![]() (In fact, both versions got it from the same source: IBM’s Symphony.) Indeed, Apache has had to replace OpenOffice code that was copyleft-only, but when it introduced a big new sidebar, LibreOffice was able to incorporate it immediately. It means that LibreOffice can take code from Apache OpenOffice (that’s the point of permissive licences) but Apache OpenOffice can’t take code from LibreOffice (that’s the point of “copyleft” license)s. The difference in licences puts Apache OpenOffice at a disadvantage. Not everybody wants to write free code for somebody else’s benefit. However, OpenOffice has changed from a “copyleft” (GPL) licence to a permissive Apache license, which means anybody can use the code for commercial purposes. “Copyleft” licences try to ensure that the code contributed by open source programmers can only be re-used on the same terms. LibreOffice is being developed under two “copyleft” licences: GNU’s LGPLv3 and the Mozilla Public License (MPLv2). Indeed, Christian Schaller, a software engineering manager at Red Hat, recently wrote An Open Letter to Apache Foundation and Apache OpenOffice team to suggest that they “re-direct people who go to the website to the LibreOffice website instead.” But then IBM pulled out as well, giving its Symphony code to Apache.Īpache looks determined to continue the development of Apache OpenOffice, but without Sun, Oracle or IBM programmers, and without the sort of community support that powers LibreOffice, it’s hard to see the point. IBM needed the code for its own office program, Lotus Symphony, which was another OpenOffice fork. ![]() It laid off the programmers and gave the code and trademarks to the Apache Software Foundation, under Apache’s liberal open source license.Īt that point, a handful of IBM employees were doing the majority of OpenOffice programming. After LibreOffice came out, Oracle released one version of Oracle Open Office before deciding that the project wasn’t worth the effort. Sun Microsystems was also failing, and it was taken over by Oracle, the database software company. Dissatisfaction with Sun’s stewardship eventually prompted most of the open-source developers – along with backers such as Novell, Red Hat, and Canonical – to defect, and they forked the code to create LibreOffice. As a result, it never developed much of a community. Much of the programming was done by Sun staff, and open source contributors were obliged to give Sun rights to use their code in its commercial version of Star Office. OpenOffice was born when Sun Microsystems bought a failed German program, Star Office, and made it open source. This includes faster development, better distribution, a slicker website, and a greater focus on meeting customers’ needs. Third, LibreOffice has a better marketing strategy. Second, LibreOffice’s choice of open source licences gives it an advantage. First, LibreOffice has many more programmers and far more community support. There are three reasons why I think LibreOffice will win. Sample presentation document was obtained from this post in the Trinity forums and saved as a.Sample 500,000 character word processing document was created from a Lorem Ipsum generation site and saved as an.Automatic spell checking, grammar, capitalization and hyphenation were disabled.Spotlight privacy was enabled for all volumes.Machine details: Mac OS X 10.11.2 running on a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mac Mini server with 4 GB of RAM.Tests were run as a newly created user with default setup.Time to complete slide show with transition set to Wedge, using space bar to advance slide Time to complete slide show with transition set to Fade Smoothly, using space bar to advance slide Time to complete slide show with No Transition set, using space bar to advance slide Open by dragging from Finder to closed application (warm start) Open in Print Layout view, by dragging from Finder to open application Open in Print Layout view, by dragging from Finder to closed application (warm start) with a 500,000 character document (approximately 125 pages long) Launch time to active cursor in Writer/Word document by double-clicking on application in Finder after quitting application (warm start) Launch time to active cursor in Writer/Word document by double-clicking on application in Finder after reboot (cold start) This page attempts to provide a balanced, but by no means complete, comparison of NeoOffice's performance with 2 comparable office suites - Apache OpenOffice and LibreOffice - to help you make a more informed decision when evaluating office software.
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