Re: [tdf-discuss] Who is Funding LibO?

<ian.lynch@theingots.org> wrote in message 
news:50053.212.71.174.123.1288050361.squirrel@www.theingots.org...
> > Would someone please explain where the money is coming from to fund
> > LibO? Where is it expected to come from in the future, assuming Oracle
> > will not join?
>
> There are a few possibilities. One is the certification project that we
> are currently working on. (Actually I have been working on it now for
> several years and we have all the infrastructure needed in place) We can
> apply for EU grants to get it going as did ECDL. They are making enough
> money to fund 10 times more developers than Sun or Oracle ever did. Then
> there is merchandising and other fund raising plus the usual volunteers.
> This also assumes that none of the other corporates help and currently
> some are employing contributing developers.
>
> If we can get out of the mindset of dependency on Oracle I think we have
> the possibility of raising more money than was ever available before and
> spending it more democratically and independently. The speed and extent
> will depend on community support.

Errm. I was looking for something a little more definitive than "There are a 
few possibilities".
LibreOffice represents a major change of direction in the "free office 
suite" market. If, as looks increasingly likely, Oracle will not back it 
then the entire community must decide which path to follow. When I say 
"entire community" I explicitly include the users. Everyone, but possibly 
especially the user community, needs to be reassured as far as is possible 
that if they commit to LibreOffice they will be moving to a viable product 
and not just a flash in the pan which will die from lack of funds in six 
months or a year. For individual, private users the impact can be readily 
borne even though it would be a pain in the neck to switch again in a few 
months time. But for institutions, on which the success of the project 
depends, it would be a fairly major catastrophe.

--
Harold Fuchs
London, England 



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