OpenOffice in trouble

emmjay · 16. Oct 2011, 03:19 PM

I have been using Open Office for several years now and it is an excellent suite of products with a strong community of users. I knew that it had been sold off a few years back but it remained freeware. I was reading that Oracle is no longer funding OpenOffice.org and that this group is in danger of folding. They are in need of donations ... they are currently embarking on a drive to make this happen.

Why did Oracle buy this product? There has not been a peep from Oracle as to what they intend to do with it! Were they looking at taking on MS Office? ... it is the only answer I can think of. The acquisition department needs a good shaking.

The OO group were probably looking for a good amount of development cash from Oracle, but the product has not changed much since the buyout. I think there has only been one release update.

I am looking at the OO splinter, LibreOffice as a replacement right now. The news about OO seems to be out there as LibreOffice has substantially grown its user base over the past few months. Seems to be the place to go.

Anupam · 16. Oct 2011, 03:57 PM

emmjay, Oracle actually did not buy this product. They bought Sun Microsystems, and Java and OpenOffice were developed by Sun. So, they came as a part of the deal. After Oracle took over Sun, the developers of OpenOffice were not satisfied with the way OpenOffice was going under Oracle, and so they decided to revolt, and that's how LibreOffice came into being. This happened only after a short time of the take over. So, it seems like Oracle never really did care about OpenOffice.

LibreOffice has been in active development, and keeps releasing new versions, with many improvements. So, LibreOffice is the way to go. OpenOffice does not seem to have any future right now.

But, I do hope that with LibreOffice, they do away with the shortcomings that OpenOffice had, and make it a real quality product.

This topic was already discussed last year here :

OpenOffice is now LibreOffice

J_L · 16. Oct 2011, 11:08 PM

Similar thing happened to OpenSolaris, which got discontinued. I hope they don't continue doing this to Sun's freeware.

emmjay · 17. Oct 2011, 02:39 PM

I think OO will fold as I can not see the donations that they need will be there. This may be their last stand.

Anupam · 17. Oct 2011, 02:43 PM

Company such as Oracle should not need donations if they want to develop OpeOffice, but looks like they don't.

emmjay · 18. Oct 2011, 05:26 PM

Anupam are you familair with Ssuite Office Premium HD?

I understand it is freeware (ssuitesoft.com)

Anupam · 18. Oct 2011, 07:43 PM

emmjay, I know about SSuite, but I have never used it. I have checked out their site before, and frankly, it does not appeal to me. Firstly, there are just so many suites, its really confusing. See this page :

http://www.ssuitesoft.com/software.htm

I believe the SSuite Office Premium HD is their latest program. I checked it out, but I am not impressed by the screenshots that I see. The interface looks just too flashy, and not to my liking. It does not look mature to me.

These were the reasons before too, to not try products from there.

But, I am just saying this on an outward view, because I haven't tried it. If its good to use to, then I cant say. Maybe someone else will, who has used it actually.

If you are looking for a light weight office suite, I will recommend SoftMaker Office 2008, which is offered free. You can find it here :

http://www.softmakeroffice.com/

You have to register in order to get the license key. Registration is free.

I have it on my system, and I find it good.

You can also try KingSoft Office free, but there has been some controversy about it, regarding the license, and its operations. It was solved afterwards, but the lingering doubt still remains. You can read about it here :

Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2012

emmjay · 22. Oct 2011, 05:24 AM

Tnx for the info. I downloaded LibreOffice and installed it. Looks exactly like OO.

Anupam · 22. Oct 2011, 08:04 AM

Good decision. LibreOffice is the way to go. Many Linux distros have also shifted to LibreOffice from OO, and many are thinking about it. Yes, LibreOffice must look like OO, since its a fork. However, there have been improvements, and new changes, which you can find on their site.

I haven't tried LibreOffice yet, because as per my needs, I don't have that requirement of such a heavy suite. My office work is very minimal, and I am happy with lightweight SoftMaker Office.

nesrinamb · 28. Nov 2011, 05:20 AM

well Apache now took over development for open office so it seems that t will continue to go on

16. Oct 2011, 03:19 PM	#1 (permalink)
emmjay Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 226	OpenOffice in trouble I have been using Open Office for several years now and it is an excellent suite of products with a strong community of users. I knew that it had been sold off a few years back but it remained freeware. I was reading that Oracle is no longer funding OpenOffice.org and that this group is in danger of folding. They are in need of donations ... they are currently embarking on a drive to make this happen. Why did Oracle buy this product? There has not been a peep from Oracle as to what they intend to do with it! Were they looking at taking on MS Office? ... it is the only answer I can think of. The acquisition department needs a good shaking. The OO group were probably looking for a good amount of development cash from Oracle, but the product has not changed much since the buyout. I think there has only been one release update. I am looking at the OO splinter, LibreOffice as a replacement right now. The news about OO seems to be out there as LibreOffice has substantially grown its user base over the past few months. Seems to be the place to go.

16. Oct 2011, 03:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
Anupam Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 9,484	emmjay, Oracle actually did not buy this product. They bought Sun Microsystems, and Java and OpenOffice were developed by Sun. So, they came as a part of the deal. After Oracle took over Sun, the developers of OpenOffice were not satisfied with the way OpenOffice was going under Oracle, and so they decided to revolt, and that's how LibreOffice came into being. This happened only after a short time of the take over. So, it seems like Oracle never really did care about OpenOffice. LibreOffice has been in active development, and keeps releasing new versions, with many improvements. So, LibreOffice is the way to go. OpenOffice does not seem to have any future right now. But, I do hope that with LibreOffice, they do away with the shortcomings that OpenOffice had, and make it a real quality product. This topic was already discussed last year here : OpenOffice is now LibreOffice __________________ Anupam

17. Oct 2011, 02:43 PM	#5 (permalink)
Anupam Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 9,484	Company such as Oracle should not need donations if they want to develop OpeOffice, but looks like they don't. __________________ Anupam

18. Oct 2011, 07:43 PM	#7 (permalink)
Anupam Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 9,484	emmjay, I know about SSuite, but I have never used it. I have checked out their site before, and frankly, it does not appeal to me. Firstly, there are just so many suites, its really confusing. See this page : http://www.ssuitesoft.com/software.htm I believe the SSuite Office Premium HD is their latest program. I checked it out, but I am not impressed by the screenshots that I see. The interface looks just too flashy, and not to my liking. It does not look mature to me. These were the reasons before too, to not try products from there. But, I am just saying this on an outward view, because I haven't tried it. If its good to use to, then I cant say. Maybe someone else will, who has used it actually. If you are looking for a light weight office suite, I will recommend SoftMaker Office 2008, which is offered free. You can find it here : http://www.softmakeroffice.com/ You have to register in order to get the license key. Registration is free. I have it on my system, and I find it good. You can also try KingSoft Office free, but there has been some controversy about it, regarding the license, and its operations. It was solved afterwards, but the lingering doubt still remains. You can read about it here : Kingsoft Office Suite Free 2012 __________________ Anupam

22. Oct 2011, 08:04 AM	#9 (permalink)
Anupam Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 9,484	Good decision. LibreOffice is the way to go. Many Linux distros have also shifted to LibreOffice from OO, and many are thinking about it. Yes, LibreOffice must look like OO, since its a fork. However, there have been improvements, and new changes, which you can find on their site. I haven't tried LibreOffice yet, because as per my needs, I don't have that requirement of such a heavy suite. My office work is very minimal, and I am happy with lightweight SoftMaker Office. __________________ Anupam

16. Oct 2011, 11:08 PM	#3 (permalink)
J_L Co-Author, Best Free Security List Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1,475	Similar thing happened to OpenSolaris, which got discontinued. I hope they don't continue doing this to Sun's freeware.

17. Oct 2011, 02:39 PM	#4 (permalink)
emmjay Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 226	I think OO will fold as I can not see the donations that they need will be there. This may be their last stand.

18. Oct 2011, 05:26 PM	#6 (permalink)
emmjay Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 226	Anupam are you familair with Ssuite Office Premium HD? I understand it is freeware (ssuitesoft.com)

22. Oct 2011, 05:24 AM	#8 (permalink)
emmjay Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 226	Tnx for the info. I downloaded LibreOffice and installed it. Looks exactly like OO.

28. Nov 2011, 05:20 AM	#10 (permalink)
nesrinamb Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Thousand Oaks California Posts: 14	well Apache now took over development for open office so it seems that t will continue to go on

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