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List:       koffice
Subject:    Re: KOffice and StarOffice
From:       Simon Hausmann <shaus () helios ! Med ! Uni-Magdeburg ! DE>
Date:       2000-07-21 17:46:45
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Speaking only for myself:
I do not believe that the source code release of StarOffice will affect
koffice that much, from a developers point of view (leaving out the filter
issue :) . I think in somehow StarOffice and KOffice are very
different: I believe the reason why Torben started KOffice was one main
thing: Fun. A way to experiment and learn how a complex system of an
office suite can be developed. I believe that today most (if not
all) KOffice developers are hacking because it is fun, and because they
can see that they _do_ something, something that others recognize. If I
was a new developer ;) and would have the choice between an open
developed Staroffice and KOffice, then I would go for KOffice, for a
simple reason (leaving aside the technical aspect) : In StarOffice I would
be only a single plain volunteer between hundreds of payed Sun
developers. That's not attractive for me (personally) . And in addition I
could probably not be as creative as in a project like KOffice, since
StarOffice is in fact controlled and managed by Sun, a company. While one
of the strengths of KOffice (and KDE as a whole) is that it is entirely
controlled and managed by volunteers all over the world. No single company
controls KOffice and KDE. That's something very important for me,
personally. That is why in my humble opinion KOffice is far more
attractive for volunteering developers (and there are lots of them
:-) than a GPL'ed StarOffice.

Regarding interoperation between KOffice and StarOffice: We will all have
to see the StarOFfice API first, before being able to think about this.
(IMHO) . I for one am not interested in spending my free time with writing
wrappers and implementing StarOffice interfaces in order to let KOffice
components "talk" to StarOffice components. I would in fact be writing
code for Sun, which is not bad as is, but which leaves me back with
nothing (especially as, according to the FAQ, Sun asks volunteers to
transfer the copyright (AFAIK. Please correct me if I'm wrong)) .

So I do enjoy spending my free time in the KDE/KOffice development
community, because it is a lot of fun, because I can implement and realize
my own ideas and because I can learn a lot! (about team work, the koffice
framework, etc.etc.) . It could be that this is something the StarOffice
development will not be able to provide, at least not now, at this point
in time :-)


Only speaking for me personally.

Bye,
 Simon

On Fri, 21 Jul 2000, Evan Leibovitch wrote:

> 
> Hi there.
> 
> I write a column for ZDNet on Linux issues, and this week I'm writing
> about the GPLing of StarOffice.
> 
> I would like to find out, from any of the KOffice team, what effect this
> announcement (if any) has on KOffice. Are there any components of
> StarOffice that you would like to intergate into KOffice in the short
> term? 
> 
> Furthermore, does Sun's intention to build StarOffice components using
> Bonobo rather than KParts affect its usability within KOffice? Does it at
> all effect the balance between KDE and GNOME?
> 
> Thanks!
> Evan Leibovitch
> 
> 

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