_posts/2020-10-15-the-apache-software-foundation-celebrates.html (123 lines of code) (raw):

--- layout: post status: PUBLISHED published: true title: The Apache Software Foundation Celebrates 20 Years of OpenOffice&reg; id: 8875eac5-34a2-4130-80cd-ee4938f65f9c date: '2020-10-15 22:15:59 -0400' categories: ooo tags: - anniversary - openoffice - celebration permalink: OOo/entry/the-apache-software-foundation-celebrates --- <p class="entryContent"> <p><b><i>Leading Open Source office<br /> application and personal productivity suite under development as a<br /> community-led Apache&reg; Project for the past 8 years</i></b></p> <p><b>Wakefield,</b><b>&nbsp;MA &mdash;14 October 2020&mdash;</b><br /> The Apache Software Foundation (ASF), the all-volunteer developers,<br /> stewards, and incubators of more than 350 Open Source projects and<br /> initiatives, announced today the twenty-year anniversary of OpenOffice<sup>&reg;</sup>, the last eight of which as an Apache<sup>&reg;</sup> Top-Level Project.</p> <p>"It&rsquo;s<br /> inspiring to see so many dedicated people from around the world<br /> volunteer their time to mentor, contribute code, test issues, moderate<br /> mailing lists, help on forums, translations, marketing and more to keep<br /> making this great product better and available for millions of users,"<br /> said Carl Marcum, Vice President of Apache OpenOffice. "OpenOffice is<br /> more than just software. It&rsquo;s a great community that I&rsquo;m glad to be a<br /> part of."</p> <p>With more than 300 million downloads, Apache OpenOffice<br /> is used by countless individuals, organizations, and institutions around<br /> the world who are seeking a reliable, robust, and freely-available Open<br /> Source office document productivity suite. Apache OpenOffice features<br /> the following applications for Windows, macOS and Linux:</p> <ul> <li>"Writer" word processor;</li> <li>"Calc" spreadsheet tool;</li> <li>"Impress" presentation editor;</li> <li>"Draw" vector graphics editor;&nbsp;</li> <li>"Math" mathematical formula editor; and&nbsp;</li> <li>"Base" database management program.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>Apache<br /> OpenOffice supports more than 120 languages, 41 of which are officially<br /> maintained and released by the Project. Apache OpenOffice is the<br /> productivity suite of choice for governments seeking to meet mandates<br /> for using ISO/IEC standard Open Document Format (ODF) files.</p> <p>Originally<br /> created as "StarOffice" in 1985 by StarDivision, who was acquired by<br /> Sun Microsystems in 1999. The project was open-sourced under the name<br /> "OpenOffice.org", and continued development after Oracle Corporation<br /> acquired Sun Microsystems in 2010. OpenOffice entered the Apache<br /> Incubator in 2011 and graduated as an Apache Top-level Project in<br /> October 2012.</p> <p>"At Apache OpenOffice we are very excited about 20<br /> years of OpenOffice," said Marcus Lange, ASF Member and Apache<br /> OpenOffice Committer since the project first arrived at the ASF.<br /> "Countless users, developers and friends have made it possible that we<br /> can today celebrate this incredible anniversary. Their commitment makes<br /> me believe that we will see many more years of this great Open Source<br /> productivity suite."</p> <p>"The need and, in fact, the demand, for a<br /> permissively licensed Open Source office suite, available to the masses<br /> and not just the privileged few fortunate enough to have the latest<br /> hardware and software, has never been greater within the last two<br /> decades," said Jim Jagielski, ASF co-Founder and Apache OpenOffice<br /> incubating mentor. "Apache OpenOffice exists to provide essential<br /> functionality, with as few licensing restrictions as possible, to the<br /> world at large. It is truly a noble mission, and I am honored to be a<br /> small part of it."</p> <p>"As a long-term user, I joined the project in<br /> 2016 to give something back," said Matthias Seidel, Committer and member<br /> of the Apache OpenOffice Project Management Committee. "After a steep<br /> learning curve, I am proud to be part of the community that provides<br /> this great software for the public good and benefits millions<br /> worldwide."</p> <p>Apache OpenOffice is available as a free download to<br /> all users at 100% no cost, charge, or fees of any kind. OpenOffice<br /> source code is readily available for anyone who wishes to enhance the<br /> applications. The Project welcomes contributions back to the project,<br /> its code, and its community. Those interested in participating with<br /> Apache OpenOffice can find out more at <a href="https://openoffice.apache.org/get-involved.html" target="_blank">https://openoffice.apache.org/get-involved.html</a> .</p> <p><b>Availability and Oversight<br></b>As<br /> with all Apache projects, OpenOffice software is released under the<br /> Apache License v2.0 and is overseen by a self-selected team of active<br /> contributors to the project. A Project Management Committee (PMC) guides<br /> the Project's day-to-day operations, including community development<br /> and product releases. For project data, documentation, and more<br /> information on Apache OpenOffice, visit <a href="https://openoffice.apache.org/" target="_blank" style="background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://openoffice.apache.org/</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://twitter.com/ApacheOO" target="_blank" style="background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://twitter.com/ApacheOO</a> .</p> <p>12<br /> releases have been made under the auspices of the ASF. The project<br /> strongly recommends that users download OpenOffice only from the<br /> official site <a href="https://www.openoffice.org/download/" target="_blank">https://www.openoffice.org/download/</a>&nbsp;to ensure that they receive the original software in the correct and most recent version.</p> <p><b>About The Apache Software Foundation (ASF)<br></b>Established<br /> in 1999, The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is the world&rsquo;s largest<br /> Open Source foundation, stewarding 227M+ lines of code and providing<br /> more than $20B+ worth of software to the public at 100% no cost. The<br /> ASF&rsquo;s all-volunteer community grew from 21 original founders overseeing<br /> the Apache HTTP Server to 813 individual Members and 206 Project<br /> Management Committees who successfully lead 350+ Apache projects and<br /> initiatives in collaboration with 7,900+ Committers through the ASF&rsquo;s<br /> meritocratic process known as "The Apache Way". Apache software is<br /> integral to nearly every end user computing device, from laptops to<br /> tablets to mobile devices across enterprises and mission-critical<br /> applications. Apache projects power most of the Internet, manage<br /> exabytes of data, execute teraflops of operations, and store billions of<br /> objects in virtually every industry. The commercially-friendly and<br /> permissive Apache License v2 is an Open Source industry standard,<br /> helping launch billion dollar corporations and benefiting countless<br /> users worldwide. The ASF is a US 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable<br /> organization funded by individual donations and corporate sponsors<br /> including Aetna, Alibaba Cloud Computing, Amazon Web Services,<br /> Anonymous, Baidu, Bloomberg, Budget Direct, Capital One, Cerner,<br /> Cloudera, Comcast, Facebook, Google, Handshake, Huawei, IBM, Inspur,<br /> Pineapple Fund, Red Hat, Target, Tencent, Union Investment, Verizon<br /> Media, and Workday. For more information, visit <a href="http://apache.org/" target="_blank" style="background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);">http://apache.org/</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://twitter.com/TheASF" target="_blank" style="background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://twitter.com/TheASF</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>&copy;<br /> The Apache Software Foundation. "Apache", "OpenOffice",<br /> "OpenOffice.org", "Apache OpenOffice", and "ApacheCon" are registered<br /> trademarks or trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United<br /> States and/or other countries. All other brands and trademarks are the<br /> property of their respective owners.</p>