Re: [Savannah-hackers-public] savannah project dependencies: status of OpenOffice 2.x ?

[Douglas Ray]

Sylvain, ta for the prompt response, and the caveat on Java;  comments 
below.

Sylvain Beucler wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 05, 2007 at 12:50:14PM +1000, Douglas Ray wrote:
>   
> > Has GNU/savannah made a ruling on whether OpenOffice 2.x is free software, 
> > or non-free, for the purpose of savannah candidate-project dependencies?
> >
> > Regards,
> > Douglas Ray
> >     
>
> Hmm, well I'd say OOo is free software. We expect, however, that if
> you use Java-dependent features, it has to work with a free software
> java suite, such as GCJ+Classpath or IcedTea.
>
> The current Debian packages are in the 'free' section, for that matter:
> http://packages.debian.org/openoffice.org
>
> What makes you think we may consider it non-free?
>
>   


1) Gary Edwards' ODF article on linuxworld.com.au.

I don't believe his assessment impinges on 'free software' definitions 
(but you are the experts, there).   I do believe it indicates some 
manipulation of the 'open source' community.

(As Gary is a founding member of the initial OASIS technical committee, 
his comments on ODF and OOo are significant.    And all the more so, 
where he draws on the plenary summary of the EU 21 government "Workshop 
on Open Document Exchange Formats"... ec.europa.eu,  "ODEF" + "Vriendt" 
will find the agenda, and the conclusions.)

2) I'm planning a plug-in that could take a lot of my energy.   I don't 
want to start off plugging into the wrong project - so I've asked here, 
first.   If I go with OOo, I want to keep some distance from their 
current management structure (may be off-topic, in this forum, but I'd 
be happy to discuss).