OpenOffice: Free and Open Source Office Suite

1. OpenOffice.org: Free and Open Source Office Suite Michelle Murrain, Nonprofit Open Source Initiative February 26th 2008

2. What we’ll cover today • What is OpenOffice.org • Brief history of OpenOffice.org • OpenOffice.org components • Writer • Calc • Impress • Base • Other components • Strengths and Weaknesses • Examples of use (and demos)‏ • How to get help • Do you migrate?

3. OpenOffice.org... • is a cross-platform, mutli-function office suite • is software that supports open standards • reads and writes MS Office formats (except .docx)‏ • has matured considerably • is free (as in beer) as well as free software/open source • is not Open Office! (Trademark issues)‏

4. Cross Platform • Available as a free download from openoffice.org for windows • Is bundled with most Linux distributions • Two versions are available for Macintosh • Official OpenOffice.org works only with X-Windows • NeoOffice is an Aqua port of OpenOffice.org • Official Aqua port is in alpha

5. Brief History of OpenOffice.org • Originally a proprietary office suite • Bought by Sun Microsystems in 1999 • Most of the code was released as open source as OpenOffice.org in 2000 • OpenOffice.org 1.0 released in 2002 • StarOffice still exists, and has some proprietary components (like the database, and clip art, etc.)‏ • OpenOffice.org is now on version 2.3.1

6. OpenOffice.org Components • Writer – word processor • Calc – spreadsheet • Impress – presentation program • Base – desktop database • Drawing – drawing program • HTML editor • Formula Editor

7. OpenOffice.org Components • are the basics of any office suite, and more • work together • have similar interfaces (easy to get familiar with)‏ • are full-functioning • are pretty much bug-free

8. Writer • Word Processor • lots of input and output filters • exports directly to PDF • columns, tables, etc.

9. Calc • Spreadsheet • Graphs • Functions • lots of input/output fiters

10. Impress • reads and writes .ppt files • templates, master pages, etc. • animation • this presentation was written using Impress

11. Base • Designed as an Access clone • Uses HSQLDB (foss Java database) for back-end or can use other databases via ODBC • can read Access files (table structure and data only)‏ • Not equivalent to Access (think Access97)‏

12. Drawing • Basic draw program • useful for diagrams and flowcharts

13. Math • nice equation editor, if you need one

14. HTML Editor

15. Strengths of OOo • Open Source • Free (as in beer)‏ • depends on open standards • reads and writes MS Office formats (except ooxml at this point)‏ • Google docs reads OOo files • 90% of the functionality of Word, Excel and Powerpoint

16. Strengths, cont. • Components are integrated • Lots of developers • backed by Sun, IBM and Novell, among others • lots of third party extensions

17. true collaborative editing between OOo and MS Office doesn’t work well (but that’s less of an issue now than it used to be.)‏ Not as slick Can be slower/take more resources than MS Office Weaknesses of OOo • still a few kinks to work out • Base isn’t up to snuff • can’t read ooxml yet • OOo<->MS Office rendering has issues at times • Menus and features are different than MS Office

18. Open Standards • What are they? • Why are they important? • Faithful reading and rendering of files forever • Faithful reading and rendering of files no matter what the software used • Open Document Format vs. Office Open XML • ODF is a bonified open standard (since 2006)‏ • OOXML has not been approved as a standard yet (a big meeting about it is happening this week.) Word on the street is that it might not happen.

19. Examples of use • Letters • Writing articles/whitepapers, etc. • Newsletters • Contact lists • Charts and graphs • Presentations • Simple databases

20. How to get help • OpenOffice.org Forums • Active and helpful • OpenOffice.org IRC channel • #OpenOffice.org on irc.freenode.net • I hang out there • it is possible to get immediate help with problems • OpenOffice.org Links

21. Should you migrate? • First, for whom? • individual • organization • Some users • All users • Then, ask why? • committed to open standards/open source • need inexpensive software • run out of donation licenses for MS Office

22. Should you migrate, cont. • Ask about how much interoperability you need with MS Office or other office suites • read/write all types of documents • collaborative editing • interoperability with MS Access • Platform is also an issue • Windows and Linux versions of OpenOffice.org are good. Macintosh versions are lagging

23. less tech-savvy users lots of collaborative editing integration with MS Access required uses bleeding edge MS-only functionality want the cheesy clip-art Should you migrate, cont. Smooth Sailing Rough Waters • tech-savvy users • no need for collaborative editing of documents • no integration with MS Access required • few very high-level MS-specific functionality used • have both Windows and Linux users

24. Should you migrate, cont. • There are differing opinions about how much training is needed to move people to become comfortable with OOo. • Certainly, the vast majority of organizational tasks that MS Office can do, can be done with OOo (with the exception of MS Access functionality.)‏ • Assessment of both functionality needed, as well as end-user issues must be balanced with impetus to migrate, if any.

25. Process of Migration • Talk to end-users. Make sure all functions that they need have an equivalent (or work-around.)‏ • Allow time for training, and users to get used to it. • If some users in an organization still have MS Office, make sure that the default setting is to save in MS Office formats

26. Conclusions • OpenOffice.org is a full-featured, cross-platform, mature office suite that you should at least download and try out • It is based on open standards • It has all of the features (and more) of MS Word, Powerpoint, and Excel • It is freely available, and open source • It has the backing of big companies, so it is not going away • It does have weaknesses, and migration to OOo is not a slam-dunk.