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| <h2>Community Articles: Opinions, Interviews, Analyses</h2> |
| <p><a href="../lspintro.html" target="_blank">-Louis Suárez-Potts</a></p> |
| <p>2001 October 2</p> |
| <br><a href="ec29Sept.html"></a> |
| <h4> |
| On Builds and Community Participation</h4> |
| <p>The statistics from two weeks ago are clear: over 62,000 downloads of the code, |
| a number that includes both binaries and source. The other figures, which measure |
| mail list subscribers and participation, are equally affirming. But why? Why |
| so many downloads? Why so much activity? Yes, the code is more usable than ever |
| before. And, yes, the community has become large enough that any growth is geometric, |
| meaning that we will expect to see big increases in downloads and participation. |
| But these causes don't seem fully to explain the effects.</p> |
| <p>The numbers, of course, need some interpretation. Some people may be downloading |
| more than once, for instance. But it seems overwhelmingly the case that OpenOffice.org |
| is now reaching a large number of endusers. Doubtless, one clear reason is because |
| OpenOffice.org is more usable now than ever before. Build 638 is solid and functional; |
| it works--and it is free. These are strong inducements. And, its immediate successor, |
| the current download, Build 638c, has fixed some bugs and is even better. What |
| is more, and totally unique to OpenOffice.org, Kevin Hendricks' and the Mac |
| group have put together a Linux PPC build (for Macintoshes), which will run |
| on <a href="http://www.yellowdoglinux.com">Yellow Dog Linux</a> and probably |
| other Linuxes for the Macintosh. Information on where to download this build |
| will be available on the <a href="http://porting.openoffice.org/linuxppc/ppclinks.html" target="_blank">Mirrors</a> |
| page.</p> |
| <p>Build 638c, which contains much of the same code as StarOffice 6.0 Beta, needs |
| hard testing beginning now, so that the <i><a href="/dev_docs/source/download.html">next</a></i> |
| build (641) can reasonably claim the status of being ready for daily use. (Build |
| 641 will likely be a more finished version of StarOffice 6.0.) A point of distinction: |
| StarOffice 6.0 is Sun's product that uses code taken from OpenOffice.org source. |
| But OpenOffice.org code is not fully congruent with StarOffice; there are significant |
| differences, not the least of which is that OpenOffice.org code is Open Source |
| and therefore open by the community for improvement. (Recently, the issue of |
| naming the releases and clarifying the identity of the community was raised; |
| I urge readers to go to the page and review the <a href="//about_us/communitypage.html">proposal</a>.)</p> |
| <p>So, I encourage all members to download the build and file issues using IssueZilla |
| when you come across problems. Remember, that to file an issue you must first |
| be a registered user of OpenOffice.org. There'll be more announcements regarding |
| how to send in bug reports later on this week and the next, but users can learn |
| now how to use IssueZilla by going to the <a href="../project_issues.html">Bugs |
| and Issues page</a>. </p> |
| <p>Filing issues will enable the project's developers to improve the code; it |
| is also a way in which <i>all</i> users can participate--and the way, quite |
| honestly, in which we can bring those users who simply want to use the code |
| into the OpenOffice.org community. For the number of downloads far exceeds the |
| number of registered users (between four and five thousand) and mail-list subscribers |
| (around 3600). The suite clearly appeals to users who are not actual participants |
| in the community. This is to be expected; and it is a sign of our so-far success, |
| that OpenOffice.org has gone from primarily being "pre-alpha" to something |
| recognized as usable by tens of thousands of people outside the narrow circumference |
| of our community. But we need all those "eyeballs" (as Linus Torvalds |
| has described the regular user) to send in all the bugs they find and issues |
| they have with the software. Otherwise, despite our growing popularity and increased |
| visibility, the code will not develop as quickly.</p> |
| <p>And--get this--OpenOffice.org has done virtually no marketing, conducted no |
| expensive advertising campaigns, hired no strategists to get the word out. But |
| Microsoft has, and it is my guess that in addition to offering a product that |
| works beautifully, we are also offering something--a product and attitude and |
| community--that is also beautiful. Not harshly suspicious of its clientele, |
| not burdensome. Rather an environment that is friendly and by and large supportive |
| of people's ideas and work (however sometimes contentious!): a community. </p> |
| <p>So, if you have not already registered with OpenOffice.org, please <a href="//servlets/Join" target="_blank">do |
| so</a>. We need your help in perfecting the coming build, which will not only |
| be ready for every-day use, but may also function as a beta for Sun's Star Office. |
| And if you want things included in future builds of OpenOffice.org, there is |
| no better way to express your desires than to join the projects building the |
| code.</p> |
| <p>Along these, lines, our popularity prompts some evaluation of our current structure |
| and relation to the enduser. To this end, we now have a <a href="http://whiteboard.openoffice.org/marketing/" target="_blank">marketing |
| project</a> in the <a href="http://whiteboard.openoffice.org/" target="_blank">Whiteboard</a> |
| (where community-sponsored projects are located), and a recently created <a href="http://ui.openoffice.org/" target="_blank">User |
| Interface</a> project. I urge members to visit the project, which was created |
| and is managed by Oliver Specht, and to join in, if they can.</p> |
| <p>Both projects point to the recognition among community members that OpenOffice.org |
| is maturing. Given that our anniversary is fewer than two weeks away, the timing |
| is apt. We will be able to announce to the world that we have succeeded in ways |
| that decisively trounce any skepticism about Open Source development projects |
| and about the ability to build an office software suite that doesn't just try |
| to copy what Microsoft's Office does but rather builds something new: code and |
| community that works together</p> |
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