Novell Developer Concerned About OpenOffice.org
Novell developer Michael Meeks has warned of an increasing imbalance in the OpenOffice.org Project. His concerns: too few developers, inadequate code maintenance and the gradual withdrawal of companies like Sun.
In his blog, Meeks comes to some bitter conclusions regarding OpenOffice.org. Measured on downloads alone, the success of the project is obvious. But this is not the case when one looks at development and improvements, says Meeks. The code is bloated and poorly maintained, and he criticizes the difficulties developers have getting their snippets of code up-stream, which has many so frustrated they simply leave their codes in patches attached to bugs in the issue tracker.
To illustrate his misgivings, Meeks has produced graphics created using scripts from the project's version control system. These clearly show how far Sun has withdrawn from the project, with no other company jumping in to fill the gaps. In 2004, OpenOffice.org hit a highpoint with 70 developers. It's been all downhill since.
According to Meeks graphic, the number of developers at Open Office is sinking.
For Meeks, all is not well at OpenOffice.org. In his opinion, distancing the project from Sun (including the license conditions) would be one step on the road to recovery. Abolishment of the "political system" within the project, would be another. Meeks wants "developers in the driving seat", and he appeals for developer contributions. Meeks ensures us he is voicing his own opinion and not that of Novell or others.
Comments
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
Corrected
link doesn't work