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Novell "Forking" OpenOffice.org ===================== http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20061204130954610 Monday, December 04 2006 @ 01:09 PM EST Well, if there are any Novell supporters left, here's something else to put in your pipe and smoke it. Novell is forking OpenOffice.org. There will be a Novell edition of OpenOffice.org and it will support Microsoft OpenXML. (The default will be ODF, they claim, but note that the subheading mentions OpenXML instead.) I am guessing this will be the only OpenOffice.org covered by the "patent agreement" with Microsoft. You think? ... I think it's clear now what Microsoft gets out of this Novell deal -- they get to persuade enterprise users to stay with Microsoft Office, because now they don't "need" to switch to Linux. And they don't need to leave Microsoft products to use ODF. So, while Novell may call this "Novell OpenOffice.org" I feel free to call it "Sellout Linux OpenOffice.org". Money can do strange things to people. And Microsoft knows it. ... In my eyes, Novell is forking itself out of the FOSS community. Here's the press release, to memorialize this day in FOSS history, and so you can reach your own conclusions. Update: A witty anonymous reader suggests this new name for Novell's edition of OpenOffice.org: PatentOffice.org. ==================== It remains to be seen if opensuse.org can be persuaded to distance themselves from their erstwhile sponsor and adopt a more free software approach. Open Source is insufficient, only free software will do from now on. Microvell will see to that. This could be just what is needed to drive a wedge between "just open source" and free software. So please, everyone, reconsider the use of terms like "open source" because Novell and Microsoft are intent on proving that open source does not mean free. -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.data-freedom.org/ http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/
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