The OpenOffice.org Project
Introduction
The OpenOffice.org project is an historic development for the open systems world
and the open source movement. In a networked age, the rules by which software is
created, defined, and distributed are being redefined. Software, in essence a
powerful form of expressing human knowledge and logic, is entering the realm of
other free and open forms for the expression of human ideas. The pervasiveness of
the network has been central in driving this redefinition of the qualities of software.
The need for certain forms of software to be available in an equitable form becomes
very apparent, especially when related to the creation, exchange, and communication
of information. It is important to note that in recent times, some of the most
significant forces that have influenced change in our information-centric world have
resulted from the use of tools and formats for mechanisms such as e-mail, Web
servers and Web browser, IRC, and even the very recent Instant Messenger service.
All of these software-based infrastructures have shifted to be foundational in nature,
based upon technology standards and formats available to all innovators, without
restriction.
The OpenOffice.org project establishes these same freedoms for the software
technology used for information collection commonly called office documents. As a
result of these office document formats and the implementation of their accompanying
software application utilities becoming foundational technologies — freely
available to all through the OpenOffice.org project — office documents have made
the important transition from the proprietary world to become universal,
incorporated into the foundational network information standards. The
OpenOffice.org project marks the beginning of an era of universality for office
productivity documents as well as their arrival as network standard formats and
services.
What is Open Office.org?
OpenOffice.org is the open source project through which Sun Microsystems is
releasing the technology that powers the globally popular StarOffice™ productivity
suite. The OpenOffice.org project establishes the necessary facilities to make this
open source technology available to the developer communities worldwide. Source
code technology will be made publicly available via the Internet in both tar-ball and
CVS formats. The project site will provide forums for direct communications and
discussions among developers. Plus, the project site is constructed to provide a
center for full and comprehensive information regarding all aspects of the project
and its technology. This includes details on the technology and how it can be used as
a basis for further innovation, for example, from API and architectural
documentation through to planning, news, and promotional information.
The OpenOffice.org network hosted community can be found at
/.
Why is Sun Microsystems doing this?
Strategic Background
Sun Microsystems was founded in 1982 upon three principles. First, that open
systems' strategies for technology will ultimately expand the markets for
information technology products more successfully than those derived from a
proprietary basis. Second, that the network was to become the foundation upon
which all computing platforms would be constructed in such an open systems
world, expressed by Sun's visionary slogan "The Network is the Computer™". And third, the law of innovation commonly described by Bill Joy, (co-founder of Sun
Microsystems and original leader of the seminal open source BSD project) as
"Innovation will occur" and its corollary, "that it will occur elsewhere" requires that
strategies must be sought to embrace the concepts of the innovators who will be
"elsewhere" by definition.
Sun recognizes that all the successful software and network technologies it uses and
develops must have these foundational principles at their core. A brief review of
Sun's statements and actions from its beginning will show a consistency in
developing the means to build itself upon these same principles.
Office Productivity for a Networked Age
Because future computing is being designed and built with the network as its
foundation, Sun Microsystems has been committed to the development, adoption,
and deployment of the network-based Open Information Architecture. From the core
of TCP/IP to e-mail, NFS™, XML, and Java™ technologies establishing the standards
for this Open Information Architecture has always been a primary goal for
contributing towards open systems and enabling a viable and compelling
information computing future.
By 1998, it became clear that the office suite formats and utilities would need to
become standardized and fully open definitions of the Open Information
Architecture. The knowledge that the diverse forms of devices by which people
would access and use the network and its computing resources would expand far
beyond today's PC-class device meant that this would become a critical requirement.
In August 1999, Sun acquired Star Division, Inc., the developer of a comprehensive,
multi-platform, office productivity suite technology that was gaining momentum on
open systems platforms. The Star Division technology offered the ideal technology
basis and engineering talent to deliver on Sun's strategic objectives for an open
definition of these formats and utilities. The component-based language and
platform-neutral architecture of the StarOffice utilities were ideally suited to form
the basis for an open office productivity suite. Prior to the acquisition, work towards
XML-based office document file formats had also been progressing.
Since then, a focussed effort has been placed upon development of both the
technologies and the details of the strategy necessary to introduce this next critical
piece of the network-based Open Information Architecture. The launch of the
OpenOffice.org project introduces this initiative.
Future StarOffice Productivity Suite from Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems' engineering efforts that will deliver future versions of the
StarOffice productivity suite will be derived directly from the OpenOffice.org
technology base. Sun will use the single OpenOffice.org master CVS source base as
its own engineering master source base. Thus, developers from all communities will
be able to see Sun's development contributions on a daily basis and be able to
become directly involved in the development of the OpenOffice.org technology as
well as the branded StarOffice productivity suite.
For more detail regarding OpenOffice.org technology, a complementary white paper
will be available that provides an in-depth overview of the component features,
component system, XML formats, APIs, and environment enabling.
