Re: [tdf-discuss] Explanation . . . ?

On 09/30/2010 03:19 PM, Marc Paré wrote:
>  Le 2010-09-30 15:32, jonathon a écrit :
> > On 09/29/2010 05:45 PM, Bernhard Dippold wrote:
> >
> > > If they insist on keeping the trademark given to Sun Microsystems bec
au
> > se the community hadn't an entity to claim violations and abuse,
> >
> > I seriously doubt that Oracle will donate the trademarks to Document
> > Foundation.
> >
> > Selling them is a possibility, but the price would probably be for
> > whatever OOo, as an independent company, would sell for.
> >
> > As such, all planning should be done on the basis that the project has

> > been rebranded to LibreOffice.
> >
> > jonathon
>
> It wouldn't surprise me if Oracle did hand over the "OpenOffice.org"
> trademark name. They will no doubt have been on this mailist and seen
> how many of the localization teams have moved to the LibreOffice
> group. I don't think that this change in direction was a big surprise
> to them as it wasn't for the "OpenOffice.org" community. It would be
> in their interest as corporate citizens to establish good will with
> the "OpenOffice.org" community, and, as the LibreOffice is happening
> with or without the "OpenOffice.org" name, the game to them is lost.
> It's just a matter of clearing all liabilities from their end of their

> business model and joining the Document Foundation project along with
> everyone else. I don't think that there is any animosity between the
> group, we should all be thankful that Sun bought and delivered the
> code to OSS regardless of how they may or may not have run the "code"
> approval system. Just imagine the pre-StarOffice days, when the only
> real word processor in town was MSOffice and Wordperfect had been
> decimated by its competitor. Without Sun's generosity, we would not
> now be in a position to create a foundation based on an OSS office suit
e.
> So, "hats off" and congratulations first of all to Sun Microsystems
> who gave us this wonderful piece of software,  and hopefully, "hats
> off" with congratulations and upmost of thanks to Oracle for helping
> us with the transition from being under the safety of a corporate
> umbrella to a document foundation based on OSS and the sharing of
> code. Oracle/Sun would then be remembered as a darling corporation who

> helped foster OSS adoption. With a little luck, Oracle could offer
> support for the Document Foundation with seed money and hardware
> facilities/support until the foundation's business model is put into
> work and able to stand on its own financially. This is what happened
> to Mozilla when it first set out on its own.
>
> Hopefully, the LibreOffice will be only a temporary and brief episode
> and the "OpenOffice.org" brand will live on along with the great
> community that it has always had. Let's keep the lines of
> communication open and remain positive.
>
> Cheers
>
> Marc

I participated in a long discussion about this last night with fellows
from the Central American community (with some guests from Argentina &
Colombia) and we shared some ideas:

1. We are all celebrating LibreOffice and we support the project, no
matter it's trademark name.

2. We are worried about marketing. We know regular users don't
understand this process and we have been working for a long time
promoting OpenOffice on  government, universities and other
institutions. There are  "hostile environments" out there, and this
great news are kind of bad news for some people (for example Panama,
where government contracts ask for MSOffice or OpenOffice mentioned as a

trademark).

3. Our great news are confusing and can be used against Free Software,
if the Document Foundation don't coordinate a communication's strategy.
We know this project will succeed as a development project but there a
other areas needed. A fork enhances the most common unfounded fears
about Free Software: projects are unstable and there's a lack of support.


So, of course, the scenario will be better if Oracle gives the trademark

to the community, but if we have to wait a month for that to happen, the

situation will still be complicated. In that case, it may be better if
we start positioning LibreOffice now because in two months, it may be
too late.

Of course, we decided to wait for your guidances but we want to make
sure you are thinking about the consequences of waiting for the trademark
.

Thanks a lot for doing what some of us only dared to dream: building a
home for OpenOffice.

Carolina

--

....................................................................
"...all progress depends on the unreasonable man" [and/or women] (George
Bernard Shaw)
http://www.piensalibre.net ¡Software libre para un mundo libre!




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