Peterborough Linux User Group (Canada) Forum

Linux & Android => Linux Applications & Android apps => Topic started by: Jason on October 22, 2017, 01:34:24 AM

Title: OpenOffice vs. LibreOffice (ZDnet article)
Post by: Jason on October 22, 2017, 01:34:24 AM
I discovered this article recently though it was published last year, entitled "​OpenOffice is dead. Long live LibreOffice". I was curious how OpenOffice was doing especially since most distros have dropped it as their default office suite. The article talks about this a bit as well as the history of OpenOffice and LibreOffice.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/openoffice-is-dead-long-live-libreoffice/

After reading this article, do you think there should still be two office suites or should Apache abandon the OpenOffice project and direct users toward LibreOffice?



Title: Re: OpenOffice vs. LibreOffice (ZDnet article)
Post by: Jason on October 22, 2017, 01:43:42 AM
There's also an advantage that LibreOffice has in licensing. Because OpenOffice uses the permissive Apache license, it can't bring in code from LibreOffice which has a copyleft license, but LibreOffice can take any code that OpenOffice uses. This means LibreOffice can use any OpenOffice improvements but not the other way around.

This article mentions some of the feature differences between the two suites:
https://www.cioreview.com/news/openoffice-vs-libreoffice-a-comparison-of-the-twins-nid-15481-cid-92.html
Title: Re: OpenOffice vs. LibreOffice (ZDnet article)
Post by: ssfc72 on October 22, 2017, 05:33:23 AM
What is a copyleft license? :-)

OK, from the article Link - Copyleft licenses allow anyone to use an open source code, but anything that is derived from it is bound by the same terms.

Since Linux Distros, that include Office suites, now choose LibreOffice, I think OpenOffice has probably very few users, left.  I don't think it matters, if Apache wants to continue making OpenOffice available.