Google throws bodies at OpenOffice

(continued from previous page)

service, he said. Its Linux core begins not with software from a company such as Red Hat, or Novell's Suse Linux, but rather from the version that project leader Linus Torvalds posts periodically to the kernel.org Web site.

Among the open-source technologies used by Google are the Python programming language and the MySQL database, he said. In addition, Google's Blogger site uses Apache Web server software and the Tomcat package for running Java programs on the server.

The GCC compiler software, used to create nearly every open-source program in existence, also is widely used at Google.

Sun's Java also figures prominently, even though it's not open-source at its center. "We make great use of Java at the company," DiBona said, including for Gmail. The company claims the Web-based e-mail service has millions of subscribers.

Sun hasn't released the fundamental part of Java--the virtual machine component--as open-source software. However, the Apache Software Foundation is working on an open-source Java effort called Project Harmony, an initiative that now has IBM developer support.

"I think they'll succeed wildly," DiBona said of Harmony. "They're so good at this. They say, 'We're going to write this software,' and it gets done."

Despite Google's liking for open-source software, plenty of programming at the company is proprietary.

"We're never going to open-source PageRank," DiBona said, referring to the algorithm the company uses to choose which search results to present. "It's the thing that makes Google Google."

Open-source output
Google isn't only an open-source software consumer. It's an open-source producer as well: For example, employees submit software to the Apache Axis Web services project, DiBona said.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company also employs some open-source notables:

• Sean Egan, leader of the GAIM project for instant messaging software;

• Alex Martelli, a leading Python developer;

• Greg Stein, the Apache Software Foundation chairman and a manager of the Subversion source code management software.

• And Ben Goodger, the lead programmer of the Firefox Web browser project, as well as a few other Firefox programmers.

Google also has published several open-source projects, including tools for debugging software, improving its performance, monitoring MySQL databases and using the AJAX software for richer Web page interfaces.

But so far, there is a significant limit to the group-programming facet of Google's projects: The company doesn't yet accept outside contributions.

Some developers have offered the company contributions meant to improve Google's open-source software--for example, to add 64-bit support to 32-bit software. That cooperation is awkward right now for reasons relating to intellectual-property control, DiBona said.

"We've been slow in being able to accept outside patches," he said. But the company is working on a contributor license that lays out patent and copyright terms for outside contributors. "It's something that pays to be very, very careful about."

The company has helped outside open-source projects, though. Through a $2 million program called the Google Summer of Code, the company sponsored 400 college-age students to work on open-source projects last summer. Each got $4,500 if they met their goals, which 84 percent did. Another $500 went to each of the several open-source projects that helped organize the effort, DiBona said.

Open-source software is good for young programmers, DiBona said, noting that it gives them real-world problems to solve and teaches them self-management skills.

"We think open-source is pretty important," DiBona said. "Without it, the industry would not be as good as it is now to newcomers."

[Kmett]

OpenOffice for Mac?

Maybe with Google helping out, they'll make a Mac version of OpenOffice?

That'd be nice.

[indrakanti]

OpenOffice for Mac

There is already a Mac version of OpenOffice which runs under
Xwindow system (X11) at OpenOffice.org. Or if you want a native
Mac version you could download NeoOffice/J
(http://www.planamesa.com/neojava/en/index.php) which is
basically carbonized OpenOffice.

Good luck

[JuggerNaut]

OpenOffice already exists for Mac!

A Mac version does exists, though requires the use of X11.
Right now OO.o version 2 for the Mac stands at release
candidate status, slightly behind the release schedule of other
versions. The OpenOffice team made an announcement that
they plan to create a native version of OO.o for Mac using the
Cocoa framework, but will take time to implement. There is an
almost native version of OpenOffice 1.1 called NeoOffice/J which
already uses a mixture of Java/Cocoa on the frontend. A very
nice compliment to the X11 version since it supports more Mac
OS X core technologies than the former.

http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/2.0.0rc3.html
http://www.planamesa.com/neojava/en/index.php

[Shankland]

reporter responds: Mac version in the works; don't hold your breath

According to Sun's Tim Bray, a native Mac version is in the works: http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2005/10/01/Open-Office-Conference#p-1. The current Mac version requires installation of the X11 graphics system rather than the native Mac interface. However, according to the Mac porting site, the work is going slowly: http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/

[Kmett]

OpenOffice for Mac?

Maybe with Google helping out, they'll make a Mac version of OpenOffice?

That'd be nice.

[indrakanti]

OpenOffice for Mac

There is already a Mac version of OpenOffice which runs under
Xwindow system (X11) at OpenOffice.org. Or if you want a native
Mac version you could download NeoOffice/J
(http://www.planamesa.com/neojava/en/index.php) which is
basically carbonized OpenOffice.

Good luck

[JuggerNaut]

OpenOffice already exists for Mac!

A Mac version does exists, though requires the use of X11.
Right now OO.o version 2 for the Mac stands at release
candidate status, slightly behind the release schedule of other
versions. The OpenOffice team made an announcement that
they plan to create a native version of OO.o for Mac using the
Cocoa framework, but will take time to implement. There is an
almost native version of OpenOffice 1.1 called NeoOffice/J which
already uses a mixture of Java/Cocoa on the frontend. A very
nice compliment to the X11 version since it supports more Mac
OS X core technologies than the former.

http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/2.0.0rc3.html
http://www.planamesa.com/neojava/en/index.php

[Shankland]

reporter responds: Mac version in the works; don't hold your breath

According to Sun's Tim Bray, a native Mac version is in the works: http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2005/10/01/Open-Office-Conference#p-1. The current Mac version requires installation of the X11 graphics system rather than the native Mac interface. However, according to the Mac porting site, the work is going slowly: http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/

[Captain_Spock]

"We make great use of Java....

... at the company," DiBona said, in light of this stated fact then the Operating System of choice should naturally have been IBM's OS/2 Warp which boasted the best performance running the Sun Java Virtual Machine (JVM) engine. For all practical purposes Sun Microsystems and IBM should have continued their collaboratiion on the JAVA/OS project that was embarked upon by these two companies thereby providing a popular alternative to the then emerging "Windows..XX" threat which is presently reported to be controlling 90% of the "desktop" marketspace. As it is apparently widely known both OpenOffice and MS Office have "borrowed" a number of features from Lotus SmartSuite just as the Linux Operating System. Just what the world is doing with the reported over 350 different "flavors" of an operating system together with the dominant Windows Operating which has yet to deliver on some computing features - includin security. What a waste of financial and other resources! The logical steps then for a market-facing "desktop" environment should have been an Open Lotus SmartSuite/OS2 Warp Combination.

[just_some_guy]

unbelievable

"the Operating System of choice should naturally have been IBM's OS/2 Warp"


Wow. Just, wow.

I think the logical choice would be AmiagaOS. Great support there!

[Captain_Spock]

"We make great use of Java....

... at the company," DiBona said, in light of this stated fact then the Operating System of choice should naturally have been IBM's OS/2 Warp which boasted the best performance running the Sun Java Virtual Machine (JVM) engine. For all practical purposes Sun Microsystems and IBM should have continued their collaboratiion on the JAVA/OS project that was embarked upon by these two companies thereby providing a popular alternative to the then emerging "Windows..XX" threat which is presently reported to be controlling 90% of the "desktop" marketspace. As it is apparently widely known both OpenOffice and MS Office have "borrowed" a number of features from Lotus SmartSuite just as the Linux Operating System. Just what the world is doing with the reported over 350 different "flavors" of an operating system together with the dominant Windows Operating which has yet to deliver on some computing features - includin security. What a waste of financial and other resources! The logical steps then for a market-facing "desktop" environment should have been an Open Lotus SmartSuite/OS2 Warp Combination.

[just_some_guy]

unbelievable

"the Operating System of choice should naturally have been IBM's OS/2 Warp"


Wow. Just, wow.

I think the logical choice would be AmiagaOS. Great support there!

[rbannon]

There were some great alternatives . . .

In the past, especially on the Mac platform, there were great
alternatives. For example WingZ (spreadsheet) and WriteNow
(word processor) were both much better than MS's offerings, but
they failed to take hold against MS's marketing and the hoard
like masses in the computer world. I think Apple has the code
rights to WingZ (re-branded as Resolve), but WriteNow was
written in assembler. Would love to see Apple re-release Resolve
as a Mac OS X native application . . . PLEASE!

As for a word processor, I long ago gave up because Word
basically killed everyone else, even though Word is a pretty bad
product. So, I just bit the bullet and learned LaTeX! For shorter
work, I use Mellel, which is close to being like WriteNow.

Want a free iPod: http://ipods.freepay.com/?r=22990096

[Tanjore]

In what way word is a bad product

In what way word is a bad product. Currently there is no product that even comes close to functionality of word. I may not agree with microsoft practices but Microsoft word and Excel are excellent products.

[rbannon]

There were some great alternatives . . .

In the past, especially on the Mac platform, there were great
alternatives. For example WingZ (spreadsheet) and WriteNow
(word processor) were both much better than MS's offerings, but
they failed to take hold against MS's marketing and the hoard
like masses in the computer world. I think Apple has the code
rights to WingZ (re-branded as Resolve), but WriteNow was
written in assembler. Would love to see Apple re-release Resolve
as a Mac OS X native application . . . PLEASE!

As for a word processor, I long ago gave up because Word
basically killed everyone else, even though Word is a pretty bad
product. So, I just bit the bullet and learned LaTeX! For shorter
work, I use Mellel, which is close to being like WriteNow.

Want a free iPod: http://ipods.freepay.com/?r=22990096

[Tanjore]

In what way word is a bad product

In what way word is a bad product. Currently there is no product that even comes close to functionality of word. I may not agree with microsoft practices but Microsoft word and Excel are excellent products.

[Captain_Spock]

Where It Is Believe The "Battle" Will Be Joined!

Not taking Microsoft for granted will be to take into very "high" consideration that this company noted for its "dealings" with the competition has already embarked on delivering on what it has recently touted as "EXCEL SERVICES"... an area where OpenOffice's - Open Document Standards is reported to lack formula compatibility, see link: OpenDocument office suites lack formula compatibility -

http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/09/09/192250&from=rss

Added to these are Microsoft's plans for its "SharePoint" technologies integration and perhaps enhancements to its Communications Server "Live" strategies for Real-Time Collaboration and Communication. These are but a few of the product and marketshare issues that the IBM/Google/Sun Microsystems Partnership would have to contend with against Microsoft!

[Captain_Spock]

Where It Is Believe The "Battle" Will Be Joined!

Not taking Microsoft for granted will be to take into very "high" consideration that this company noted for its "dealings" with the competition has already embarked on delivering on what it has recently touted as "EXCEL SERVICES"... an area where OpenOffice's - Open Document Standards is reported to lack formula compatibility, see link: OpenDocument office suites lack formula compatibility -

http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/09/09/192250&from=rss

Added to these are Microsoft's plans for its "SharePoint" technologies integration and perhaps enhancements to its Communications Server "Live" strategies for Real-Time Collaboration and Communication. These are but a few of the product and marketshare issues that the IBM/Google/Sun Microsystems Partnership would have to contend with against Microsoft!

[Zipdude]

OpenOffice is a dead duck unless...

OpenOffice is never going to take on MS Office unless they embrace the MS Office file formats as de facto standard.

Threatening the user with loss of information every time time he wants to save in MS Office format is a BAD IDEA!

MS Office file formats should be the default, so that OpenOffice works as a slot-in replacement for the average user.

Then the OpenDocument formats will become a selling point instead of a liability.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

OpenOffice.org is a live mallard...

The reason users are threatened with a loss of data when saving in MS file formats is nothing to do with forcing people to use OpenDocument, and everything with Microsoft not showing the specs of their file formats.

And how can MS Office formats be a standard when they change from one release to the next? With OpenDocument, you'll be able to open that lengthy document you created in OpenOffice over ten years ago. Try doing that with a Microsoft product and see how far that gets you.

[iverylm]

Open Office Not DEAD!!

Depends on what part of the world you live in. Many countries are migrating to Open Office., or planning too. North American will except the DEFAULT..while other hemispheres deploy less costly software to use on their infrastructure.
Since when...must an Open Source take on a PAY-TO-USE software.


IVERY

[Zipdude]

OpenOffice is a dead duck unless...

OpenOffice is never going to take on MS Office unless they embrace the MS Office file formats as de facto standard.

Threatening the user with loss of information every time time he wants to save in MS Office format is a BAD IDEA!

MS Office file formats should be the default, so that OpenOffice works as a slot-in replacement for the average user.

Then the OpenDocument formats will become a selling point instead of a liability.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

OpenOffice.org is a live mallard...

The reason users are threatened with a loss of data when saving in MS file formats is nothing to do with forcing people to use OpenDocument, and everything with Microsoft not showing the specs of their file formats.

And how can MS Office formats be a standard when they change from one release to the next? With OpenDocument, you'll be able to open that lengthy document you created in OpenOffice over ten years ago. Try doing that with a Microsoft product and see how far that gets you.

[iverylm]

Open Office Not DEAD!!

Depends on what part of the world you live in. Many countries are migrating to Open Office., or planning too. North American will except the DEFAULT..while other hemispheres deploy less costly software to use on their infrastructure.
Since when...must an Open Source take on a PAY-TO-USE software.


IVERY

[lion_2]

Great news for OpenOffice

Hopefully this will improve on OpenOffice's database program which I found to be very slow. Here's a comparison of Word and OpenOffice Writer:

http://www.megageekonline.com/news.asp?ID=180

[lion_2]

Great news for OpenOffice

Hopefully this will improve on OpenOffice's database program which I found to be very slow. Here's a comparison of Word and OpenOffice Writer:

http://www.megageekonline.com/news.asp?ID=180

[FutureGuy]

Best form of flattery

StarOffice and other opendocument apps look like a total rip-off of MS Office. It copies not just the document format but the menus, layouts, features, look and feel pretty much everything. Well it?s said imitation is the best form of flattery. These ?open? guys should be ashamed of themselves opendocument, wine, mono are all copy of ?useless, worthless? MS technologies.

[JuggerNaut]

I Hate to break it to you; but People hate change!

So this is the reason why StarOffice and OpenOffice.org had to
make familiarities with MS office so it would minimize any
reason not to give those products a chance in the market. All
web browsers are pretty much the same look and feel wise; you
have Back, Forward, Reload and Stop buttons, no matter what
browser it is. You say that they copy Microsoft, but don't you
think that Microsoft did the same when trying to compete with
Lotus 123 and WordPerfect back in the day. Look and feel of
office applications has been copied back and forth for years. MS
Office isn't all original look and feel wise, Microsoft borrowed
such from other competitors and competitors borrowed from
Microsoft; it's been happening for years and unlikely to change.

Darn if you do, darn if you don't!

[Devil's Advocate]

I guess Mac should be flattered then...

...considering Windows is "like a total rip-off"
of the ancient Mac desktops to begin with. The
whole PC market was "open" when they
started and the only deviation they could think
of was recycling bin instead of trash can.

But they did keep their simplified internal
system the same since time began though.
Thus the plethora of goofy games and cheap
software available for PCs. And also the
continuing array of viruses, trojans and other
security risks a child could come up with.

So Mac has limited choices in free game
downloads and cheesy clip art. That's ok. We''l
keep the quality graphics, video and music
software instead and leave the big text editing
dilemmas cooling on the window.

I do have to praise SpellCheck though. A
right-brain phonetically impaired person such
as myself would be lost without it.

[FutureGuy]

Best form of flattery

StarOffice and other opendocument apps look like a total rip-off of MS Office. It copies not just the document format but the menus, layouts, features, look and feel pretty much everything. Well it?s said imitation is the best form of flattery. These ?open? guys should be ashamed of themselves opendocument, wine, mono are all copy of ?useless, worthless? MS technologies.

[JuggerNaut]

I Hate to break it to you; but People hate change!

So this is the reason why StarOffice and OpenOffice.org had to
make familiarities with MS office so it would minimize any
reason not to give those products a chance in the market. All
web browsers are pretty much the same look and feel wise; you
have Back, Forward, Reload and Stop buttons, no matter what
browser it is. You say that they copy Microsoft, but don't you
think that Microsoft did the same when trying to compete with
Lotus 123 and WordPerfect back in the day. Look and feel of
office applications has been copied back and forth for years. MS
Office isn't all original look and feel wise, Microsoft borrowed
such from other competitors and competitors borrowed from
Microsoft; it's been happening for years and unlikely to change.

Darn if you do, darn if you don't!

[Devil's Advocate]

I guess Mac should be flattered then...

...considering Windows is "like a total rip-off"
of the ancient Mac desktops to begin with. The
whole PC market was "open" when they
started and the only deviation they could think
of was recycling bin instead of trash can.

But they did keep their simplified internal
system the same since time began though.
Thus the plethora of goofy games and cheap
software available for PCs. And also the
continuing array of viruses, trojans and other
security risks a child could come up with.

So Mac has limited choices in free game
downloads and cheesy clip art. That's ok. We''l
keep the quality graphics, video and music
software instead and leave the big text editing
dilemmas cooling on the window.

I do have to praise SpellCheck though. A
right-brain phonetically impaired person such
as myself would be lost without it.

[JuggerNaut]

RE: You really need your hand held

You're missing the point! Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Just because their opinion does align with your, does not mean
they have some "emotional" issues. Yeah Word has its pros and
cons; my biggest grief with it has been well hidden features that
I have to keep a cheat sheet in order to find them (at times) and
when using Word during long sessions, it starts to act funny and
crash for no apparent reason. I had to eventually adopt the
'click save' every few minutes to protect from any loss of
productivity and/or data.

..."Your analogy with the car industry is flawed. I don't choose to
drive a BMW because I think Mercedes cars are "pretty bad". I can
actually own the BMW without slamming the competition. Rarely
can that be said of Mac advocates, Linux advocates, and open
source advocates. Those guys do more to alienate others than to
gain support."...

Reread my car analogy, it only states the desires of the car
buyer, whatever that may be. And as for Windows advocates;
they are as bad as any other advocate of any computer platform,
so why single them out of the lineup for your rational discussion
here? Your bias shows through and through!

[JuggerNaut]

RE: You really need your hand held

You're missing the point! Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Just because their opinion does align with your, does not mean
they have some "emotional" issues. Yeah Word has its pros and
cons; my biggest grief with it has been well hidden features that
I have to keep a cheat sheet in order to find them (at times) and
when using Word during long sessions, it starts to act funny and
crash for no apparent reason. I had to eventually adopt the
'click save' every few minutes to protect from any loss of
productivity and/or data.

..."Your analogy with the car industry is flawed. I don't choose to
drive a BMW because I think Mercedes cars are "pretty bad". I can
actually own the BMW without slamming the competition. Rarely
can that be said of Mac advocates, Linux advocates, and open
source advocates. Those guys do more to alienate others than to
gain support."...

Reread my car analogy, it only states the desires of the car
buyer, whatever that may be. And as for Windows advocates;
they are as bad as any other advocate of any computer platform,
so why single them out of the lineup for your rational discussion
here? Your bias shows through and through!

[JuggerNaut]

RE: cut the crap

..."Putting it clear and simple. MS's present generation of OS's
and applications is atleast 5 years ahead of the overall
functionality and appication availability (from both MS and
others) then Mac or Linux."...

I (as well as many others) would beg to differ on that front. The
amount of applications means a hill of beans if most are
redundant in their respective categories of the computer
software market. As for functionality, Windows is behind the
curve in regards to Mac OS X and that's been pretty much the
case throughout the history of the two operating systems. Even
Linux is making inroads to Windows on functionality and ease of
use.

..."If and when there is a compable OS around that is either
cheaper or better then Windows I will be the first to make that
switch."...

Well, indulge yourself; because cheaper and better already exists
in many flavors!

[FutureGuy]

Excuse me!!!

The last time I searched for "games" (which was just now) on download.com (part of the pretty linux biased cnet network) there was no a single download for Linux, for XP there were over 1200, go figure. None of the top Games and Devices have Linux support and barely for Mac. OpenGL doesn't even closely compare with DirectX.
I am not a gamer but this is just one of categories where other OSs are at least "5" years behind. So for now I will "indulge" myself with Windows.

[JuggerNaut]

RE: cut the crap

..."Putting it clear and simple. MS's present generation of OS's
and applications is atleast 5 years ahead of the overall
functionality and appication availability (from both MS and
others) then Mac or Linux."...

I (as well as many others) would beg to differ on that front. The
amount of applications means a hill of beans if most are
redundant in their respective categories of the computer
software market. As for functionality, Windows is behind the
curve in regards to Mac OS X and that's been pretty much the
case throughout the history of the two operating systems. Even
Linux is making inroads to Windows on functionality and ease of
use.

..."If and when there is a compable OS around that is either
cheaper or better then Windows I will be the first to make that
switch."...

Well, indulge yourself; because cheaper and better already exists
in many flavors!

[FutureGuy]

Excuse me!!!

The last time I searched for "games" (which was just now) on download.com (part of the pretty linux biased cnet network) there was no a single download for Linux, for XP there were over 1200, go figure. None of the top Games and Devices have Linux support and barely for Mac. OpenGL doesn't even closely compare with DirectX.
I am not a gamer but this is just one of categories where other OSs are at least "5" years behind. So for now I will "indulge" myself with Windows.

[Bill Dautrive]

Really?

Then why is the upcoming versions of IE and Windows a copy of what others have released already, in some cases years ago. Even when Vista is released it will still be behind others in stability because of MS's insistance of sticking with their registry. Which is the main reason windows OS's degrade over time, when others do not. In fact, Windows is the only OS that degrades over time.

Hell, NTFS is still decades behind other file systems, and that won't be available until at LEAST 2007. When was the last time you had to defrag anything other then FAT or NTFS?

MS are the ones constantly behind others. And in the few cases they have features others don't those "features" normally amount to unused bloat and security issues.

[Bill Dautrive]

Whoops

The above comments were meant for the post title "cut the crap".

With all the effort CNET put into making each page on this site as cluttered as possible, couldn't they have put the effort into an edit function?

[Bill Dautrive]

Really?

Then why is the upcoming versions of IE and Windows a copy of what others have released already, in some cases years ago. Even when Vista is released it will still be behind others in stability because of MS's insistance of sticking with their registry. Which is the main reason windows OS's degrade over time, when others do not. In fact, Windows is the only OS that degrades over time.

Hell, NTFS is still decades behind other file systems, and that won't be available until at LEAST 2007. When was the last time you had to defrag anything other then FAT or NTFS?

MS are the ones constantly behind others. And in the few cases they have features others don't those "features" normally amount to unused bloat and security issues.

[Bill Dautrive]

Whoops

The above comments were meant for the post title "cut the crap".

With all the effort CNET put into making each page on this site as cluttered as possible, couldn't they have put the effort into an edit function?