Switching to OpenOffice.org could save the Danish government $21 million over an upgrade to Office 2007. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by Ramboll Management an IT consultancy. The report was commissioned by the Danish Open Source Business Association.
The Danish Parliament decided on June 2 that starting 2008 all documents exchanged with its citizens must be based on open standard file formats. The report compares the two options of upgrading to Microsoft Office 2007 with OpenXML and OpenOffice with the OpenDocument Format (also known as ISO 26300 standard).
The report looks at the cost over five years, including training and file conversion. The report concludes that on a strict cost basis, sticking with installed Offixe XP and Office 2003 and using a plug-in to load and save ODF documents would be the least expensive option. However, switching to OpenOffice, which uses ODF as its native file format, is little more costly. While upgrading to MS Office 2007 would cost additional $21 million.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Saving on Software in 2056
Scott Carpenter published a rather sad satire about "5 ways to save on your monthly software rental bill in the year 2056".
Scott looks into the rear view mirror at current trends of monetizing software not with an up-front one time license but with a monthly or annual license fee. Well, as many of us know, commercial software does not really have a one-time fee anyhow. After a number of years the pressure to upgrade to the new version becomes so strong that there is no escaping. Did you know that Microsoft's assisted support for Outlook 98 ended on January 16, 2004. This is barely five years after inception and not atypical.
So enjoy Scott carpenter's satire and see the grain of truth he is conveying.
Scott looks into the rear view mirror at current trends of monetizing software not with an up-front one time license but with a monthly or annual license fee. Well, as many of us know, commercial software does not really have a one-time fee anyhow. After a number of years the pressure to upgrade to the new version becomes so strong that there is no escaping. Did you know that Microsoft's assisted support for Outlook 98 ended on January 16, 2004. This is barely five years after inception and not atypical.
So enjoy Scott carpenter's satire and see the grain of truth he is conveying.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
OpenOffice.org 2.0.4 late but in a hurry
It appears the next minor release is a bit delayed. According to the roadmap the next minor release with bug fixes and smaller improvements was planned for September.
However, apparently release candidate 3 of the release does turn some heads with its improvements in speed. Some beta testers can't but rave about its quick startup time.
Sounds rather good to me. I can't wait.
However, apparently release candidate 3 of the release does turn some heads with its improvements in speed. Some beta testers can't but rave about its quick startup time.
Sounds rather good to me. I can't wait.
Friday, October 06, 2006
The new chart module gets noticed
I have recently reported on the new OpenOffice.org chart module and its improvements. Looks like Linux.com has also noticed the ongoing development of better charts for Calc. They have some nice screen shots of the chart preview, the ability to add regression curves, and the new flexible data ranges.
Unfortunately, they confirm the uncertain release schedule.
Unfortunately, they confirm the uncertain release schedule.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
OpenOffice.org Template and Clipart Contest
Worldlabel.com sponsors a contest for template and clipart held by the the Openoffice.org Documentation Project.
While OpenOffice.org (OOo) has reached a functional parity with the market leader in most categories that matter, it has not developed the wealth of templates for documents from faxes to letters, presentations and classic calculation projects such as business plans and budgets or travel expenses. It also lacks a great deal of creative clipart for newsletters and memos or simple product fliers.
The OOo documentation project has put the challenge to the many talented designers
and business people to share their creations. All entires must be licenses under Public Documentation License or LGPL. Entries must be posted to the documentation project by October 31st. Prizes of up to $750, sponsored by Worldlabel.com will be awarded for the best entries by December 1st.
See the contest home page for further details.
While OpenOffice.org (OOo) has reached a functional parity with the market leader in most categories that matter, it has not developed the wealth of templates for documents from faxes to letters, presentations and classic calculation projects such as business plans and budgets or travel expenses. It also lacks a great deal of creative clipart for newsletters and memos or simple product fliers.
The OOo documentation project has put the challenge to the many talented designers
and business people to share their creations. All entires must be licenses under Public Documentation License or LGPL. Entries must be posted to the documentation project by October 31st. Prizes of up to $750, sponsored by Worldlabel.com will be awarded for the best entries by December 1st.
See the contest home page for further details.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
OpenOffice.org supports extensions like Firefox
A major theme at the OpenOffice.org Conference (OOoCon 2006) was the support for extensions. The OpenOffice developers envy the success of extensions in Firefox, NetBeans and Eclipse and want to replicate it.
OpenOffice has had for a long time a component architecture called Universal Network Objects (UNO). This architecture allows to mix components written in different languages, register them and allow each one to contribute to the overall functionality of the application. So far creation of such a component and its integration was a bit cumbersome.
The next minor release (2.0.4) will add common functionality, such as handling of license for extensions and the ability to install the extension for all or only for one user on a PC.
For the next major release (2.1) the development team introduces a new format that allows the components to be installed with one click, versioned and managed as extensions. It also will be possible to update extensions online and automatically search for updates. In addition extensions can require dependencies on other components. This will lead to a much more stable application and extension eco system.
OpenOffice.org 2.1 is planned for December 2006. I expect the first extensions to be out in Spring 2007. I look forward to such extensions. This move will set the bar lower for members of the community to add the single function they need and to contribute to the application as a whole. It also does work hand in hand with the contest for templates and clipart. This will make the OpenOffice.org suite more complete and more attractive to new users.
OpenOffice has had for a long time a component architecture called Universal Network Objects (UNO). This architecture allows to mix components written in different languages, register them and allow each one to contribute to the overall functionality of the application. So far creation of such a component and its integration was a bit cumbersome.
The next minor release (2.0.4) will add common functionality, such as handling of license for extensions and the ability to install the extension for all or only for one user on a PC.
For the next major release (2.1) the development team introduces a new format that allows the components to be installed with one click, versioned and managed as extensions. It also will be possible to update extensions online and automatically search for updates. In addition extensions can require dependencies on other components. This will lead to a much more stable application and extension eco system.
OpenOffice.org 2.1 is planned for December 2006. I expect the first extensions to be out in Spring 2007. I look forward to such extensions. This move will set the bar lower for members of the community to add the single function they need and to contribute to the application as a whole. It also does work hand in hand with the contest for templates and clipart. This will make the OpenOffice.org suite more complete and more attractive to new users.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Next generation OOo Chart
The OpenOffice.org development team is hard at work to make its office productivity suite better than ever.
Bruce Byfield reviews an OpenOffice.org milestone release and particularly its charting component. Although the component is not yet scheduled for any release date, Bruce does describe in detail the many changes and enhancements of the chart wizard for OpenOffice.org Calc. I guess it will be far into 2007 before we see the fruits of this work.
Bruce Byfield reviews an OpenOffice.org milestone release and particularly its charting component. Although the component is not yet scheduled for any release date, Bruce does describe in detail the many changes and enhancements of the chart wizard for OpenOffice.org Calc. I guess it will be far into 2007 before we see the fruits of this work.
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