content/press/sun_release.html - openoffice-org - Git at Google


            
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            <p><B><i>SUN MICROSYSTEMS OPEN SOURCES STAROFFICE TECHNOLOGY</i></B>

            
            <p>

            
            <p><b>Source Code Offered Via GNU General Public License and to Reside at

            
            www.OpenOffice.org</b>

            
            <p>

            
            <p>PALO ALTO, CA - July 19, 2000 -  Today at the O'Reilly Open Source

            
            Convention in Monterey, California, Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced it

            
            will release the source code of its StarOffice (TM) Suite, a leading, high

            
            quality, office productivity application software suite, to the open source

            
            community under the GNU General Public License (GPL).   Sun also announced

            
            OpenOffice.org will be formed and managed by Collab.Net and will serve as

            
            the coordination point for the source code, the definition of XML-based

            
            file formats, and the definition of language-independent office application

            
            programming interfaces (APIs.)

            
            <p>

            
            <p>StarOffice is the leading, full-featured productivity suite for all major

            
            platforms, including Solaris (TM) Operating Environment, Windows, Linux,

            
            and, later in the year, the Macintosh.  StarOffice 6, the next version

            
            currently in development, will serve as the source code base for

            
            OpenOffice.org.  With the upcoming StarOffice 6 technology, the next

            
            generation architecture of separate applications and componentized services

            
            will be introduced.

            
            <p>

            
            <p>"Sun's open-sourcing of StarOffice Suite is the single largest open-source

            
            software contribution in GPL history and it adds a key application suite to

            
            the open source portfolio,"  said Marco Boerries, vice president and

            
            general manager of webtop and application software at Sun Microsystems,

            
            Inc.  "This announcement will leverage StarOffice Suite's role as the

            
            leading productivity suite for multiple platforms and will further increase

            
            our momentum as the only competitive alternative to other office suites.

            
            Sun will also continue to develop and aggressively market future versions

            
            of StarOffice Suite, which will be based on OpenOffice.org."

            
            <p>

            
            <p>"Since innovation happens in many places, making the source code for

            
            StarOffice Suite available will enable the enormous community of developers

            
            to bring  their expertise and energy to improve and expand the reach of

            
            this full-featured software suite.  But OpenOffice.org is much more than

            
            just source code--it also includes APIs and XML-file formats.  This will

            
            allow developers to easily work across platforms and have a huge impact,"

            
            said Boerries.

            
            <p>

            
            <p><b>About OpenOffice.org</b>

            
            <p>OpenOffice.org will host StarOffice source code.  OpenOffice.Org will also

            
            specify XML file formats for documents; specify language-independent APIs;

            
            and provide Microsoft Office file filters, so developers can more easily

            
            modify existing programs and customize specific applications to fit their

            
            needs.

            
            <p>

            
            <p><b>Widespread community support</b>

            
            <p>OpenOffice.org has already garnered major industry support from many

            
            open-source luminaries, including Tim O'Reilly, Miguel de Icaza, Brian

            
            Behlendorf, and Andy Hertzfeld.

            
            <p>

            
            <p>"Microsoft's lock in on its Office file formats is arguably at least as

            
            important to their monopoly position as their control of the operating

            
            system itself," said Tim O'Reilly, founder and CEO of O'Reilly and

            
            Associates.  "The availability of StarOffice under the GPL will give Linux

            
            a boost on the desktop, but more importantly, the wide availability of

            
            StarOffice Suite's code for reading and writing Microsoft Office formats

            
            will allow other open source projects to provide compatible functionality

            
            as well.  Open data is the other side of the open source coin."

            
            <p>

            
            <p>"Sun's announcement to make their office suite free software under the GPL

            
            and SISSL licenses will be a benefit to everyone.  Their choice of Bonobo

            
            as a component framework will enable powerful scripting and code reuse not

            
            only on the desktop, but on the system as a whole," said Miguel de Icaza,

            
            president and founder of HelixCode Inc. "When I started GNOME three years

            
            ago, I had two goals: a 100% free, easy-to-use desktop environment and

            
            component architecture for GNU/Linux.  With Helix Code and Sun working

            
            together, we can finally see this vision realized.  The GNOME community is

            
            now investigating the best way to integrate these technologies just

            
            released with the GNOME environment with the goal to bring a comprehensive

            
            solution to everyone."

            
            <p>

            
            <p>"The release of StarOffice under an open source license is a tremendously

            
            cool thing," said Brian Behlendorf, co-founder and CTO of Collab.Net.  "The

            
            influence of closed standards and proprietary software has made the office

            
            productivity application space an extremely difficult arena for the open

            
            source community to address.  Sun's action today resolves this problem by

            
            providing a much needed application."

            
            <p>

            
            <p>"One of the last remaining barriers to wide-spread adoption of Open Source

            
            software on the desktop is the paucity of high quality, easy-to-use

            
            applications.  Today's announcement of the GPLing of Star Office goes a

            
            long way toward filling that gap," said Andy Hertzfeld, co-founder of

            
            Eazel, a leading Linux development software company.  "Everyone at Eazel is

            
            very excited to work with Sun's talented team to integrate their

            
            world-class productivity applications with the Gnome desktop."

            
            <p>

            
            <p>Major Linux companies, including Red Hat, Caldera, SuSE, TurboLinux, Easy

            
            Linux, Mandrakesoft, Stormix, Conectivia, Definite Software PLC, and

            
            Macmillan, have signed agreements to redistribute StarOffice(TM) 5.2

            
            software, making it the number one office productivity suite for Linux and

            
            most have pledged support for OpenOffice.org.

            
            <p>

            
            <p>"We support Sun's commitment to an open desktop for all UNIX/Linux

            
            environments," says Paul McNamara, vice president of Products and

            
            Platforms, Red Hat Linux, Inc. "The availability of professional

            
            applications like  StarOffice software with Red Hat Linux only serves to

            
            further validate the platform and the future growth potential of Linux."

            
            <p>

            
            <p>"Sun strengthens their commitment to the Linux community with their

            
            announcement

            
            to open source StarOffice," said Dean Taylor, vice president of marketing

            
            for Caldera Systems, Inc.  "This combination of StarOffice performance and

            
            OpenLinux reliability, helps us deliver a quality product and needed

            
            application to the Linux community."

            
            <p>

            
            <p>"As a Linux solutions provider, SuSE helps consumers, small to

            
            medium-sized  businesses, corporations, government agencies and educators

            
            around the world make informed decisions when purchasing computer

            
            technology," said Roland Dyroff, CEO SuSE Linux AG.  "With Sun's commitment

            
            to open source StarOffice this expands the market for product

            
            implementations based on open standards."

            
            <p>

            
            <p>"As long time supporters of StarOffice software on Linux, MandrakeSoft is

            
            excited Sun is making the source code available.  The benefits that the

            
            open source community will bring to this feature rich suite will continue

            
            the momentum in the market for this exciting alternative to  Microsoft

            
            Office," said Frederic Bastok, COO of MandrakeSoft, a leading Linux publisher.

            
            <p>

            
            <p>For more quotes from leading Linux vendors, please visit

            
            www.sun.com/developers/openoffice

            
            <p>

            
            <p>Release of the StarOffice source code will reside at www.openoffice.org

            
            and will be managed by Collab.Net, a provider of collaborative software

            
            development services based on open source principles.  Collab.Net is

            
            creating the project hosting infrastructure for the openoffice.org site.

            
            This single solution offers a medium for hosting source code and

            
            accessing a robust set of software development tools.  This environment is

            
            a cohesive Web-based, open source development platform that provides

            
            simple, powerful and intuitive access to features including:  code

            
            versioning, source code browsing, automatic change notification, mailing

            
            lists and discussion forums and issue tracking Web administration.

            
            <p>

            
            <p>In addition to the GPL, Sun intends that all code contributions to the

            
            OpenOffice.org project, including Sun's contribution of the StarOffice

            
            source code, will be made available under the Sun Industry Standards Source

            
            License (SISSL).  This dual-licensing approach is designed to allow all

            
            organizations and individuals to use the source code freely and openly as

            
            they choose. An important requirement of the SISSL license is that it

            
            requires compatibility with the GPL reference implementation of the

            
            OpenOffice.org source code, including APIs and file formats. Copies of both

            
            the GPL and the SISSL licenses are available at

            
            //licensing/

            
            <p>

            
            <p>In addition, Sun also announced today the new OpenOffice.org Foundation,

            
            which will initially be modeled on other successful open source projects

            
            and will consist of a project management committee, source code

            
            maintainers, and developers. Sun will hold a

            
            equal membership position in the OpenOffice.org Foundation project

            
            management committee.

            
            <p>

            
            <p><b>About StarOffice</b>

            
            <p>StarOffice Suite offers a feature-rich single desktop environment, with

            
            tools such as word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings,

            
            web-publishing, email, scheduling and database applications that offer

            
            businesses and individuals an alternative to proprietary office suites.

            
            For more information regarding OpenOffice.org and the StarOffice source

            
            code, visit / and

            
            http://www.sun.com/staroffice/opensource.

            
            <p>

            
            <p><b>Availability</b>

            
            <p>The StarOffice source code is scheduled to be available to the open source

            
            community on October 13, 2000.   Sun will retain copyright to the source

            
            code and Sun's ongoing engineering work on StarOffice software will be done

            
            as part of OpenOffice.org. Beginning with StarOffice 6.0, a branded version

            
            of the OpenOffice.org reference implementation will be made available under

            
            the StarOffice software brand.

            
            <p>

            
            <p><b>About Sun Microsystems, Inc.</b>

            
            <p>	Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The

            
            Computer[tm]" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq:SUNW) to its

            
            position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software

            
            and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to

            
            ".com" their businesses.  With $14.2 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be

            
            found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at

            
            http://www.sun.com.

            
            <p>

            
            <p><center><pre># # #</pre></center>

            
            <p>

            
            <p>Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, StarOffice, Solaris, and the Network

            
            Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun

            
            Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.


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	<p><B><i>SUN MICROSYSTEMS OPEN SOURCES STAROFFICE TECHNOLOGY</i></B>
	<p>
	<p><b>Source Code Offered Via GNU General Public License and to Reside at
	www.OpenOffice.org</b>
	<p>
	<p>PALO ALTO, CA - July 19, 2000 - Today at the O'Reilly Open Source
	Convention in Monterey, California, Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced it
	will release the source code of its StarOffice (TM) Suite, a leading, high
	quality, office productivity application software suite, to the open source
	community under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Sun also announced
	OpenOffice.org will be formed and managed by Collab.Net and will serve as
	the coordination point for the source code, the definition of XML-based
	file formats, and the definition of language-independent office application
	programming interfaces (APIs.)
	<p>
	<p>StarOffice is the leading, full-featured productivity suite for all major
	platforms, including Solaris (TM) Operating Environment, Windows, Linux,
	and, later in the year, the Macintosh. StarOffice 6, the next version
	currently in development, will serve as the source code base for
	OpenOffice.org. With the upcoming StarOffice 6 technology, the next
	generation architecture of separate applications and componentized services
	will be introduced.
	<p>
	<p>"Sun's open-sourcing of StarOffice Suite is the single largest open-source
	software contribution in GPL history and it adds a key application suite to
	the open source portfolio," said Marco Boerries, vice president and
	general manager of webtop and application software at Sun Microsystems,
	Inc. "This announcement will leverage StarOffice Suite's role as the
	leading productivity suite for multiple platforms and will further increase
	our momentum as the only competitive alternative to other office suites.
	Sun will also continue to develop and aggressively market future versions
	of StarOffice Suite, which will be based on OpenOffice.org."
	<p>
	<p>"Since innovation happens in many places, making the source code for
	StarOffice Suite available will enable the enormous community of developers
	to bring their expertise and energy to improve and expand the reach of
	this full-featured software suite. But OpenOffice.org is much more than
	just source code--it also includes APIs and XML-file formats. This will
	allow developers to easily work across platforms and have a huge impact,"
	said Boerries.
	<p>
	<p><b>About OpenOffice.org</b>
	<p>OpenOffice.org will host StarOffice source code. OpenOffice.Org will also
	specify XML file formats for documents; specify language-independent APIs;
	and provide Microsoft Office file filters, so developers can more easily
	modify existing programs and customize specific applications to fit their
	needs.
	<p>
	<p><b>Widespread community support</b>
	<p>OpenOffice.org has already garnered major industry support from many
	open-source luminaries, including Tim O'Reilly, Miguel de Icaza, Brian
	Behlendorf, and Andy Hertzfeld.
	<p>
	<p>"Microsoft's lock in on its Office file formats is arguably at least as
	important to their monopoly position as their control of the operating
	system itself," said Tim O'Reilly, founder and CEO of O'Reilly and
	Associates. "The availability of StarOffice under the GPL will give Linux
	a boost on the desktop, but more importantly, the wide availability of
	StarOffice Suite's code for reading and writing Microsoft Office formats
	will allow other open source projects to provide compatible functionality
	as well. Open data is the other side of the open source coin."
	<p>
	<p>"Sun's announcement to make their office suite free software under the GPL
	and SISSL licenses will be a benefit to everyone. Their choice of Bonobo
	as a component framework will enable powerful scripting and code reuse not
	only on the desktop, but on the system as a whole," said Miguel de Icaza,
	president and founder of HelixCode Inc. "When I started GNOME three years
	ago, I had two goals: a 100% free, easy-to-use desktop environment and
	component architecture for GNU/Linux. With Helix Code and Sun working
	together, we can finally see this vision realized. The GNOME community is
	now investigating the best way to integrate these technologies just
	released with the GNOME environment with the goal to bring a comprehensive
	solution to everyone."
	<p>
	<p>"The release of StarOffice under an open source license is a tremendously
	cool thing," said Brian Behlendorf, co-founder and CTO of Collab.Net. "The
	influence of closed standards and proprietary software has made the office
	productivity application space an extremely difficult arena for the open
	source community to address. Sun's action today resolves this problem by
	providing a much needed application."
	<p>
	<p>"One of the last remaining barriers to wide-spread adoption of Open Source
	software on the desktop is the paucity of high quality, easy-to-use
	applications. Today's announcement of the GPLing of Star Office goes a
	long way toward filling that gap," said Andy Hertzfeld, co-founder of
	Eazel, a leading Linux development software company. "Everyone at Eazel is
	very excited to work with Sun's talented team to integrate their
	world-class productivity applications with the Gnome desktop."
	<p>
	<p>Major Linux companies, including Red Hat, Caldera, SuSE, TurboLinux, Easy
	Linux, Mandrakesoft, Stormix, Conectivia, Definite Software PLC, and
	Macmillan, have signed agreements to redistribute StarOffice(TM) 5.2
	software, making it the number one office productivity suite for Linux and
	most have pledged support for OpenOffice.org.
	<p>
	<p>"We support Sun's commitment to an open desktop for all UNIX/Linux
	environments," says Paul McNamara, vice president of Products and
	Platforms, Red Hat Linux, Inc. "The availability of professional
	applications like StarOffice software with Red Hat Linux only serves to
	further validate the platform and the future growth potential of Linux."
	<p>
	<p>"Sun strengthens their commitment to the Linux community with their
	announcement
	to open source StarOffice," said Dean Taylor, vice president of marketing
	for Caldera Systems, Inc. "This combination of StarOffice performance and
	OpenLinux reliability, helps us deliver a quality product and needed
	application to the Linux community."
	<p>
	<p>"As a Linux solutions provider, SuSE helps consumers, small to
	medium-sized businesses, corporations, government agencies and educators
	around the world make informed decisions when purchasing computer
	technology," said Roland Dyroff, CEO SuSE Linux AG. "With Sun's commitment
	to open source StarOffice this expands the market for product
	implementations based on open standards."
	<p>
	<p>"As long time supporters of StarOffice software on Linux, MandrakeSoft is
	excited Sun is making the source code available. The benefits that the
	open source community will bring to this feature rich suite will continue
	the momentum in the market for this exciting alternative to Microsoft
	Office," said Frederic Bastok, COO of MandrakeSoft, a leading Linux publisher.
	<p>
	<p>For more quotes from leading Linux vendors, please visit
	www.sun.com/developers/openoffice
	<p>
	<p>Release of the StarOffice source code will reside at www.openoffice.org
	and will be managed by Collab.Net, a provider of collaborative software
	development services based on open source principles. Collab.Net is
	creating the project hosting infrastructure for the openoffice.org site.
	This single solution offers a medium for hosting source code and
	accessing a robust set of software development tools. This environment is
	a cohesive Web-based, open source development platform that provides
	simple, powerful and intuitive access to features including: code
	versioning, source code browsing, automatic change notification, mailing
	lists and discussion forums and issue tracking Web administration.
	<p>
	<p>In addition to the GPL, Sun intends that all code contributions to the
	OpenOffice.org project, including Sun's contribution of the StarOffice
	source code, will be made available under the Sun Industry Standards Source
	License (SISSL). This dual-licensing approach is designed to allow all
	organizations and individuals to use the source code freely and openly as
	they choose. An important requirement of the SISSL license is that it
	requires compatibility with the GPL reference implementation of the
	OpenOffice.org source code, including APIs and file formats. Copies of both
	the GPL and the SISSL licenses are available at
	//licensing/
	<p>
	<p>In addition, Sun also announced today the new OpenOffice.org Foundation,
	which will initially be modeled on other successful open source projects
	and will consist of a project management committee, source code
	maintainers, and developers. Sun will hold a
	equal membership position in the OpenOffice.org Foundation project
	management committee.
	<p>
	<p><b>About StarOffice</b>
	<p>StarOffice Suite offers a feature-rich single desktop environment, with
	tools such as word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings,
	web-publishing, email, scheduling and database applications that offer
	businesses and individuals an alternative to proprietary office suites.
	For more information regarding OpenOffice.org and the StarOffice source
	code, visit / and
	http://www.sun.com/staroffice/opensource.
	<p>
	<p><b>Availability</b>
	<p>The StarOffice source code is scheduled to be available to the open source
	community on October 13, 2000. Sun will retain copyright to the source
	code and Sun's ongoing engineering work on StarOffice software will be done
	as part of OpenOffice.org. Beginning with StarOffice 6.0, a branded version
	of the OpenOffice.org reference implementation will be made available under
	the StarOffice software brand.
	<p>
	<p><b>About Sun Microsystems, Inc.</b>
	<p> Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The
	Computer[tm]" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq:SUNW) to its
	position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software
	and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to
	".com" their businesses. With $14.2 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be
	found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at
	http://www.sun.com.
	<p>
	<p><center><pre># # #</pre></center>
	<p>
	<p>Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, StarOffice, Solaris, and the Network
	Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun
	Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.



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