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Contemplating the possible retirement of Apache OpenOffice

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Re: Contemplating the possible retirement of Apache OpenOffice

#71

Could they drop openoffice, then rename libreoffice to openoffice? That would be fantastic

Out of the box thinking but would never fly. Think of all of the releases of LibreOffice that overlap OpenOffice. Support nightmare and users would be confused about the changes.

Re: Contemplating the possible retirement of Apache OpenOffice

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was immediately obvious at the time, I remember it as such. The devs jumped ship to LibreOffice. All Oracle was left with was a brand and a moribund codebase, and for some reason Apache accepted it. Why didn't Oracle give it to LibreOffice? Because they were sore at being bypassed, it looked like. The correct thing for Apache to do would have been to say, nope mate, we don't want to be part of your childish feud,…

It's not impossible that the terms Apache got it under prohibited them divesting themselves of it for some length of time. I don't recall thinking at the time this landed that it was so cut-and-dry who would end up the superior solution. In the worst case, though, would it be better for Apache to have refused holding the OOo branding, given that there was no chance it would have otherwise made it out into someone lik…

The terms are all on the mailing list.

Re: Contemplating the possible retirement of Apache OpenOffice

#73

Simplest instant solution: 301 every page about openoffice to a page about libreoffice.

aaaaauuuurrrrgh that's sound in principle but placing 301 on a domain like that is really, really bad.

GitHub Pages sends 301 redirects when you put a CNAME file on the repo. That's insane.

Re: Contemplating the possible retirement of Apache OpenOffice

#74
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Name natters. IME 90% of people I know who want to quickly look through a PowerPoint on Linux will install OpenOffice. Even when they hear that libre is the better version 80% of them would stay with oo as it is the "real" oo.

I agree in the case of the Windows/OS X environment, where brand awareness of LibreOffice is low, but in the Linux world... my distribution (Debian) doesn't even package OpenOffice, and I don't know any Linux user who uses OOo.

Here's one. Never thought it necessary to change. OO works just fine.

Re: Contemplating the possible retirement of Apache OpenOffice

#75
post #39
post #32

I think the document foundation should get the brand, instant of Apache squatting. It's still far better known that libreoffice.

Maybe Libre Office could take over the branding, making "0pen Libre Office" (OLO for short, not to be confused with LOL). That way even ppl searching for Open Office would find a good free Office suite.

How about "OpenOffice, known as LibreOffice west of the Rockies"?

Re: Contemplating the possible retirement of Apache OpenOffice

#76
post #69
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think OpenOffice is a better name than LibreOffice. It rolls of the tongue more smoothly, and it is easier to explain to people. On the other hand LibreOffice has the lion's share of the developers (and probably of the users by now). So a "takeover" of OpenOffice by the LibreOffice project would probably be the best solution at this point (at least as far as I can tell).

>> "it is easier to explain to people" Which is why "Office for Free" (OfficeFree, oFree, O4F) would be a better non-Linux name. Average user doesn't care if something is "open" they care if it's free.

Doubt it. I would imagine that many lay users associate "free" with low quality. "Open" on the other hand has positive connotations.

Re: Contemplating the possible retirement of Apache OpenOffice

#78
post #71

Could they drop openoffice, then rename libreoffice to openoffice? That would be fantastic

Out of the box thinking but would never fly. Think of all of the releases of LibreOffice that overlap OpenOffice. Support nightmare and users would be confused about the changes.

You just do what gcc did. The next OO version is the current LO code, and the project is now managed by the LO developers.

Re: Contemplating the possible retirement of Apache OpenOffice

#79

Anyone know if this would impact on NeoOffice, the Mac native port? They seem to draw code from both LibreOffice and OpenOffice. [Side note: the way NeoOffice asks for yearly donations in order to access binary updates is very smart. Synergy also uses this method, and NeoOffice & Synergy are the first GPL projects I've regularly contributed to as a result.]

I used NeoOffice a long time ago when OpenOffice required X11 on OS X. Now that LibreOffice works natively on OS X, what does NeoOffice offer now? Is it like Camino was to Firefox?

Re: Contemplating the possible retirement of Apache OpenOffice

#80
post #59
post #32

I think the document foundation should get the brand, instant of Apache squatting. It's still far better known that libreoffice.

It made a sense few years ago, now Libre Office has a brand of its own. I don't think having the ownership would be useful now.

OpenOffice still a much stronger brand outside of the Linux community. Basically all the non-technical people I know (including some very non-technical people like my father-in-law) know that OpenOffice is the free alternative for MS Office. I'll bet not one of them have heard of Libre Office.
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