OpenOffice

Microsoft win for OOXML could undermine open source

On Friday, Aug. 15, the software behemoth from Redmond, Wash., won another victory over open source, when the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission gave the go-ahead to Microsoft’s alternative Office Open XML (OOXML) document format. The organizations rejected appeals by four countries (Brazil, South Africa, Venezuela and India) because they failed to obtain two-thirds membership support for their position. The four objectors contended that procedural violations last February invalidated the subsequent April 1 boards’ approval of the Microsoft-sponsored standard. OOXML opponents also argue that the addition of a second document format standard will undermine the Open Document Format (ODL) developed earlier by the open source community. However, the ISO contends that its approval of two standards will give the market the opportunity to choose between the two alternatives.

Since when has Microsoft been in favor of choice? Like the choice of eat or be eaten. . . .

OpenOffice: Take your pick

While OpenOffice.org celebrates its seventh year with a new release, someone put his fork in OpenOffice’s birthday cake.

Go-oo get OpenOffice

The Go-oo version of OpenOffice.org promises new, in-development features and functionality not incorporated into OpenOffice’s releases. According to SearchEnterpriseLinux.com expert Solveig Haugland’s blog, the split is the result of a long-standing disagreement over licensing of a Calc module.

Latest OpenOffice.org a major release

In a recent tip on SearchEnterpriseLinux.com, Haugland has also done a great job reviewing the newest features of OpenOffice.org 2.3. OpenOffice.org 2.3 includes several features and improvements, including security enhancements.

The latest release also includes an expanded extension library. The multiplatform OpenOffice.org is compatible with all major office suites, which means you can work with your existing .doc files easily with the open source Writer application. SearchEnterpriseLinux.com contributor Serdar Yegulalp reminds us that this refers to the Microsoft Word 97 2003 format, “which retains a core set of features which are compatible across the iteration” of the proprietary product.

OpenOffice.org blogosphere

In addition to Haugland’s tips and advice on SearchEnterpriseLinux and her own blog, the OpenOffice.org Web site keeps a list of helpful OpenOffice.org blogs. If you know of any others, let us know.

OpenOffice 2.4 goes stable on Gentoo

OpenOffice 2.4 went stable on Gentoo this week. Version 2.4 includes a lot of security fixes as well as new features to make the upgrade worthwhile for anyone. The ability to control your stored passwords in OO with a master password is a nice one in my security oriented mindset.One caveat that I have found when upgrading that doesn’t directly relate to upgrade OpenOffice itself, but having upgraded my JRE. OpenOffice didn’t seem to pick up on the new path and was still trying to use /opt/sun-jdk-1.6.0.03/jre after I had upgraded to 1.6.0.05 which resulted in OpenOffice always telling me that my JRE was broken. Removing ~/.ooo-2.0/user/config/javasettings_Linux_x86.xml and ~/.ooo-2.0/user/registry/cache/org.openoffice.Office.Java.dat then resetting the JRE from within OpenOffice fixed the issue.