can in Apple Pages '09 and Microsoft Word.

http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/Digest/Thomson-Reuters-Releases-EndNote-X-for-Windows-54870.asp

Chin Wong: Shifting to OpenOffice
============================================================

GIVEN the cost of buying a licensed copy of MS Office and the dangers of
using pirated software, it’s no surprise that many companies are opting
to use OpenOffice. Published free and open source, OpenOffice (Version
3.0 is the latest) can be downloaded and used with no legal liability

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=business6_june23_2009

PHC Software now supports OpenOffice.org Calc
=========================================================

PHC (www.phc.pt), an Enterprise Management applications in Portugal is
now supporting OpenOffice.org Calc, making it possible for the
Portuguese companies to reduce their licencing costs. The PHC 2010
version enables export to OpenOffice Calc where previously export to
Microsoft Excel was the only option.
This development was based on the 3.0 version of OpenOffice.org"

http://www.phc.pt/portal/programs/ewpview.aspx?codigo=Upgrade

Connected Internet: OpenOffice.org vs Google Docs
=================================================

Microsoft Office has ruled the world of computer productivity since the
Windows 9x era. Really, how many of you are still using Corel or Lotus?
I thought so.

http://www.connectedinternet.co.uk/2009/06/29/openoffice-org-vs-google-docs/

Suite101: How To Create an OpenOffice.org Database Log On
=========================================================

At some point in their lives every OpenOffice.org Base developer will
start to consider the security of their database. For example they may
wish to:

http://database-programming.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_create_an_openofficeorg_database_log_on

GullFOSS: The framework project, OpenOffice.org 3.2 and Windows 7
=================================================================

Currently the framework team works on OpenOffice.org 3.2 and
compatibility with the Windows 7 file picker. If you use OpenOffice.org
3.1 or download the latest developement snapshot you will find out that
the system file picker doesn't look like the default Windows 7 file dialog.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/openoffice_org_the_framework_project

GullFOSS: UI Design Proposals Wrap Up and a Look Forward
===============================================================

After gathering data from several user surveys to get to know our users,
the next big step toward a new user interface was our call for UI Design
proposals which has now been concluded. The topic was Accessing
Functionality in Impress, where we focused on the improvement or even
replacement of menus.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/renaissance_summary_of_ui_design

Tips & Tricks
#########################################################################

Linux Journal: Creating Queries in OpenOffice.org Base
======================================================

Queries are the database equivalent of filters in a spreadsheet. Just as
a filter can limit and reorganize the information displayed in a
spreadsheet, so a query limits and reorganizes the information in a
database. Either can be an efficient way of finding the information you
want, especially when you're dealing with thousands of records.

http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/creating-queries-openofficeorg-base

Linux Beacon: Getting the most out of OpenOffice.org Writer
===========================================================

Writer is, without a doubt, the most frequently used application in the
OpenOffice.org suite. It offers many advanced features that can help you
to create anything from a simple letter to a book with a complex layout.

http://linuxbeacon.com/doku.php/articles:writertips

Solveig Haugland: How to put a drawing into a Writer document
===============================================================================

When you create a drawing in Draw, you often want to then paste it into
a Writer document....

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2009/06/how-to-put-a-drawing-into-a-writer-document-safely-and-more-quickly-in-openoffice.html

Solveig Haugland: Using regular expressions in OpenOffice Calc filters
=====================================================================

Using regular expressions in OpenOffice Calc filters -- phrases like
"contains" rather than equals, less than, etc.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2009/06/using-regular-expressions-in-openoffice-calc-filters-phrases-like-contains-rather-than-equals-less-t.html

ODF News
#########################################################################

Another Vendor to Fully Support ODF: GemBox Software
===================================================================

... GemBox.Spreadsheet .NET component fully supports Open Document
Format for spreadsheets (.ods files). GemBox.Spreadsheet already
supports XLS, CSV, XLSX and HTML, so addition of ODF will enable C# and
VB.NET developers to read, write and convert between all that formats.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/ODF/component/prweb2546424.htm

iTunes: FileAid, the first OpenDocument (OpenOffice) reader for
========================================================================

The new version of FileAid 1.3 integrates the first OpenDocument
(OpenOffice) reader for the iPhone OS.
Read OpenDocuments' Texts, Spreadsheets and Presentations easely using
FileAid.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=297804694&mt=8

H Open: "Productive" Open Document Plugfest
=================================================

The first ODF Plugfest has brought together both corporate and
independent developers to test the interoperability of Open Document
Format (ODF) documents.

http://www.h-online.com/open/Productive-Open-Document-Plugfest--/news/113601

sdtimes : Microsoft focuses on 'pragmatic interoperability'

================================================

Microsoft receives feedback through many channels, but it chose to place
itself in the hot seat in May at a closed-door meeting of its
Interoperability Customer Executive Council (ICEC).

http://www.sdtimes.com/link/33574

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OOoCon 2009 - Call for Papers

2009-07-06T01:12:45Z

The OpenOffice.org Annual Conference (OOoCon 2009) will be held in
Orvieto, Italy from November 3, 2009 - November 6, 2009.

The OpenOffice.org Community invites potential speakers to submit
proposals for papers for OOoCon 2009. Whether you are a seasoned
presenter, or have never stood up in public before, if you have something
interesting to share about OpenOffice.org - we want to hear from you.
Please note the Conference main language is English, but this year we have
a specific session dedicated to education where it will be possible to
submit proposals both in English and Italian.

OOoCon 2009 will be open for speaker registration and the submission of
proposals on July 13th, so start working on those proposals now!

For full details, please visit the OOoCon website
http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2009/ and click on the 'Call for
Papers', 'Track Policies', and 'Timeline' links.

See you at OOoCon 2009!

The OOoCon 2009 Team

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OpenOffice.org Newsletter - Volume 07 - Issue 23 - 05/2009

2009-06-09T01:09:14Z

#########################################################################

OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER

Volume 07 - Issue 23 - 05/2009

Please send news clippings to:
dev@...

#########################################################################

Contents
#########################################################################

1. Announcements
================
* OpenOffice.org Bloggers

2. Success Stories
==================
* Gribskov: Municipality uses OO.o and saves a million DKK per year

3. Featured News
================
* H Open: OpenOffice 3.1: The new features
* GullFOSS: OpenOffice.org User Survey 2009 Data Available
* GullFOSS: Ideation and what's next in the Renaissance Project
* The Register: OpenOffice 3.1 ready to lick Microsoft's suite?
* Computerworld: OpenOffice.org 3.1: The next generation

4. Tips & Tricks
================
* Andrew Ziem: OpenOffice.org New User Orientation
* Solveig Haugland: OO.o 3.1 Chart Feature: What to do with zero values
* Solveig Haugland: How to set up a score card for your Iron Chef party

5. ODF News
===========
* Rob Weir: Update on ODF Spreadsheet Interoperability
* IBM, Microsoft quibble over Office 2007's new ODF support
* ODF Alliance: Microsoft’s ODF Support Falls Short
* Data.gov: Unlocking the Federal Filing Cabinets

#########################################################################
Want to help OpenOffice.org? Find out hot to contribute or see our
To Do List!!

http://contributing.openoffice.org/index.html
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/To-Dos/index.html
#########################################################################

Announcements
#########################################################################

OpenOffice.org Bloggers
=======================

A Planet is a web page which consolidates posts by a number of bloggers.
There are a number of OpenOffice.org Planets: the OpenOffice.org Planet
is the widest collection, with people blogging on a wide variety of
OpenOffice.org topics.

http://www.openoffice.org/editorial/blogs.html

Success Stories
#########################################################################

Gribskov: Municipality uses OpenOffice and saves a million DKK per year
==================================================================

The Danish municipality of Gribskov has saved two million DKK, about
270,000 euro, over the past two years by switching the public
administration and schools to OpenOffice, Michel van den Linden,
responsible for IT in the municipality says in an interview with the
Danish IT news site Computerworld.

http://www.osor.eu/news/dk-municipality-uses-openoffice-and-saves-a-million-dkk-per-year

Featured News
#########################################################################

H Open: OpenOffice 3.1: The new features
============================================================

OpenOffice 3.1 offers a whole range of new features. Instant eye
catchers are the improved anti-aliasing for graphics, better chart
functionality, and the new text highlighting in Writer.

http://www.h-online.com/open/OpenOffice-3-1-The-new-features--/features/113234

GullFOSS: OpenOffice.org User Survey 2009 Data Available
============================================================

The data collected by the current OOo User Survey 2009 has been
published at the OOo wiki. The data is based on more than 125K
submissions by our users within the last three months.

http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Renaissance:Phase_1:OOoUser_Survey2009

GullFOSS: Ideation and what's next in the Renaissance Project
=========================================================

I'd like to share my experience with using some ideation methods I
learned in Berlin for UI brainstorming, and to give a short preview of
what is about to happen in the Renaissance Project and for what reason.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/ideation_and_what_s_next

The Register: OpenOffice 3.1 ready to lick Microsoft's suite?
===============================================================

OpenOffice.org remains the most popular open source answer to
Microsoft's ubiquitous Office suite, and in these recessionary times,
the appeal of "free" software is stronger than ever.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/11/openoffice_3_dot_1_review/

Computerworld: OpenOffice.org 3.1: The next generation
======================================================

The latest version of the open-source office suite OpenOffice.org 3.1
has just arrived, and it's a good one. While some of the improvements
are visible to the naked eye, I found that the most important changes
were hidden under the hood.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=&articleId=9132829&taxonomyId=&intsrc=kc_feat

Tips & Tricks
#########################################################################

Andrew Ziem: OpenOffice.org New User Orientation
=====================================================================

This is your new-user orientation. [...] Read on to discover support,
tutorials, community insights, templates, clip art, extensions, and blogs.

http://blog.worldlabel.com/2009/openofficeorg-new-user-orientation.html

Solveig Haugland: OO.o 3.1 Chart Feature: What to do with zero values
===============================================================================

If you're missing data, you have three options now: skip the data,
assume zero, or compute a logical continuation.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2009/05/openofficeorg-31-chart-feature-what-to-do-with-zero-values.html

Solveig Haugland: How to set up a score card for your Iron Chef party
=====================================================================

Here's the point where MAX, COUNTIF, data validity, and conditional
formatting, come together to tabulate voting results. The project also
involves chocolate and squash.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2009/05/how-to-set-up-a-score-card-for-your-iron-chef-party-or-tabulate-other-votingscoring-situations-in-op.html

ODF News
#########################################################################

Rob Weir: Update on ODF Spreadsheet Interoperability
===================================================================

I created a test document in each of those editors and then loaded each
test document in each of the other editors. I showed what worked, what
didn't, and made some suggestions on how interoperability could be improved.

http://www.robweir.com/blog/2009/05/update-on-odf-spreadsheet.html

Computerworld: IBM, Microsoft quibble over Office 2007's new ODF support
========================================================================

In the latest bout of sniping in the long-running feud over document
format standards, IBM this week claimed that Microsoft Corp.'s Excel
2007 corrupted formulas and data in spreadsheets created in the
OpenDocument Format.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9132634&intsrc=news_ts_head

ODF Alliance: Microsoft’s ODF Support Falls Short
=================================================

The OpenDocument Format (ODF) Alliance today cautioned that serious
deficiencies in Microsoft’s support for ODF needed to be addressed to
ensure greater interoperability with other ODF-supporting software.

http://www.odfalliance.org/blog/index.php/site/microsofts_odf_support_falls_short/

Data.gov: Unlocking the Federal Filing Cabinets
================================================

With the new government site Data.gov, Mr. Kundra is showing off the
value of standard data formats as well.
The government, of course, has been publishing information on paper for
centuries, and in electronic form for decades. The USA.gov portal has
links to hundreds of Web sites the government runs about all of its
agencies and programs.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/datagov-unlocking-the-federal-filing-cabinets/

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Newsletter Archive
#########################################################################
Past issues of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter can be found in the archive
of the announce mailing list:

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce

Contact Information (regarding this newsletter)
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OpenOffice.org Newsletter - Volume 07 - Issue 22 - 04/2009

2009-05-07T03:53:41Z

#########################################################################

OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER

Volume 07 - Issue 22 - 04/2009

Please send news clippings to:
dev@...

#########################################################################

Contents
#########################################################################

1. Announcements
================
* OpenOffice.org 3.1 available for download !
* OpenOffice.org 3.1 New Features
* OpenOffice.org Native MySQL Driver: Alpha Build available
* Create a "living" postcard - Send us your OO.o video
* OpenOffice.org Bloggers

2. Success Stories
==================
* Gribskov: Municipality uses OO.o and saves a million DKK per year
* Amsterdam to make OpenOffice and Firefox default on city desktops
* Travel Republic - Online travel agent

3. Featured News
================
* ZDNet: Interesting times for OpenOffice
* Scrippsnews: Compute: Microsoft fights for its life on the desktop
* GullFOSS: OpenOffice.org User Survey 2009: Performance Findings
* GullFOSS: Achievements for a better start up performance

4. Tips & Tricks
================
* Mavenspire: Creating an Interactive PDF Form with OpenOffice
* Linuxjournal: Creating Reports in OpenOffice.org Base
* Dmitri Popov: Automating tasks in OpenOffice
* Computeractive: One-click macros
* Beginner's Guide to OpenOffice Impress
* Having more than one OpenOffice.org installed on your windows-system
* Solveig Haugland: Using HLOOKUP and RANDBETWEEN to create random sets
of things from two or more sets in OpenOffice.org Calc spreadsheets

5. ODF News
===========
* Washingtonpost: Microsoft Updates Office 2007 With SP 2 (ODF Support)
* PR Newswire: Microsoft Responds to Growing Demand for ODF

#########################################################################
Want to help OpenOffice.org? Find out hot to contribute or see our
To Do List!!

http://contributing.openoffice.org/index.html
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/To-Dos/index.html
#########################################################################

Announcements
#########################################################################

OpenOffice.org 3.1 available for download !
=========================================

http://www.prweb.com/releases/OOo/31/prweb2388264.htm

OpenOffice.org 3.1 New Features
===============================================================

http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/features/3.1/

OpenOffice.org Native MySQL Driver: Alpha Build available
=========================================================

If you're familiar with MySQL, the term “native driver” might confuse
you, as on the MySQL side, “native” means that a driver implements the
MySQL Client Server Protocol. This isn't true for the driver we talk
about here (see below), so the MySQL people will refer to it as
Connector/OOo.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/openoffice_org_native_mysql_driver

Create "living" postcard - Send us your OO.o video
==================================================
Get in front of the camera and tell why OOo is special and how to get
involved. Send your video to ooo.postcard@...

http://ooomarketing.blogspot.com/2009/03/videos-get-involved.html

OpenOffice.org Bloggers
=======================

A Planet is a web page which consolidates posts by a number of bloggers.
There are a number of OpenOffice.org Planets: the OpenOffice.org Planet
is the widest collection, with people blogging on a wide variety of
OpenOffice.org topics.

http://www.openoffice.org/editorial/blogs.html

Success Stories
#########################################################################

Gribskov: Municipality uses OpenOffice and saves a million DKK per year
==================================================================

The Danish municipality of Gribskov has saved two million DKK, about
270,000 euro, over the past two years by switching the public
administration and schools to OpenOffice, Michel van den Linden,
responsible for IT in the municipality says in an interview with the
Danish IT news site Computerworld.

http://www.osor.eu/news/dk-municipality-uses-openoffice-and-saves-a-million-dkk-per-year

Amsterdam to make OpenOffice and Firefox default on city desktops
=================================================================
The city council of the city of Amsterdam on Wednesday decided that
OpenOffice and Firefox should become default applications on all 15.000
desktops in use by the administration.

http://www.osor.eu/news/nl-amsterdam-to-make-openoffice-and-firefox-default-on-city-desktops

Travel Republic - Online travel agent
================================================================

"We chose it because of cost," says Chris Waite, the IT director of
Travel Republic, a large online travel agent based in England. Listed as
the fastest-growing private company in 2007, Travel Republic installed
OpenOffice through necessity. It now runs it on all 120 desktops.

"The cost of the Microsoft Office suite is prohibitive, so we chose
OpenOffice and it does everything we need," Mr Waite says. "It's saved
us about 18,000 ($A38,000). I just wish we'd deployed more open source
software from the outset."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/biztech/a-guide-to-freeloading/2009/03/31/1238261576355.html

Featured News
#########################################################################

ZDNet: Interesting times for OpenOffice
============================================================

In troubled economic times the attractions of free software become
increasingly obvious, and even for die-hard users of Microsoft Office,
the prospect of upgrading to Office 2010 in Q1 next year may prove too
much to contemplate.

http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10012640o-2000331760b,00.htm

Scrippsnews: Compute: Microsoft fights for its life on the desktop
===========================================================

Windows remains important and the release, maybe even this fall, of
Windows 7 is critically important. But what is more important is the
continuation of Office, the hugely popular collection of office tools
like word-processing, spreadsheet and presentation software.

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/42641

GullFOSS: OpenOffice.org User Survey 2009: Performance Findings
===============================================================

Currently more than 64K users have started the survey and more than 44K
finally submitted their votes.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/date/20090403

GullFOSS: Achievements for a better start up performance
========================================================

The cold start up performance analysis revealed that loading all
necessary shared libraries makes up 52%. Loading data files and access
to the file system makes up 28%. That means that about 80% of the whole
cold start up time is used up by file I/O.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/achievements_for_a_better_start

Tips & Tricks
#########################################################################

Mavenspire: Creating an Interactive PDF Form with OpenOffice
=====================================================================

The first step for creating a PDF form in OpenOffice Writer is to get
the Form toolbar. Go to View—Toolbars and check Form Controls, if it
isn't already checked. Stick the toolbar somewhere convenient for you or
let it happily float.

http://www.mavenspire.com/blog/26-corporate-blog/151-creating-an-interactive-pdf-form-with-openoffice.html

Linuxjournal: Creating Reports in OpenOffice.org Base
======================================================

Let's face it, databases are only minimally human-readable. Or, at
least, that's the case in OpenOffice.org Base, regardless of whether you
view a database's tables directly or filter them through a query or
form. In fact, to anybody who's not an accountant or a computer geek,
reading databases can be downright intimidating.

http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/creating-reports-openofficeorg-base

Dmitri Popov: Automating tasks in OpenOffice
============================================

OpenOffice.org comes with its own Basic-based programming language.
Although OOo Basic is not the most difficult programming language, it
still requires some time and effort, especially if you are not a programmer.

http://www.linux-magazine.com/issues/2008/96/macro_meal

Computeractive: One-click macros
================================

Q I have started to use Openoffice Calc instead of Excel, but I cannot
work out how to create and add icons for macros to a toolbar

http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive/q-and-a/2239694/click-macros&ct=ga&cd=ygVVk1L_8iY&usg=AFQjCNHmYPw9SghgmxOWuVEPvqCC3AxyQQ

Beginner's Guide to OpenOffice Impress
======================================

OpenOffice Impress is a presentation software program that is part of a
suite of programs offered as a free download from OpenOffice.org.
OpenOffice Impress is a great tool for presentations in business,
classrooms, and personal use.

http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/openofficeimpress/tp/071021openoffice_beginguide.htm

Having more than one OpenOffice.org installed on your windows-system
====================================================================

With "normal" setup installation it is currently not possible to have
more than 1 OpenOffice.org installed on the same windows system in
parallel. But for testing purposes it is really necessary to have more
than 1 installation available to e.g. check for regressions.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/having_more_than_one_openoffice

Solveig Haugland: Using HLOOKUP and RANDBETWEEN to create random sets of
things from two or more sets in OpenOffice.org Calc spreadsheets
===============================================================================

Say you're trying to spice up your wardrobe and not just wear the same
old outfits. You've got tops, pants, and shoes. You can put together a
spreadsheet that randomly chooses one item from a list of tops, another
random item from your list of pants, and maybe (depending on how
adventurous you are) you get a new outfit you never would have thought of.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2009/04/using-hlookup-and-randbetween-to-create-random-sets-of-things-in-openofficeorg-calc-spreadsheets.html

ODF News
#########################################################################

Washingtonpost: Microsoft Updates Office 2007 With SP 2 (ODF Support)
===================================================================

This week brought a major update to Microsoft Office 2007 -- Service
Pack 2, a free download that fixes bugs, improves performance and adds a
few new features in the company's bundle of productivity applications
(see my review).

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2009/04/microsoft_office_2007_sp2.html?hpid=sec-tech

PR Newswire: Microsoft Responds to Growing Demand for ODF
================================================================

ODF Alliance Cautions Governments to Evaluate the New Software to Ensure
Sufficient Interoperability

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-28-2009/0005014709&EDATE=

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of the announce mailing list:

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce

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OpenOffice.org 3.1 is now available for download

2009-05-06T23:11:03Z

The OpenOffice.org Community is pleased to announce the general
availability of OpenOffice.org 3.1, a significant upgrade to the world's
leading open-source office productivity suite. Since OpenOffice.org 3.0
was launched last October, over 60 million downloads have been recorded
from the OpenOffice.org website alone. Released in more than 90 languages
and available as a free download on all major computing platforms,
OpenOffice.org 3.1 looks set to break these records.

Thanks to all community members who have helped make this release
possible. Users of previous versions of OpenOffice.org were asked to vote
for their 'most desired' new features, and this wish list helped shape the
new release. The new release also includes a feedback mechanism where
users can opt-in to supply feedback automatically to the developers about
how they use OpenOffice.org.

The biggest single change (half a million lines of code!) and the most
visible is the major revamp of OpenOffice.org on-screen graphics. Techies
call it anti-aliasing - users just appreciate how much crisper graphics
are on screen. The improved look extends to other subtle changes, such as:
how images display when they are being dragged, how selections of text are
highlighted, and even adding the ability to overline text.

New core features include:

Writer (word processing)
* Improvements to comments: reply feature now supports 'conversations'
* Further grammar checker integration
* Outline levels within paragraphs for complex documents

Calc (spreadsheet)
* Hot hints for formulae, with new and improved formulae available
* Improved sorting
* More performance bottlenecks removed
* The zoom slider added to the status bar
* Rename sheets with a double-click

Chart (graphics engine)
* Flexible positioning of axes for scientific and educational users
* Flexible handling of "missing" data points

Impress (presentation)
* Font size buttons

Base (database)
* SQL syntax highlighting
* Easier deployment of macro applications

Internationalization and Localization
* Improved support for bidirectional scripts
* New locale support

Behind the scenes, OpenOffice.org also now has a more capable file locking
mechanism, enabling users to share files safely in a multi-user,
multi-platform environment.

The guide to new features is available here:
http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/features/3.1/index.html

Download OpenOffice.org 3.1 here: http://download.openoffice.org/

Read our Press Release:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/OOo/31/prweb2388264.htm

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Amendments to the OpenOffice.org Community Council Charter

2009-03-25T00:13:59Z

Please note that the amended OpenOffice.org Community Council Charter
(v1.2) has now been published on the website
http://council.openoffice.org/councilcharter12.html.
The main changes are an increase in the number of members from nine to
ten and the corresponding voting constituencies. With the new charter,
any OpenOffice.org community member may stand for a council seat. We are
looking forward to the upcoming elections to increase the vitality of
our community and the Community Council.

These changes have already been approved following the published
procedure
http://council.openoffice.org/councilcharter12.html#ChangestothisCharter.

The OpenOffice.org Community Council

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OpenOffice.org announces new security alerts mailing list

2009-03-11T00:37:06Z

The OpenOffice.org Security Team publishes details of security
vulnerabilities in their Security Bulletin on the OpenOffice.org web site:
http://www.openoffice.org/security/bulletin.html

As an additional service, the Team will now also publish these alerts via
a dedicated mailing list security-alerts@.... This mailing list
will not be used for any other purpose. The archives of the mailing list
will be generally available at:
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=security-alerts

If you would like to subscribe to the list, please send an empty email to
security-alerts-subscribe@.... You will be sent an email with
instructions how to confirm your subscription. Once you have confirmed
your subscription, you will receive any future emails from
security-alerts@... until you unsubscribe.

Please note that the mailing list is fully automated, so if you use
spam-filtering software, please make sure it will accept emails from
security-alerts-help@... and security-alerts@...
before you try and subscribe.

For further information about the Security Team, please see our FAQ
http://www.openoffice.org/security/faq.html

The OpenOffice.org Security Team

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The OpenOffice.org Annual Conference 2009 goes to Italy

2009-03-03T23:26:52Z

Members of the OpenOffice.org Community have selected Orvieto, Italy as
the venue for their Annual Conference (OOoCon), to be held between
November 3rd and November 5th 2009 (provisional dates).

Following a community consultation process, Orvieto, Italy emerged as a
clear favourite with 48% of the votes. Budapest, Hungary was second with
29%. The remaining five bids all scored less than 10% each.

As a result:

* Orvieto will host OOoCon in 2009
* Budapest will host OOoCon in 2010

You may read all the bids here:
http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2009/cfl/

Full details of OOoCon may be found here:
http://marketing.openoffice.org/conference/index.html

People intersting in attending OOoCon 2009 are invited to subscribe to the
OOoCon 2009 mailing list. To subscribe to the list, please send a blank
email to ooocon2009_discuss-subscribe@....

Please note that the mailing list is fully automated, so if you use
spam-filtering software, please make sure it will accept emails from
ooocon2009_discuss-help@... and
ooocon2009_discuss@... before you try and subscribe.

We look forward to meeting you in Orvieto in November!

The OpenOffice.org Conference Team

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OpenOffice.org Newsletter - Volume 06 - Issue 20 - 02/2009

2009-03-03T07:31:26Z

#########################################################################

OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER

Volume 06 - Issue 20 - 02/2009

Please send news clippings to:
dev@...

#########################################################################

Contents
#########################################################################

1. Announcements
================
* Have you had a look at the OpenOffice.org Template Repository ?
* Visit OpenOffice.org at CeBIT!
* New download location for Developer Builds, Release Candidates...
* Project Renaissance: OpenOffice.org User Survey 2009 Now Online
* Wiki Usage Survey
* Extending the OO.o Bug Bounty Program

2. Success Stories
==================
* TecTronic: Megafreight migration: Open source lightens the load

3. Featured News
================
* e-linux.it: 10 predictions for Linux and open source in 2009
* DesktopLinux: German schools pilot remote Debian/KDE desktops
* OpenOffice.org 3.0 review in Macworld this week
* Yahoo Tech: Study: Federal Gov't Can Save Billions in IT Spending
* UK Government Announces Open Source Strategy

4. Tips & Tricks
================
* PCMag: OpenOffice.org: 7 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do
* Solveig Haugland: Using named data ranges to have a more readable...
* Solveig Haugland: Making a Specific Template Come Up When You ...

5. ODF News
===========
* Tectonic: Standards: Have Any Suggestions for the Next Version ...
* Computerweekly: Government pushes open source with 10-point plan
* InformationWeek: Britain Endorses ODF; Why Not The U.S.?
* ODF announced as National Standard in Latvia!

5. OpenOffice.org solution of the month
=======================================
* FontMarketplace.com provides high quality, affordable TrueType™ fonts

#########################################################################
Want to help OpenOffice.org? Find out hot to contribute or see our
To Do List!!

http://contributing.openoffice.org/index.html
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/To-Dos/index.html
#########################################################################

Announcements
#########################################################################

Have you had a look at the OpenOffice.org Template Repository ?
===============================================================
It is a place for the submission of new templates made by you, the
community! You created a nice template? Submit it, get feedback and help
others to be more productive!

http://templates.services.openoffice.org/

or directly from your OO.o 3

File - New - Templates and Documents

Visit OpenOffice.org at CeBIT!
==============================

OpenOffice.org will exhibit at CeBIT, taking place from March 3rd to
March 8th in Hannover, Germany. You will find our booth, organized by
the Germanophone community, in hall 6, booth E46-12 right in the open
source area.

New download location for Developer Builds, Release Candidates and Betas
========================================================================
We have build a new location for downloading unstable builds such as
Developer Builds, Release Candidates and Beta releases

http://download.openoffice.org/next

Project Renaissance: OpenOffice.org User Survey 2009 Now Online
===============================================================
The new survey focuses on what our users do with the product and how
satisfied they are using it. We need this data to improve the user
interface of OpenOffice.org within project Renaissance.

Take the survey it will cost you only 10-15 Minutes
http://surveys.services.openoffice.org/

Wiki Usage Survey
=================
If you have ever experienced the OOo wiki, please feel free to get vocal
about it by taking this quick survey.

http://surveys.services.openoffice.org/surveys/index.php?sid=91154&lang=en

Extending the OO.o Bug Bounty Program
=====================================

Last year we initiated the bug bounty program. Before we are extending
the program we are looking for volunteers who helps us to spread the
news. We are also open for ideas to make the Program more attractive

http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/BugBountyProgram

Success Stories
#########################################################################

TecTronic: Megafreight migration: Open source lightens the load
================================================================

When it comes to open source software migration, SA freight-forwarding
company Megafreight has done more than most.

http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=4133

Featured News
#########################################################################

e-linux.it: 10 predictions for Linux and open source in 2009
============================================================

The year holds a great deal of promise for the Linux OS and open source
software--from an explosion in the mobile arena to widespread adoption
of OpenOffice 3, says industry watcher.

http://www.e-linux.it/news_detail.php?id=7731

DesktopLinux: German schools pilot remote Debian/KDE desktops
===============================================

Students and teachers in select German schools can access personalized
virtual desktops from home or school, using Kreisbildstelle Stade's
currently piloting "Desque" system.

http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS4651983929.html

OpenOffice.org 3.0 review in Macworld this week
===============================================

"Macworld has published an OpenOffice.org 3.0 review this week. Reviewer
John Brandon called it "a powerful productivity suite with one major
additional feature: it's free." John went on to say that "OpenOffice 3
is a major upgrade with plenty of new features, native OS support, and
all the tools most people would need to get their work done."

http://www.macworld.co.uk/macsoftware/reviews/index.cfm?reviewid=3020

Yahoo Tech: Study: Federal Gov't Can Save Billions in IT Spending
=====================================================

The U.S. government could save billions of dollars by moving to more
open-source software, cloud computing and virtualization, a recent study
suggests.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/pcworld/20090220/tc_pcworld/studyfederalgovtcansavebillionsinitspending

UK Government Announces Open Source Strategy
============================================

Today, the UK government launched a new strategy for use of open source
and open standards in Great Britain. You can read it here:

http://www.cio.gov.uk/transformational_government/open_source/index.asp

Tips & Tricks
#########################################################################

PCMag: OpenOffice.org: 7 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do
=====================================================================

OpenOffice.org–an application suite, not just a Web site—has tricks even
Office can't manage. Here are a few that may not be obvious, plus a few
ways to make it less annoying out of the box.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2341228,00.asp

Solveig Haugland: Using named data ranges to have a more readable
reference to items in formulas, in OpenOffice.org Calc spreadsheets
======================================================================

...the math is fairly complex and I just made it up to look extra
complex, but just looking at it, you're not sure what it's referring to.
If you used names, which let you give more clear, descriptive names to
parts of your spreadsheet, it could look like this.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2009/02/using-named-data-ranges-to-have-a-more-readable-reference-to-items-in-formulas-in-openofficeorg-calc.html

Solveig Haugland: Making a Specific Template Come Up When You Create Any
New Document, in OpenOffice.org Writer, Calc, Impress, or Draw
===============================================================================

Templates are a great way to save time. Set up templates with the
styles, graphics, etc. that people need, and they don't need to
re-create them. (Or create them in the first place.)

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2009/02/making-a-specific-template-come-up-when-you-create-any-new-document-in-openofficeorg-writer-calc-imp.html

ODF News
#########################################################################

Tectonic: Standards: Have Any Suggestions for the Next Version of
ODF?(timeframe : may 1 2009)
================================================

I want you to know that your comments and emails on the last article
asking how the two ISO standards (26300 and 29500, commonly known as ODF
and OOXML) are doing these days on the openness graph have been read and
appreciated

http://www.tectonic.co.za/?page_id=2754&bid=5341

Computerweekly: Government pushes open source with 10-point plan
================================================================

... it formally adopted the use of Open Document Format (ISO/IEC
26300:2006) as well as emerging open versions of previously proprietary
standards (eg ISO 19005-1:2005 (PDF) and ISO/IEC 29500 (Office Open XML
formats).

http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2009/02/25/235006/government-pushes-open-source-with-10-point-plan.htm

InformationWeek: Britain Endorses ODF; Why Not The U.S.?
========================================================

The Open Document Format was adopted today by the British government as
a basis for making future software purchases based on open standards. In
general, Britain is requiring government agencies to use as much
software based on standards as possible, based on its 10-point program
to encourage open standards and open source. If Britain can do it, why
can't we?

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/02/britain_endorse.html

ODF announced as National Standard in Latvia!
=============================================

Today is an important milestone in Latvia - the ISO 26300:2006 standard
has been approved as a National standard!
The next obvious step is to make it as mandatory for all public use. All
this is not so easy to achieve but we are making it step by step...

http://sunlatvia.blogspot.com/

OpenOffice.org solution of the month
====================================
FontMarketplace.com provides high quality, affordable TrueType™ fonts

FontMarketplace.com features a comprehensive range of high quality,
affordable TrueType™ fonts to create more effective & attractive
documents. The site makes it easy to find fonts for any occasion,
personality or project, and to quickly download and install the font so
it instantly appears in the font menu of OpenOffice.org.

Special Offer – download a free font today!

http://www.fontmarketplace.com/info/openoffice.aspx

********************************************************************************
This section introduces a single solution or service which provides a
OO.o integration or based on OO.o technology. The idea behind it is to
support vendors who have an OO.o integration. The full list of solutions
is available here :
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org_Solutions

Drop me an email, if you want to have your solution listed.
********************************************************************************

Unsubscribe
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Newsletter Archive
#########################################################################
Past issues of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter can be found in the archive
of the announce mailing list:

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce

Contact Information (regarding this newsletter)
#########################################################################
dev@...

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Visit OpenOffice.org at CeBIT!

2009-02-27T06:50:41Z

Visit OpenOffice.org at CeBIT!

OpenOffice.org will exhibit at CeBIT, taking place from March 3rd to
March 8th in Hannover, Germany. You will find our booth, organized by
the Germanophone community, in hall 6, booth E46-12 right in the open
source area.

We will present a preview on the upcoming version 3.1, also featuring
OpenOffice.org Portable. Eight lectures will take place during the trade
show, showing every aspect of the free office suite.

If you attend CeBIT in Hannover, don't forget to visit OpenOffice.org!

--
Florian Effenberger <floeff@...>
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Co-Lead

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Where should we hold OOoCon?

2009-02-13T03:18:35Z

The OpenOffice.org Conference (OOoCon) is the annual meeting of the
international OpenOffice.org Community. It is the premier event for anyone
interested in or working with OpenOffice.org. OOoCon is where
representatives of all the community projects meet to celebrate and learn
from the achievements of the past twelve months, and discuss how to meet
the challenges of the next twelve.

We are now starting a Community consultation to help us decide where to
hold OOoCon 2009 and OOoCon 2010. If you were a registered member of the
OpenOffice.org community on January 1st 2009 and would like to attend
OOoCon, please let us know your preferred location.

The Consultation closes at midnight UTC on February 27th.

For full details, please visit:
http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2009/cfl

Who is a registered member of the Community?
http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/guidelines.html

For more information about OOoCon please visit:
http://marketing.openoffice.org/conference

The OpenOffice.org Conference Team

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OpenOffice.org Newsletter - Volume 06 - Issue 19 - 01/2009

2009-02-03T05:39:22Z

#########################################################################

OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER

Volume 06 - Issue 19 - 01/2009

Please send news clippings to:
dev@...

#########################################################################

Contents
#########################################################################

1. Announcements
================
* OpenOffice.org 3.0.1 generally available
* See you at Fossdem
* OOoCon 2009 - Call for Location

2. Success Stories
==================
* VietNamNet Bridge: Vietnam to widely use open source software

3. Featured News
================
* MyBroadband.co.za : Four alternatives to Microsoft Office
* InfoWorld: Office 2007 faces competition where it may count the most:
* TechRepublic: 10 Things
* nwprogressive.org: Review: Free OpenOffice.org Writer surpasses Word
* PC Magazine: The Best Free Software of 2009
* OOONinja: New Features in OpenOffice.org 3.1, an Early Look
* Redmond Mag - Readers Review: OpenOffice.org 3: Free and Easy
* John McCreesh: Computerbild Top 250 Download Award
* Heise Open Source: Healthcheck: OpenOffice

4. Tips & Tricks
================
* PC Advisor: Get to grips with OpenOffice 3.0
* Solveig Haugland: How to insert graphics in OpenOffice Writer that...
* Solveig Haugland: Making Illustrated Callouts With Clip Art From ...

5. ODF News
===========
* ODF Alliance: Annual report 2008
* ARS TECHNICA: AbiWord project gets funding for ODF improvements
* Government Technology: Report: OpenDocument Format Gaining...

5. OpenOffice.org solution of the month
=======================================
* PhatWare's PenOffice - multilingual handwriting recognition

#########################################################################
Want to help OpenOffice.org? Find out hot to contribute or see our
To Do List!!

http://contributing.openoffice.org/index.html
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/To-Dos/index.html
#########################################################################

Announcements
#########################################################################

OpenOffice.org 3.0.1 generally available
========================================

The OpenOffice.org Community is pleased to announce the immediate
availability of OpenOffice.org 3.0.1. This release fixes a number of
minor issues reported with OpenOffice.org 3.0

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=382

See you at Fossdem
==================

FOSDEM - the "the biggest, bestest (sic) Free and Open Source Software
Developers' meeting in Europe" - takes place on 7th-8th February in
Brussels, Belgium - and OpenOffice.org will be there!

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=383

OOoCon 2009 - Call for Location
========================

The OpenOffice.org Community is now accepting proposals from Community
teams for hosting its next annual international conference, OOoCon 2009.
Hosting OOoCon is challenging, rewarding, exhilarating, exhausting ...
and can provide a huge publicity boost for OpenOffice.org in your
country. There is no fixed date for OOoCon, although past conferences
have been held in the autumn.

http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2009/cfl/cfl.html

Success Stories
#########################################################################

VietNamNet Bridge: Vietnam to widely use open source software

The Ministry of Information and Communications has issued an instruction
on using open source software products at state agencies.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2009/01/822425/

Featured News
#########################################################################

MyBroadband.co.za : Four alternatives to Microsoft Office
=========================================

If you want to kick off 2009 with a fresh new start then take a look at
these alternative Office suites that are free.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Software/6436.html

InfoWorld: Office 2007 faces competition where it may count the most:
pricing
===============================================

Facing a string of low- and no-cost competitors to Office, Microsoft may
need to make a few changes to hold on to the enterprise market.

http://weblog.infoworld.com/enterprisewindows/archives/2009/01/office_2007_fac.html

TechRepublic: 10 Things
=====================================

Jack Wallen believes that the new year holds a great deal of promise for
the Linux OS and open source software — from an explosion in the mobile
arena to large-enterprise scalability to widespread adoption of
OpenOffice 3. See if you agree with his outlook.

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=474

nwprogressive.org: Review: Free OpenOffice.org Writer surpasses
Microsoft Word under the hood
========================================================

These days, whether for work, home, or school, most people in America
use a computer for word processing.
The era of the typewriter ended long ago, and typing speed is considered
by many people to be more important than good penmanship.

http://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2009/01/review-free-openofficeorg-writer.html

PC Magazine: The Best Free Software of 2009
===========================

OpenOffice.org 3.0 was included in PC Magazine’s Best of Free Software
2008 report issued today. OpenOffice.org is included in a list of 173
pieces of free software, and is also one of 13 software applications to
be listed among this year’s Hall of Fame applications.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0%2C2817%2C2338803%2C00.asp

OOONinja: New Features in OpenOffice.org 3.1, an Early Look
===========================================================

OpenOffice.org 3.1 is 65 days away, and developers are finishing up more
than 1000 issues targeted for this Microsoft Office killer packing an
army of new features, enhancements, and bug fixes.

http://www.oooninja.com/2009/01/openofficeorg-31-new-features.html

Redmond Mag - Readers Review: OpenOffice.org 3: Free and Easy
==========================================================

Although Microsoft Office can cost as much as $680, it remains, by far,
the gold standard for productivity software.
A far cheaper alternative -- in fact about $680 less expensive -- is
gearing up to challenge the Redmond monopoly. OpenOffice.org 3 (OO.o3)
came out late last year, and many longtime fans, along with brand-new
users, downloaded the tool the moment it came out.

http://redmondmag.com/features/article.asp?editorialsid=2620

John McCreesh: Computerbild Top 250 Download Award
===================================================

The German magazine Computerbild awarded us their "Top 250 Download
Award" in January. They offer OpenOffice.org for download on their
website and it has been one of the most downloaded programs in their
repository.

http://ooomarketing.blogspot.com/2009/01/computerbild-top-250-download-award.html

Heise Open Source: Healthcheck: OpenOffice
===========================================

The purchase of StarDivision, the makers of StarOffice, a German office
"productivity suite", by Sun Microsystems in August 1999. The subsequent
release to the free software community of the StarOffice code, in the
shape of OpenOffice, came as a surprise to many.

http://www.heise-online.co.uk/open/Healthcheck-OpenOffice--/features/112512

Tips & Tricks
#########################################################################

PC Advisor: Get to grips with OpenOffice 3.0
=====================================================================

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=109999

Solveig Haugland: How to insert graphics in OpenOffice Writer that are
reasonably manageable
======================================================================

I sat down a few weeks ago to figure out the best way to anchor
pictures. Specifically, how to do it in a standard context like this.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2009/01/how-to-insert-graphics-in-openoffice-writer-that-are-reasonably-manageable.html

Solveig Haugland: Making Illustrated Callouts With Clip Art From the
Gallery, and the OpenOffice Callout Drawing Tools
===============================================================================

I love the callouts in OpenOffice.org. I also love that they're
available in Draw, Impress, Writer, and Calc.
To get started, just choose View > Toolbars > Drawing. If there isn't a
checkmark next to the Drawing option, select it.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2009/01/making-illustrated-callouts-with-clip-art-from-the-gallery-and-the-openoffice-callout-drawing-tools.html

ODF News
#########################################################################

ODF Alliance: Annual report 2008
================================================
http://www.odfalliance.org/resources/Annual-Report-ODF-2008.pdf

ARS TECHNICA: AbiWord project gets funding for ODF improvements
================================================
The cross-platform open source AbiWord word processing application has
received funding from NLnet to improve its support for the ODF format.

http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/01/abiword-project-gets-funding-for-odf-improvements.ars

Government Technology: Report: OpenDocument Format Gaining in Government
==============================

The ranks of governments adopting the OpenDocument Format (ODF)
continued to grow, as did the depth and range of ODF applications,
according to the annual report published by the ODF Alliance.

http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/575612

OpenOffice.org solution of the month
====================================
PhatWare's PenOffice - multilingual handwriting recognition

PhatWare's PenOffice is an advanced collaboration and multilingual
handwriting recognition application for Windows. Its document markup
feature can be used to add handwritten notes and annotations to
OpenOffice.org Writer, Impress, Calc, and Draw documents using any
pen-based or mouse-compatible input device, such as Tablet PC, Graphic
Tablet, Touch-screen monitor, mouse-pen, interactive whiteboard, or even
a standard mouse. PenOffice handwriting recognition feature can also be
used to enter text while working with any OpenOffice.org document.
Price: $59.95 (for education: $39.95) 30-day free trial is available

URL: http://www.phatware.com/penoffice

********************************************************************************
This new section introduces a single solution which provides a OO.o
integration or based on OO.o technology. The idea behind it is to
support vendors who have an OO.o integration. The full list of solutions
is available here :
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org_Solutions

Drop me an email, if you want to have your solution listed.
********************************************************************************

Unsubscribe
########################################################################
To unsubscribe send an e-mail: announce-unsubscribe@...

Newsletter Archive
#########################################################################
Past issues of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter can be found in the archive
of the announce mailing list:

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce

Contact Information (regarding this newsletter)
#########################################################################
dev@...

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See you at FOSDEM

2009-01-29T23:30:42Z

FOSDEM - the "the biggest, bestest (sic) Free and Open Source Software
Developers' meeting in Europe" - takes place on 7th-8th February in
Brussels, Belgium - and OpenOffice.org will be there!

Check out the FOSDEM website for details of the OpenOfffice.org Dev room -
http://www.fosdem.org/2009/schedule/devrooms/openofficeorg - where we look
forward to meeting old friends, and introducing new developers to the
exciting world of OpenOffice.org coding.

(Note: if you can't make it to FOSDEM and you'd like to read more about
contributing to OpenOffice.org, please see
http://contributing.openoffice.org/programming.html)

See you at FOSDEM!

The OpenOffice.org Community
--
Developers - join us! http://council.openoffice.org/developers.html

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OpenOffice.org 3.0.1 generally available

2009-01-27T00:12:09Z

The OpenOffice.org Community is pleased to announce the immediate
availability of OpenOffice.org 3.0.1. This release fixes a number of minor
issues reported with OpenOffice.org 3.0, released on October 13th last
year. Although minor releases normally do not include new features, there
are two points of interest: enhanced support for grammar checkers, and an
increase in the number of words held in personal word lists to 30,000.

A full list of all the issues fixed may be found in the developers'
release notes at http://development.openoffice.org/releases/3.0.1.html

OpenOffice.org 3.0.1 is available now from http://download.openoffice.org
in over 90 languages and for all major platforms. For the availability of
further languages and platforms please check
http://download.openoffice.org/other.html

The next release of OpenOffice.org to contain significant new user
features will be OpenOffice.org 3.1, scheduled for general availability at
the end of March.

The OpenOffice.org Community

--
Developers - join us! see http://council.openoffice.org/developers.html

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OpenOffice.org Newsletter - Volume 05 - Issue 18 - 12/2008

2009-01-06T10:21:38Z

#########################################################################

OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER

Volume 05 - Issue 18 - 12/2008

Please send news clippings to:
dev@...

#########################################################################

Contents
#########################################################################

1. Announcements
================
* OOoCon 2009 - Call for Location

2. Success Stories
==================
* A breakthrough in curriculum change for 201 m students and adoption of
Open Source Technologies in schools

3. Featured News
================
* AustralianIT : OpenOffice skakes Microsoft
* InformationWeek: Review: Open-Source Office Suites Compared
* Datamation: The Future Facelift of OpenOffice.org
* tbusiness.ca: OpenOffice upgrade gives free office suite wealth of new
features
* Macworld: Review: OpenOffice.org 3
* CRN : The 10 Coolest Open Source Products Of 2008

4. Tips & Tricks
================
* Mitch Frazier: Starting, Stopping, and Connecting to OpenOffice with
Python
* LinuxPlanet: How to Zoom In and Enlarge Details In OOo Impress Slideshows
* Solveig Haugland: How to take a spreadsheet that has firstname,
lastname, and initial all in the same column, and turn it into two columns

5. ODF News
===========
* Daily News & Analysis: Single standard unlikely for e-gov projects
* ARS TECHNICA: Microsoft releases three interoperability solutions
* Leif Lodahl: Sanders expert report is ready
* eWeek: Microsoft Details How it Will Support ODF
* Register: Microsoft spits out ODF plans for Office 2007 SP2
* CNET: Microsoft's file format perestroika
* PCWorld: Group: 2008 Progress Shows ODF Will Prevail

#########################################################################
Want to help OpenOffice.org? Find out hot to contribute or see our
To Do List!!

http://contributing.openoffice.org/index.html
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/To-Dos/index.html
#########################################################################

Announcements
#########################################################################

OOoCon 2009 - Call for Location
========================

The OpenOffice.org Community is now accepting proposals from Community
teams for hosting its next annual international conference, OOoCon 2009.
Hosting OOoCon is challenging, rewarding, exhilarating, exhausting ...
and can provide a huge publicity boost for OpenOffice.org in your
country. There is no fixed date for OOoCon, although past conferences
have been held in the autumn.

http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2009/cfl/cfl.html

Success Stories
#########################################################################

A breakthrough in curriculum change for 201 m students and adoption of
Open Source Technologies in schools
=================================================================
... in Indonesia. Ministry of Research (RISTEK) has adopted MySQL and
OpenOffice as the recommended open source software for database and for
document processing.

Featured News
#########################################################################

AustralianIT : OpenOffice skakes Microsoft
=========================================

OpenOffice is an open-source software outfit responsible for a bundle of
productivity software that competes with the Seattle company's great
cash cow, Microsoft Office. It does almost everything MS Office does
but, unlike the Microsoft product, it's free.

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24734388-39525,00.html

InformationWeek: Review: Open-Source Office Suites Compared
===============================================

Bit by bit, the Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) monopoly on office productivity
applications is receding -- and one of the most important ways this is
happening is through the proliferation of open source productivity
suites. The most obvious example is OpenOffice.org, now in a landmark
third release...

http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/enterpriseapps/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=H5K12LRVCBKN4QSNDLRSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=212201932&subSection=All+Stories&_requestid=167420

Datamation: The Future Facelift of OpenOffice.org
=====================================

"The mission statement: Create a User Interface so that OpenOffice.org
becomes the users' choice not only out of need, but also out of desire."
With these words, the Renaissance project was launched last week with
the goal of giving the popular free office suite a face lift.

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/3790086/The+Future+Facelift+of+OpenOffice.org.htm

tbusiness.ca: OpenOffice upgrade gives free office suite wealth of new
features
========================================================

OpenOffice.org is a powerful productivity suite--including tools for
word processing, spreadsheets, slideshows and more--with one major
additional feature: it's free.

http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=51212

Macworld: Review: OpenOffice.org 3
===========================

OpenOffice.org is a powerful productivity suite–including tools for word
processing, spreadsheets, slideshows and more—with one major additional
feature: it’s free.

http://www.macworld.com/article/137436/openofc3.html

CRN : The 10 Coolest Open Source Products Of 2008
=======================================

The popular -- and free -- open source productivity suite hit its
milestone 3.0 version in 2008, making it more clear than ever that its
functionality and compatibility with Microsoft Office (including
OpenOffice Impress, which is PowerPoint compatible) make it a force to
be reckoned

http://www.crn.com/it-channel/212501022;jsessionid=UWILDQKC5FAO2QSNDLOSKHSCJUNN2JVN?pgno=2

Tips & Tricks
#########################################################################

Mitch Frazier: Starting, Stopping, and Connecting to OpenOffice with Python
=====================================================================

Using pyuno you can script OpenOffice with Python. Pyuno allows you to
create macros inside OpenOffice and it also allows you to create
external Python scripts that talk to a running copy of OpenOffice.

http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/starting-stopping-and-connecting-openoffice-python

LinuxPlanet: How to Zoom In and Enlarge Details In OOo Impress Slideshows
========================================================

Everybody knows that you can liven up your OpenOffice.org Impress slide
shows with animations. Did you know that you can also use several
animation ...

http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/6613/1/&ct=ga&cd=MD93Jq0sjlY&usg=AFQjCNHGBZAFYnJRS2eP_rE14marGJTwAQ

Solveig Haugland: How to take a spreadsheet that has firstname,
lastname, and initial all in the same column, and turn it into two columns
===============================================================================

You might not do it today or tomorrow, but you'll do it someday. You'll
need to paste some content from a Web page, or a Word document, or
something else that's got some goofiness embedded in it, into your
Writer document.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2008/12/how-to-take-a-column-that-has-firstname-lastname-and-initial-and-turn-it-into-two-columns.html

ODF News
#########################################################################

Daily News & Analysis: Single standard unlikely for e-gov projects
================================================
The government may favour multiple standards for e-governance projects
from the earlier stand of supporting single standard for such projects,
but the deliberations inside the information technology department are
still on with final judgment months away.

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1210790

ARS TECHNICA: Microsoft releases three interoperability solutions
================================================
Today, the software giant is boasting about three interoperability
solutions that have come to fruition thanks to the DII:

http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/12/03/microsoft-releases-three-interoperability-solutions

Leif Lodahl: Sanders expert report is ready
==============================

Helge Sander, Danish Minister of Science and Technology earlier this
year asked an expert committee to look into the technical and legal
implications of the introduction of two standards for documents in the
government.

http://lodahl.blogspot.com/

eWeek: Microsoft Details How it Will Support ODF
=====================================

Microsoft announced its plans to support ODF earlier this year and this
documentation represents the first concrete step the software giant is
taking to ...

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Application-Development/Microsoft-Details-How-it-Will-Support-ODF/

Register: Microsoft spits out ODF plans for Office 2007 SP2
===========================================

And that’s why it’s decided to publish documentation that details its
implementation of OASIS Open Document Format (ODF) version 1.1 support
in MS Office ...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/16/microsoft_office_2007_sp2_odf_support/

CNET: Microsoft's file format perestroika
==============================

Rightly or not, the perception was that Microsoft Office did not treat
ODF as first class citizen. "That kind of feedback is why we built ODF
support into ...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10123793-75.html

PCWorld: Group: 2008 Progress Shows ODF Will Prevail
======================================================================================

It was a good year for Open Document Format (ODF), which gained support
from governments across the world in 2008 as its backers continued to
promote it as an international standard for XML-based document exchange,
according to the ODF Alliance.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/155999/group_2008_progress_shows_odf_will_prevail.html

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Newsletter Archive
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Past issues of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter can be found in the archive
of the announce mailing list:

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce

Contact Information (regarding this newsletter)
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OOoCon 2009 - Call for Location

2009-01-06T04:51:48Z

The OpenOffice.org Community is now accepting proposals from Community
teams for hosting its next annual international conference, OOoCon 2009.
Hosting OOoCon is challenging, rewarding, exhilarating, exhausting ...
and can provide a huge publicity boost for OpenOffice.org in your
country. There is no fixed date for OOoCon, although past conferences
have been held in the autumn.

The deadline for submissions is midnight UTC on February 1st 2009.
Shortly after that date we will publish the applications and start the
selection process, during which Community members will be invited to
make their preferences known through a call for votes.

Full details may be found here:
http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2009/cfl/cfl.html

Thank you and good luck with your proposals!

The OpenOffice.org Conference Team

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OpenOffice.org Newsletter - Volume 05 - Issue 17 - 11/2008

2008-12-01T00:42:20Z

#########################################################################

OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER

Volume 05 - Issue 17 - 11/2008

Please send news clippings to:
dev@...

#########################################################################

Contents
#########################################################################

1. Announcements
================
* OpenOffice.org Achieves Ten Million Downloads at the End of its
Beijing Conference.

2. Success Stories
==================
* A breakthrough in curriculum change for 201 m students

3. Featured News
================
* The Register: Sun pimps out OpenOffice as Microsoft 'clarifies' Office
for web
* FACIL: 2008 Elections - The Free Software Pledge
* Norway Pledges Funds for Government Open Source Usage
* Adam Turner: OpenOffice 3.0 a fresh blow for Microsft
* Jack Wallen: What's new in OpenOffice.org 3.0
* GullFOSS: Some Calc features for 3.1 from RedFlag 2000
* GullFOSS: One step forward, the next step back

4. Tips & Tricks
================
* Solveig Haugland: Simple labels in OpenOffice Writer 2.0 or 3.0: Just
typing or pasting the content
* Solveig Haugland: Pasting from HTML or Word into OpenOffice Writer:
use Paste Special > Unformatted Text
* Solveig Haugland: The most straightforward wizardless way to create an
envelope in OpenOffice.org Writer

5. ODF News
===========
* OASIS Forms ODF Interop Committee
* IBM, Sun Microsystems Launch ODF Toolkit Union to Grow Adoption,
Community and Software Innovation
* Nisus Writer Pro update includes new file importer
* Bruce Perens: A Vertical Market Seeks Open Standards
* IBM to Support ODF Long-Term

6. Solution of the month
========================
CalcLink - A bi-directional link between Mathematica and Calc

#########################################################################
Want to help OpenOffice.org? Find out hot to contribute or see our
To Do List!!

http://contributing.openoffice.org/index.html
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/To-Dos/index.html
#########################################################################

Announcements
#########################################################################

OpenOffice.org Achieves Ten Million Downloads at the End of its Beijing
Conference.
================================
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=377

OpenOffice.org Users' Community Forum celebrates first anniversary with
launch of its newest site, "Foro oficial de la comunidad"
===============================
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=378

Success Stories
#########################################################################

A breakthrough in curriculum change for 201 m students and adoption of
Open Source Technologies in schools
=================================================================
...finally had a major breakthrough with NCERT, the body responsible for
setting curriculum for 201 m school students in India. In the last 30
years, this is the first time that they have come out with a syllabus
that has no reference to Microsoft or Oracle products. This impacts more
than 201 m students in India.
The details of the syllabus can be found at

http://www.ncert.nic.in/html/syllabus.htm

Featured News
#########################################################################

The Register: Sun pimps out OpenOffice as Microsoft 'clarifies' Office
for web
=========================================
Jonathan Schwartz has posted
<http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/the_value_of_distribution_java>
that an "auction's afoot...to see who we'll be partnering with us to
integrate their business and brands into our binary product
distribution" of OpenOffice.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/14/sun_pimpin_openoffice/

FACIL: 2008 Elections - The Free Software Pledge
=================================================================
FACIL, a non-profit organization devoted to the promotion of Free
Software, is issuing a call to all candidates regarding the use of free
software in Quebec public administration.

http://facil.qc.ca/en/FreeSoftwarePledge

Norway Pledges Funds for Government Open Source Usage
=======================================
Norway has become the the latest country to pledge funds for public
sector use of open source software. Minister of Government Adminstration
and Reform Heidi Grande Roeys is granting 2 million kroner ($285,000) to
the national center for free software

http://ostatic.com/177021-blog/norway-pledges-funds-for-government-open-source-usage

Adam Turner: OpenOffice 3.0 a fresh blow for Microsft
====================================
Microsoft's cash cow Microsoft Office is under further threat with the
release of OpenOffice 3.0.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/digital-life/articles/openoffice-30-a-fresh-blow-for-microsft/2008/11/24/1227491461526.html

Jack Wallen: What's new in OpenOffice.org 3.0
==============================
One of the most helpful new features of OpenOffice.org 3.0 is the
support for more third-party extensions
<http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/>, which are available
online. A quick perusal finds that there are extensions to provide a
mortgage payment calculator, various dictionaries and spell-checkers for
other languages, PDF import support, template packages, and more.

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/opensource/?p=301

GullFOSS: Some Calc features for 3.1 from RedFlag 2000
=========================================

It was a great pleasure to meet RedFlag 2000's Calc developers at OOoCon
in Beijing. Of course the successful collaboration continues, resulting
in some cool new features:

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/some_calc_features_for_3

GullFOSS: One step forward, the next step back
==================================

... As things usually go I was distracted by other things for a while
(like e.g. getting an OOo 3.0 out of the door or some serious issues
into 3.0.1). Recently however I got back to these plans and begin to see
something. See here the new print dialog with preview.

http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/one_step_forward_the_next

Tips & Tricks
#########################################################################

Solveig Haugland: Simple labels in OpenOffice Writer 2.0 or 3.0: Just
typing or pasting the content
=====================================================================

I follow this procedure when I ship out books. Let's say I've got five
people who've ordered books directly from me through PayPal or Amazon.
I've got five emails in my inbox, with five addresses. So I need to make
five labels.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2008/11/simple-labels-in-openoffice-writer-20-or-30-just-typing-or-pasting-the-content.html

Solveig Haugland: Pasting from HTML or Word into OpenOffice Writer: use
Paste Special > Unformatted Text
===============================================================================

You might not do it today or tomorrow, but you'll do it someday. You'll
need to paste some content from a Web page, or a Word document, or
something else that's got some goofiness embedded in it, into your
Writer document.
http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2008/11/pasting-from-html-or-word-into-openoffice-writer-use-paste-special-unformatted-text.html

Solveig Haugland: The most straightforward wizardless way to create an
envelope in OpenOffice.org Writer
============================================================================

Envelopes can be problematic. Yes. This is primarily because envelopes
are not Letter or Legal. Each printer has its own approach to printing,
and you'll need to do a little experimenting.

But you can do it. The Envelopes category and the Mail Merge category of
my blog each has various approaches.

http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2008/11/notes-in-openofficeorg-30-writer.html

ODF News
#########################################################################

OASIS Forms ODF Interop Committee
========================
"OASIS has formed a new committee to foster interoperability and
conformance with the OpenDocument Format (ODF) standard"

http://redmondmag.com/news/article.asp?EditorialsID=10353

IBM, Sun Microsystems Launch ODF Toolkit Union to Grow Adoption,
Community and Software Innovation
=====================================================================
" IBM and Sun Microsystems today announced the launch of the
OpenDocument Format (ODF) Toolkit Union, a new open-source software
community project organized to make document software more innovative,
versatile and useful for business. "

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/IBM-Sun-Microsystems-Launch-ODF/story.aspx?guid={39DC24F7-9368-4437-92A5-E49FFFDE6AEF}

Nisus Writer Pro update includes new file importer
=================================
Alternative word processor, Nisus Writer Pro, has been updated to
version 1.2, adding several new features including an improved file
importer. The file importer improves file translations, especially for
Microsoft's Word documents, the company said. An option to export as
Word (.doc) and the Open Document (.odt) format has also been added to
the new version.

http://www.macworld.com/article/136641/2008/11/nisus.html?t=104

Bruce Perens: A Vertical Market Seeks Open Standards
====================================
An Open Standard is more than just a specification. The principles
behind the standard, and the practice of offering and operating the
standard, are what make the standard Open.

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/3778376/Bruce+Perens:+A+Vertical+Market+Seeks+Open+Standards.htm

IBM to Support ODF Long-Term
====================
IBM announced a long-term commitment to the OpenDocument Format (ODF) by
unveiling a roadmap for the expansion of the free Lotus Symphony office
application suite to MacIntosh, Ubuntu Linux, OpenOffice 3.0, and
Microsoft Office customers.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2012146/

OpenOffice.org solution of the month
====================================
CalcLink - A bi-directional link between Mathematica and Calc

CalcLink brings the computational and diagnostic visualization power of
Mathematica to OpenOffice Calc, while bringing the familiarity and
convenience of Calc to Mathematica. The entire breadth of all
Mathematica functions (3000+ symbols) becomes easily accessible from
Calc, enhancing it with symbolic computation, optimization methods,
modern statistical functions, data-mining, lightning-fast giga-numerics,
and linear algebra functions! Spreadsheet data can be visualized from
Calc in new and insightful ways, making it easy to reduce a deluge of
data to the essential information!

www.lauschkeconsulting.com/calclink.html

********************************************************************************

This new section introduces a single solution which provides a OO.o
integration or based on OO.o technology. The idea behind it is to
support vendors who have an OO.o integration. The full list of solutions
is available here :
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org_Solutions

Drop me an email, if you want to have your solution listed.
********************************************************************************

Newsletter Archive
#########################################################################
Past issues of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter can be found in the archive
of the announce mailing list:

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce

Contact Information (regarding this newsletter)
#########################################################################
dev@...

Announcing Spanish User Forum

2008-11-26T00:45:13Z

OpenOffice.org Users' Community Forum celebrates first anniversary with
launch of its newest site, "Foro oficial de la comunidad"

The Spanish language web forum opened to the public on November 21, 2008
with Alexandro Colorado and Richard Holt as the forum administrators.
Alexandro states that: "The OpenOffice.org Spanish project is proud to
announce a fully functional user support forum. A place for the
community to unite with users to improve the overall level of support
that users require. The forum will provide a new user experience and
quick feedback."

Launched on November 17th, 2007 as a single English language web forum
with 25 members, the OpenOffice.org Users' Community Forum has
flourished to now hosting six native language web forums. It has grown
to a registered membership in excess of 21,390 strong, has seen over
24,490 topics with more than 130,000 individual postings, and is on
target to exceed 500,000 page views per month before the end of this year.

The release of OpenOffice.org 3.0 this October brought a fast growing
group of new users, the Mac OS X users, to the sites. This influx
prompted a call for volunteers to help answer these new users'
questions, a call that was answered by the OpenOffice.org community at
large - demonstrating once again the vitality of our extended community
and its ability to deliver quality support to new and experienced users
alike.

The Volunteers at the community forums would like to take this
opportunity to say thank you to all those in the OpenOffice.org
Community that helped make this first year such a resounding success and
look forward to continue "helping users, help each other".

The OpenOffice.org Users' Community Forum
http://user.services.openoffice.org

Contacts

John McCreesh (UTC)
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Lead
jpmcc @ openoffice.org
+44 (0)7 810 278 540

Florian Effenberger (UTC +01h00)
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Co-Lead
floeff @ openoffice.org
+49 151 14424108

Louis Suarez-Potts (UTC -05h00)
OpenOffice.org Community Manager
louis @ openoffice.org
+1 (416) 625 3843

International Marketing Contacts:
http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts.html

About OpenOffice.org

The OpenOffice.org Community is an international team of volunteer and
sponsored contributors who develop, translate, support, and promote the
leading open source office productivity suite, OpenOffice.org®.
OpenOffice.org's leading edge software technology (UNO) is also
available for developers, systems integrators, etc. to use in
OpenOffice.org extensions or in their own applications.

OpenOffice.org uses the OpenDocument Format OASIS Standard (ISO/IEC
26300) as well as supporting legacy file formats such as Microsoft
Office, and is available on major computing platforms in over 100
languages. OpenOffice.org software is provided under the GNU Lesser
General Public Licence (LGPL) and may be used free of charge for any
purpose, private or commercial.

The OpenOffice.org Community acknowledges generous sponsorship from a
number of companies, including Sun Microsystems, the founding sponsor
and primary contributor.

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OpenOffice.org Achieves Ten Million Downloads at the End of its Beijing Conference

2008-11-10T03:06:40Z

OpenOffice.org Achieves Ten Million Downloads at the End of its Beijing
Conference

Early on Sunday morning, the OpenOffice.org Community passed the ten
million downloads mark for the latest version of its software, just four
weeks after the launch on October 13th. The week also marked the first
time the OpenOffice.org Annual Conference has been held outside Europe.

November 10, 2008 -- Early on Sunday 9th, the OpenOffice.org Community
achieved an historic milestone, when the ten millionth person clicked on
the "Download OpenOffice.org" button since the Community announced
version 3.0, just four weeks ago. The week also saw the first time the
OpenOffice.org Annual Conference has been held outside Europe, with over
four hundred people attending the Conference in Beijing, China from
Wednesday to Friday.

John McCreesh, Marketing Project Lead, explained the importance of the
two events. "Since the launch of OpenOffice.org 3.0, we have had a
verifiable record of downloads from central website. We were delighted
to hit a million downloads in the first two days. Four weeks later, we
have hit ten million, and we are still seeing an amazing 250,000 -
350,000 downloads a day. For a community with no advertising budget,
this is an astonishing level of product awareness around the world. Add
to this the success of our Beijing Conference, and there can be no doubt
that OpenOffice.org is now genuinely a global phenomenon."

What makes the statistics impressive is that they only record downloads
via the OpenOffice.org website, and exclude for example large numbers of
Linux users who generally download software from their own distributor.
There are estimated to be eight million users of Ubuntu Linux alone, the
majority of whom rely on OpenOffice.org for their office software. In
addition, many users obtain OpenOffice.org via other mirrors,
peer-to-peer networks, CDs, or other media. The total number of
OpenOffice.org users worldwide is not known, but the Community believes
it is well on track to reach its declared target of a 40% market share
worldwide by 2010.

Finally, even with this level of market acceptance, the Community is not
complacent. The OpenOffice.org Bug Bounty Programme is still open,
offering cash prizes of up to 500 Euro to new developers who help fix
bugs reported by users. This is part of ongoing activity to encourage
additional developers, which has already resulted in a record number of
contributors working on the 3.0 release.

Links

Information about OpenOffice.org 3.0 software:
http://www.openoffice.org/product/
Download OpenOffice.org 3.0 for free: http://download.openoffice.org
The OpenOffice.org Bug Bounty Programme:
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/BugBountyProgram
The case for OpenOffice.org: http://why.openoffice.org
The OpenOffice.org Annual Conference 2008:
http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2008/
Planet: http://marketing.openoffice.org/planet/
Graphs: http://marketing.openoffice.org/marketing_bouncer.html
FAQ: http://marketing.openoffice.org/marketing_bouncer_faq.html

Contacts

John McCreesh (UTC)
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Lead
jpmcc @ openoffice.org
+44 (0)7 810 278 540

Florian Effenberger (UTC +01h00)
OpenOffice.org Marketing Project Co-Lead
floeff @ openoffice.org
+49 151 14424108

Louis Suarez-Potts (UTC -05h00)
OpenOffice.org Community Manager
louis @ openoffice.org
+1 (416) 625 3843

International Marketing Contacts:
http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts.html

About OpenOffice.org

The OpenOffice.org Community is an international team of volunteer and
sponsored contributors who develop, translate, support, and promote the
leading open source office productivity suite, OpenOffice.org®.
OpenOffice.org's leading edge software technology (UNO) is also
available for developers, systems integrators, etc. to use in
OpenOffice.org extensions or in their own applications.

OpenOffice.org uses the OpenDocument Format OASIS Standard (ISO/IEC
26300) as well as supporting legacy file formats such as Microsoft
Office, and is available on major computing platforms in over 100
languages. OpenOffice.org software is provided under the GNU Lesser
General Public Licence (LGPL) and may be used free of charge for any
purpose, private or commercial.

The OpenOffice.org Community acknowledges generous sponsorship from a
number of companies, including Sun Microsystems, the founding sponsor
and primary contributor.

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OpenOffice.org Newsletter - Volume 05 - Issue 16 - 10/2008

2008-10-31T09:55:23Z

#########################################################################

OPENOFFICE.ORG NEWSLETTER

Volume 05 - Issue 16 - 10/2008

Please send news clippings to:
dev@...

#########################################################################

Contents
#########################################################################

1. Announcements
================
* Registration opens for the OpenOffice.org Annual Conference
* OO.o 3.0 Final Release available
* Announcing OpenOffice.org 2.4.2

2. Success Stories
==================
* South Africa’s IT agency to migrate to open source in coming year

3. Featured News
================
* eWeek: OpenOffice.org Grows Up
* A Survey of Open Source Surveys
* Treat yourself to a suite alternative: OpenOffice.org 3.0
* OpenOffice Hits 3.0: Can It Challenge Microsoft?
* OpenOffice 3.0--No longer an alternative
* Office without the MS
* OK, now OpenOffice is definitely good enough
* Microsoft Competitor Gets Fresh
* Computerworld Review of OpenOffice.org 3.0
* OpenOffice 3.0 ships
* First Look: OpenOffice.org 3.0
* Review: OpenOffice.org 3.0
* OpenOffice 3: Useful, Compatible - and Pretty

4. Tips & Tricks
================
* Why OpenOffice.org Failed – and What to Do About It

5. ODF News
===========
* Governments head to SA (South Africa) to discuss Open Document Format
* Microsoft's OOXML Endgame Revealed?
* Venezuela adopts ODF for government
* Microsoft makes another play for UK schools
* DNA: ODF likely standard for e-gov
* IBM May Quit Technology Standards Bodies
* 2nd International ODF User Workshop in Pretoria

6. Solution of the month
========================
PALO - Commercial Open Source Business Intelligence - just do it easy.

#########################################################################
Want to help OpenOffice.org? Find out hot to contribute or see our
To Do List!!

http://contributing.openoffice.org/index.html
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/To-Dos/index.html
#########################################################################

Announcements
#########################################################################

Registration opens for the OpenOffice.org Annual Conference
===========================================================
Please note we have now opened registration for our annual international
conference OOoCon 2008, to be held in Beijing, China between 5th.-7th.
November. This OOoCon is a double first - it's the first OOoCon to be held
outside Europe, and it will also see the biggest concentration of
OpenOffice.org developers ever assembled in one location on the planet.

Links:
Conference website: http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2008
Programme: http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2008/programme.html

Registration:
http://marketing.openoffice.org/ooocon2008/travel.html#registration
Press Release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/OOoCon/2008/prweb1177594.htm

OO.o 3.0 Final Release available
================================
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=373

Announcing OpenOffice.org 2.4.2
===============================
http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=announce&msgNo=375

Success Stories
#########################################################################

South Africa’s IT agency to migrate to open source in coming year
=================================================================
"The South African State IT Agency (Sita), which provides IT services to
government, will itself migrate to open source software over the coming
year. This is according to the organisation’s 2007/2008 annual report
(PDF) which has been tabled in Parliament."

http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=3240

Featured News
#########################################################################

Steve Ballmer in an interview with Gartner Analyst Neil McDonald

[Google Apps] "don't have the best word processor or spreadsheet we
compete with; we get more competitive pressure from OpenOffice and
StarOffice than we do from those guys,"

http://www.internetnews.com/software/article.php/3778761/Ballmer+slaps+Google+Ogles+Yahoo+Anoints+Vista.htm

eWeek: OpenOffice.org Grows Up
=================================================================
"Nine years after Sun Microsystems bought StarOffice, the resulting
OpenOffice.org project is ready to roll out its 3.0 release. Enhanced
format compatibility and features put it on par with Microsoft Office."

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Linux-and-Open-Source/OpenOfficeorg-Grows-Up/

A Survey of Open Source Surveys
==============================================================
"One sign of the health of open source these days is the number of
surveys saying how healthy it is. For example, here's one from Actuate..."

http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=1352&blogid=14

Treat yourself to a suite alternative: OpenOffice.org 3.0
==========================================================
"OpenOffice.org 3.0 is a great suite of office productivity applications
(word processor, spreadsheet, presentation & database) that's very
similar to Microsoft Office in function, and very different in price."

http://www.examiner.com/x-529-SF-Technology-Examiner~y2008m10d12-Treat-yourself-to-a-suite-alternative-OpenOfficeorg-30

OpenOffice Hits 3.0: Can It Challenge Microsoft?
================================================
"The office suite, which provides word processing, spreadsheet and
presentation applications, has long been among the most heavily used
applications on users' desktops. For much of the Windows-centric world,
that suite is Microsoft Office, but for open source users, more often
than not, the choice is OpenOffice.org (OOo)."

http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3777636/OpenOffice+Hits+30+Can+It+Challenge+Microsoft.htm

OpenOffice 3.0--No longer an alternative
========================================
"It's been quite some time that OpenOffice was viewed as an alternative
to Microsoft Office. But the latest release of OpenOffice version 3.0
seems to be pointing to a different direction. It is ready for
primetime, to compete head-on with Microsoft Office."

http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/infochat/post.htm?id=63006865&scid=rvhm_ms

Office without the MS
=====================
"I never took to MS Office 2007. Having used earlier versions of MS Word
for years, I was frustrated when I couldn’t easily find the menus or
commands where they used to be on its newfangled ribbon interface. I
also disliked that its applications wrote by default to a file format
that was unreadable by earlier versions of MS Office."

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=business6_oct14_2008

OK, now OpenOffice is definitely good enough
============================================
There is a reason that the OpenOffice.org 3.0 servers are struggling to
keep up with demand. OO.org 3.0 really is a serious upgrade over version 2.4

http://education.zdnet.com/?p=1895

Microsoft Competitor Gets Fresh
===============================
For what has seemed like an infinite amount of years, Microsoft has been
the top dog for office or productivity software with its Microsoft
Office suite which includes Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft
PowerPoint, and others.

http://www.nillabyte.com/blog.php?b=114

Computerworld Review of OpenOffice.org 3.0
==========================================
The final version of OpenOffice 3 is out today, and if you're looking to
save yourself plenty of money, download it instead of buying Microsoft
Office --- you could save yourself hundreds of dollars, and not lose out
on many features.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/review_of_final_openoffice_3_why_buy_microsoft_office

OpenOffice 3.0 ships
====================
OpenOffice.org (OOo) has shipped a major update to its free,
cross-platform office suite. OpenOffice.org 3.0 features native Mac OS X
support for the first time, along with more MS Office interoperability
including "Open XML" and ".accdb" file format support for Office 2007
and Access 2007, respectively.

http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS5116175814.html

First Look: OpenOffice 3.0
==========================
The third iteration of the OpenOffice productivity suite has been
released and we've taken a first look at the final product.

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/reviews/2228213/first-look-openoffice-org

First Look: OpenOffice 3.0 Is a Free Replacement for MS Office on Mac
=====================================================================
OpenOffice 3.0 is hot off the presses and now, for the first time,
includes a native Mac OS X version of the popular, free, open source
alternative to Microsoft Office. The new release also has the ability to
open documents saved in Microsoft’s new office standard format, OOXML.

http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/First_Look:_OpenOffice_3DOT0_Is_a_Free_Replacement_for_MS_Office_on_Mac

First Look: OpenOffice.org 3.0
==============================
At first glance, the suite seems like a more polished OpenOffice.org
2.0. Many of the shortcomings present in older versions of
OpenOffice.org have been fixed to some extent. For this review, I tested
OO3 in a virtualized Windows XP environment.

http://redmondmag.com/news/article.asp?EditorialsID=10305

OpenOffice.org 3.0 scores strong first week
===========================================
OpenOffice.org 3.0 was downloaded 3 million times in its first week,
with about 80% of the downloads by Windows users, an official with the
group said in a blog post on Monday.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9117575

Review: OpenOffice.org 3.0
==========================
Version 3.0 of OpenOffice.org's free office productivity suite was
launched in mid-October and, while not a ground-breaking release, it
builds on an already mature software package to provide even tougher
competition for Microsoft's Office suite in the office productivity
suite market.

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/software/2229014/review-openoffice-org

OpenOffice 3: Useful, Compatible - and Pretty
=============================================
The final version of OpenOffice.org 3, the open source Rackspace is the
expert when it comes to delivering Windows and Linux hosting solutions.
Click here to learn more. Latest News about open source competitor to
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft Office, came out
two weeks ago and looks better than ever.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/64981.html

Tips & Tricks
#########################################################################

Why OpenOffice.org Failed – and What to Do About It
===================================================
"Last week I noted that the release of OpenOffice.org 3.0 seems to mark
an important milestone in its adoption, judging at least by the healthy
News Linux News Linux – and continuing – rate of downloads. But in many
ways, success teaches us nothing; what is far more revealing is failure. "

http://www.e-linux.it/news_detail.php?id=6714

ODF News
#########################################################################

Governments head to SA (South Africa) to discuss Open Document Format
=====================================================================
"In just over a week’s time, government officials and representative
from around the globe will gather in South Africa for the second annual
Open Document Format (ODF) workshop.
The workshop, which will be held in Pretoria from 9-10 October, is aimed
at governments that are in the process of migrating to ODF as a standard
or have done so already."

http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=3233

Microsoft's OOXML Endgame Revealed?
===================================
"One of the mysteries concerning Microsoft's attempts to deal with the
threat ODF poses to its stranglehold on the office suite sector is why
some of its employees are making statements like that quoted"

http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=1365&blogid=14

Venezuela adopts ODF for government
=========================================
The South American nation of Venezuela is the latest country to adopt
the Open Document Format (ODF) as a national standard. Speaking at the
Second ODF Workshop in Pretoria, South Africa, yesterday, Carlos
Gonzalez of the National Center of Information Technologies, announced
that the Venezuelan government had formally adopted ODF as a standard
for the “processing, exchange and storage of documents”.

http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=3334

Office 2007 SP2 due in early 2009
=================================
Among the new features coming in the desktop SP are previously announced
file-format changes — specifically support for Open Document Format
(ODF), ...

http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1656

OpenOffice.org solution of the month
====================================
PALO - Commercial Open Source Business Intelligence - just do it easy.

With the Palo Server Jedox offers a compelling alternative to
proprietary BI solutions. Jedox pushes the concept of “Commercial Open
Source” for Business Intelligence and Corporate Performance Management.
By delivering a stable, high-end software, which is commercially
designed and developed and thoroughly tested, but still freely available
under a Open-Source license (GPL), Jedox combines the best of these two
worlds. The availability of a powerful spreadsheet-client for
OpenOffice.org Calc opens the door for a wide-spread use of Business
Intelligence and Corporate Performance Management throughout all layers
of the organization without obstacles in terms of high license or
training costs.

********************************************************************************
This new section introduces a single solution which provides a OO.o
integration or based on OO.o technology. The idea behind it is to
support vendors who have an OO.o integration. The full list of solutions
is available here :
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org_Solutions

Drop me an email, if you want to have your solution listed.
********************************************************************************

Newsletter Archive
#########################################################################
Past issues of the OpenOffice.org Newsletter can be found in the archive
of the announce mailing list:

http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/SummarizeList?listName=announce

Contact Information (regarding this newsletter)
#########################################################################
dev@...

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Announcing OpenOffice.org 2.4.2

2008-10-29T03:36:56Z

The OpenOffice.org Community is pleased to announce the release of
OpenOffice.org 2.4.2, a minor update of OpenOffice.org 2.4.1 released in
June 2008. OpenOffice.org 2.4.2 (EN-US for Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux,
and Solaris) is available for immediate download from
http://download.openoffice.org. Please contact the appropriate
native-language project http://projects.openoffice.org/native-lang.html
for details of availability in other languages, and the appropriate
porting project http://porting.openoffice.org for details of other
platforms.

Full details of the changes and bugs fixed may be found in the release
notes http://development.openoffice.org/releases/2.4.2.html. For details
of security vulnerabilities fixed, please see our security bulletin
http://www.openoffice.org/security/bulletin.html. To our knowledge, none
of these vulnerabilities has been exploited; however, in accordance with
industry best practice, we recommend all users of prior versions to
upgrade to 2.4.2 or 3.0.

OpenOffice.org 2.4.2 is the thirteenth release in the 2.x series
(launched in October 2005). It is provided as a service to users who are
not yet ready to move to OpenOffice.org 3.0, which was announced earlier
this month and has already recorded over six million downloads.

If you appreciate the work done by the OpenOffice.org Community and
would like to help us, please visit http://contributing.openoffice.org.

The OpenOffice.org Community

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It's Popular! ... and the site is down temporarily

2008-10-13T09:38:40Z

All,

We must apologize. OpenOffice.org 3.0 is proving immensely,
staggeringly popular. And our site is down as a result. While we fix
things, we urge you to be patient and try again later on tonight,
tomorrow, this week. It will still be there.

Oh, by popular, we mean it: figure hundreds of thousands of users,
mostly Windows users, but also Mac OS X and Linux and Solaris users,
all trying to download it all at once.....

Cheers, and thanks for your patience,
Louis

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OpenOffice.org 3.0 now on general release

2008-10-13T04:00:26Z

The OpenOffice.org Community is today announcing the general
availability of OpenOffice.org Version 3. Right from the opening screen,
OpenOffice.org 3 has a fresh new look, with a new start screen, new
splash screen, new icons, and a host of usability improvements.

The Writer word processor has a cool new slider control for zooming,
allows multi-page display while editing, has powerful new multilingual
support, and boasts improved notes capabilities. As well as conventional
office documents, Writer can now edit wiki documents for the web.

The Calc spreadsheet has been given another increase in capacity - now
up to 1024 columns per sheet. It also has a powerful new equation
solver, and a great new collaboration feature for multiple users.

Draw can now cope with poster-size graphics (up to 3sq metres), and
Impress supports multiple monitors for presentations. Chart now produces
much more clean looking graphics by default, and has a range of
additional features requested by power users.

The popular built-in PDF export facility has been further enhanced with
PDF/A support and a range of new user-selectable options.

OpenOffice.org 3 is now also available for the first time as a full Mac
OS X application, bringing the power of the world's leading open-source
office suite to a whole new group of users. And it's even easier than
ever to persuade MS-Office users to upgrade to OpenOffice.org, with new
support for MS-Access 2007 'accdb' files, improved support for VBA
macros, and a new ability to read MS-Office Open XML files (Microsoft
Office 2007 and Office 2008 documents)

OpenOffice.org's support for extensions is really coming of age with
OpenOffice.org 3. A rapidly expanding number of additional features are
available from different developers to add great features such as an
Impress presenter console, support for business analytics, PDF import,
and a whole new way of supporting additional languages.

Tell your friends that 2008 is 'The Year of 3'; - the year we released
OpenOffice.org 3; the year we make OpenOffice.org available on all 3
major computing platforms (MS-Windows, GNU/Linux, and Mac OS X); and the
year to realise the 3 key benefits of OpenOffice.org: it's great
software; it's easy to use; and it's free.

Links

Official Press Release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/OOo/3/prweb1459364.htm
Download: http://download.openoffice.org
Guide to new features: http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/features/3.0
Technical release notes:
http://development.openoffice.org/releases/3.0.0.html
Availability of localised versions and ports:
http://download.openoffice.org/other.html

The OpenOffice.org Community

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Community Innovation Program Winners

2008-10-06T13:58:27Z

All,

The Community Innovation Program Awards Committee is pleased to
announce the winners of this year's contest. We were impressed by the
quality of the submissions and by the work demonstrated, and on behalf
of the OpenOffice.org Community, look forward to working with the
Entrants.

There were four award levels, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honourable
Mention. We heartily congratulate everyone who won! We have only named
the team leaders here and regret that we were unable to fully name all
the team members at the time of this announcement but in the coming
week will strive to publish brief interviews and photos of the
winners. We will also try to keep interest going in the work done.
Finally, we hope that the successes demonstrated here by the
contestants (and there were many) will excite other groups to
participate in the next competition. The monetary reward is
significant, but we believe that the real beneficiary is the
Community: We all benefit from the work done in this program.

We describe the proces used below, and for each category state how
much cash, in US dollars, each winner was awarded by Sun Microsystems,
out of the USD $175,000 allotted OpenOffice.org. (The Committee
adjusted the sums to be given so those in the Gold/Silver/Bronze
categories won more money than otherwise stipulated.) A table listing
winners is at http://development.openoffice.org/community_innovation_program_winners.html
, and you can find this message, with links to the projects worked
on, at http://development.openoffice.org/awardees-2008.html .

A full description of the rules can be found at http://development.openoffice.org/community_innovation_program.html
.

The Winners
---------------

** Gold
Each will receive USD $13,750
Per Eriksson, “QA Track 2.0.” Category: Tools
Maximilian Odendahl, “Notes2”.” Category: Technical, Core
Daniel Naber (Team Leader), “LanguageTool OpenOffice.org Integration
and Community Website.” Category: Special
László Németh, “Spell Checking.” Category: Technical, Core
Regina Henschel, “Improve numerical stability of spreadsheet
functions,” Category: Technical, Core
Dominique Archambault (Team Leader), “odt2dtbook.” Category:
Technical, Extensions

** Silver
Each will receive USD $6,875.00
Jean-Marie Gouarné, “The Perl OpenDocument Connector.” Category:
Technical, Extensions
Dmitri Popov, “Sun Report Builder User Guide.” Category:
Documentation
Bruno Cavaler Ghisi, “mOOo (Mobile OpenOffice.org).” Category:
Special
Gabriel Gurley, “Construction of Course Training Package for
OpenOffice.org 3.” Category: Documentation
Anthony Bryan “Metalink.” Category: Tools"
Olivier Ronez, “The Dicollecte Project.” Category: Tools
Jim White, “Groovy For OpenOffice.” Category: Technical, Extensions
Helge Kraak, “Member Database.” Category: Special

** Bronze
Each will receive USD 4,583.00
Ihsan Faisal, “Indonesian Translation of Writer Guide.” Category:
Documentation
Holger Brandl, “OpenCards.” Category: Special
Joshua Martin (Team Leader), “FLUX User Interface.” Category:
Special
Guillaume Maillard (Team Leader), “Java + Open Document =
jOpenDocument.” Category: ODF
Kálmán Szalai (KAMI), “Extensions of Extras.” Category:
Technical, Extensions
Filip Molčan, “OOoPortal.com.” Category: Community

** Honourable Mention
Dysmas de Lassus, “Swiss knife - On screen formating tool.”
Category: Tools
Alan C. Baird, “Screenwright(R) screenplay formatting template.”
Category: Technical, Extensions
Roland Mundloch, “myPWDs addon.” Category: Special
Markus Schneider, “VN Thesis Template Tutorial / VN Thesis
Template.” Category: Documentation.*

These (one is not eligible for a cash award) will each receive USD
$3,333.00
* Not eligible for cash award.

============
Discussion

--------------
The Program Committee followed the provisions of the Program Rules. We
attended to the evaluations of the Project Leads and also looked to
community participation and the ways in which the Entry benefited the
OpenOffice.org Community. In allotting prize money, at our discretion
we granted the Gold, Silver, Bronze winners more than was specified in
the Rules, as the work done merited it.

There were six categories of interest:

* Technical: core code, extensions, ports

* Community: new methods of community cooperation, new marketing
efforts, artwork, and other efforts that significantly further
OpenOffice.org use and development, or the efficiency and
effectiveness of the Community

* Tools: those that help the community build, distribute, work on
OpenOffice.org, including infrastructure development, localization
tools, as well as a working environment, management system, and other
developer support

* OpenDocument Format (ODF): work that advances ODF development,
OpenOffice.org's implementation, or makes the ODF more accessible
through the ODF Toolkit project

* Documentation: both enduser and developer documentation and/or
training materials; articles on OpenOffice.org for developers or
endusers

* Special: a catch-all category to submit innovative Entries that
significantly further OpenOffice.org, its applications and projects,
and furthers the Community as a whole

----
Entrants were required to submit their work according to the category
of their interest, and could only submit an entry to one category. Our
judgment criteria were:

* Originality, which includes the nature of the problem addressed and
the innovative nature of the Entry;

* The difficulty of the Entry, which includes the nature of the
problem addressed and the difficulty in fashioning a solution;

* The current relevance of the Entry to the OpenOffice.org Community,
and its completeness;

* The extent to which the Entry provides utility to the Community
either by providing code that the Community uses and values or by
fostering the Community's growth and development or; and

* Community participation by the Entrant in developing the Entry.

=============

We congratulate the winners and firmly believe that this contest has
strengthened the Community and extended its reach. We anticipate that
in subsequent years, we will see yet more interesting and ambitious
work.

--- The Program Committee

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