[Fsf-friends] OpenOffice

Praveen A pravi.a@gmail.com
Mon Apr 11 23:35:24 IST 2005


There is wide spread concern about the future of Open Source as Sun uses 
Java more and more in Open Office. 

The concerns are 

1. Java is not Free Software nor Open Source software
2. It vilates the project goal of being a cross platform office suit since a 
complete JRE is not avilable in many main systems like Free BSD.
3. It makes stress on those repackaging it. Redhat is trying to patch Open 
Office to work with free gcj java runtime.And a fork is very likely.
4. It craetes hurdles in adoption by Govenments as more and more require the 
application to be open source and the new database tools are not at all 
based on open source tool.

Here is a more compehensive analysis by Bruce Byfield
Java fallout: OpenOffice.org <http://OpenOffice.org> 2.0 and the FOSS 
community
http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/03/22/204244

<quote>
Several new features of the recently released
OpenOffice.org<http://OpenOffice.org>
2.0 beta require a Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Since Java's license is 
neither free nor open source, a small but vocal minority has responded both 
strongly and negatively. For instance, when NewsForge recently published a 
review of the beta, no other feature attracted as much comment. Some groups, 
including members of the major GNU/Linux distributions, most of whom 
repackage OpenOffice.org <http://OpenOffice.org> (OOo), have responded by 
looking for alternatives, often while cursing the project for the extra work 
it has dumped on them. How did OpenOffice.org <http://OpenOffice.org> come 
to rely on Java? What problems is it likely to cause? How are GNU/Linux 
distributions reacting to this change in a key piece of software?
</quote>
Bruce Byfield is a freelance course designer and instructor and a technical 
journalist. 

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