Monday, August 29, 2005

OpenOffice.Org releases public beta 2

The second public beta release of OpenOffice.org 2.0 is now available for download, and techies everywhere should go get it. This beta release allows a broad user base to test and evaluate the next major version of OpenOffice.org, but is not recommended for production deployment at this stage.

I hope to press CDs with this program, and its source code, for handouts in the weeks to come.
This second public beta release is the result of many months' work
improving upon the first public beta announced in March, 2005. OpenOffice.org 2.0 introduces a new database module, implements the OASIS OpenDocument XML file format and a myriad of other new features and capabilities. The redesigned interface and enhanced document filters combine to make the application even more interoperable with other office suites and easier to use and learn, regardless of operating system.

OpenOffice.org Conference - 2005 is slated for Koper - Capodistria,
Slovenia, from 28 to 30 September.

OpenOffice.org is a fully featured open-source productivity suite available as a free download for major computing platforms in over 45 languages. Data is stored in an XML file format standardised for office documents by the international body OASIS. OpenOffice.org is developed, supported, and promoted by an international community of volunteers with its main sponsor and primary contributor being Sun Microsystems.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

On 2 September 2005 Sun Microsystems announced that it was retiring
the Sun Industry Standards Source License (SISSL), an Open Source
Initiative (OSI)-approved software license. In recent weeks, the
OSI, which authorises open-source licenses, has been discussing
limiting license proliferation, so as to make the process of choosing
a license easier for developers and companies. Sun's move is in
support of that objective.

How does this move affect OpenOffice.org? As most know,
OpenOffice.org code was launched under the dual banner of the SISSL
and LGPL; licensees could choose which one they wanted to use, and
nearly all have chosen the LGPL. Effective with the announcement
that Sun is retiring the SISSL, however, OpenOffice.org will in the
future only be licensed under the LGPL.

For users, the simplification means: no change. OpenOffice.org
remains free to use, distribute, even sell. One can freely use it in
commercial as well as government environments; nothing has changed.

For vendors, distributors, add-on and plug-in writers of
OpenOffice.org: The LGPL allows for commercial distribution without
affecting derived products in the same way as the GPL.

For developers and other contributors: As the code will be licensed
only under the LGPL, modifications to the source must be published.
(The SISSL did not require all changes to the source to be
published.) As most OpenOffice.org contributors are already openly
contributing to the community, we anticipate no problems. And for
those who have been using the SISSL exclusively, we invite you to
join us.

The OpenOffice.org Community Council

http://council.openoffice.org
http://www.openoffice.org/FAQs/license-change.html