5 ms·

I think OpenOffice is a better name than LibreOffice. It rolls of the tongue more smoothly, and it is easier to explain to people. On the other hand LibreOffice

by krylon 10y ago

I think OpenOffice is a better name than LibreOffice. It rolls of the tongue more smoothly, and it is easier to explain to people. On the other hand LibreOffice has the lion's share of the developers (and probably of the users by now). So a "takeover" of OpenOffice by the LibreOffice project would probably be the best solution at this point (at least as far as I can tell).

nxzero 10y ago
>> "it is easier to explain to people" Which is why "Office for Free" (OfficeFree, oFree, O4F) would be a better non-Linux name. Average user doesn't care if something is "open" they care if it's free.
- curt15 10y ago
  Doubt it. I would imagine that many lay users associate "free" with low quality. "Open" on the other hand has positive connotations.
  - vertex-four 10y ago
    Hell, in a few years' time, Silicon Valley might finally have made "free" an outright bad thing for some significant group of people.
    - wlesieutre 10y ago
      Silicon Valley, where "free" means "don't get used to this because we're selling to google and shutting it down in three months"
      - stephenr 10y ago
        Or it means "we're data mining the fuck out of you, your granny, her cat, and the guy who's banging your wife, so we can deliver you 'relevant' ads"
- jasonkostempski 10y ago
  I think its a bad idea to even use the word "Office" because it sounds like a lame rip-off you'd download from CNet. In fact, Im suprised MS doesnt have a legal issue with it. Thats always bugged me about a lot of OSS projects and vegan dishes, they pick a name based on their competitor instead of something original that doesn't constantly remind the user they're not quite getting the "real thing".
  - jkot 10y ago
    OpenOffice uses name 'office' for 30 years, 5 longer than MS does. Wiki: > OpenOffice.org originated as StarOffice, a proprietary office suite developed by German company StarDivision from 1985 on. > MS office 1.0 released : November 19, 1990[1] Office 1.0
    - ajmurmann 10y ago
      That's not the public perception.
    - brewdad 10y ago
      Maybe that's the naming solution then. StarOffice* * The Open and Libre Office Suite Everyone could write it as *Office to save typing. Then users would simply say the full name. "AsteriskOffice" Nevermind....
      - elchief 10y ago
        And maybe rewrite it in C# and call it OctothorpOffice...
        jasonkostempski 10y ago
        Coctothorp is how I pronounce C# :) That or C++++ because # looks like 4 overlapping +'s which I've always assumed is what they were hinting at.
        10y ago
- cyphar 10y ago
  > Average user doesn't care if something is "open" they care if it's free. The naming "Libre" is important (though maybe we shouldn't be using French as the language to describe the concept of freedom with a single word). It gives the opportunity to explain that not only will Libreoffice not cost you any money, you have freedom while using it. Calling it "Office for Free" is a _very_ bad idea as it will muddy the waters of the meaning of "free software" in the lexicon of people who aren't into technology.
pbhjpbhj 10y ago
I'm not entirely sure of the current situation, but ... If you look they call it "Apache OpenOffice". Previously what we term "OpenOffice" was only called "OpenOffice.org (OOo)", why? Well because there was already a product trademarked and marketed as Open Office and IIRC there was a legal challenge. So OOo was the open version of StarOffice. Perhaps Sun/Oracle or Apache bought that trademark? A brief search at USPTO's TESS suggests that the word mark "OpenOffice" is registered to Pathway IP SARL of Luxembourg, whilst Apache have "OpenOffice.org". So the question is LibreOffice or OpenOffice.org. I like LibreOffice but then I'm in Western Europe. Someone noted it's poor for India and China due to pronounceability.
- TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
  Oracle used to sell Oracle Open Office, the commercial edition of OpenOffice.org.
- vorg 10y ago
  If OpenOffice is retired as specified in 7.3(b) in the submission... > 7.3 There is no active attention to preservation of the trademarks related to Apache OpenOffice. (a) Inappropriate use of Apache and its symbols in names of offerings will be defended when brought to the attention of branding@. (b) Uses of OpenOffice, Open Office, openoffice.org and other similarities without attribution to Apache are not addressed. ...then LibreOffice could start using the OpenOffice brand, e.g. "Libre OpenOffice". I think Apache giving up the brand like that would create a bad precedent, though. Another of Apache's projects might get forked and renamed by the subset of its PMC that do the programming, who then later claim their brand back using this as a precedent. E.g. Apache Groovy might be cloned by the Grails crowd and renamed the Grails Language, and with the programmer in Groovy's PMC who adequately knows his way around Groovy's codebase joining them. When Apache Groovy has further atrophied, the Grails people could then claim the "Groovy" brand using the "OpenOffice Precedent".

by krylon 10y ago

nxzero 10y ago

>> "it is easier to explain to people" Which is why "Office for Free" (OfficeFree, oFree, O4F) would be a better non-Linux name. Average user doesn't care if something is "open" they care if it's free.

curt15 10y ago
Doubt it. I would imagine that many lay users associate "free" with low quality. "Open" on the other hand has positive connotations.
- vertex-four 10y ago
  Hell, in a few years' time, Silicon Valley might finally have made "free" an outright bad thing for some significant group of people.
  - wlesieutre 10y ago
    Silicon Valley, where "free" means "don't get used to this because we're selling to google and shutting it down in three months"
    - stephenr 10y ago
      Or it means "we're data mining the fuck out of you, your granny, her cat, and the guy who's banging your wife, so we can deliver you 'relevant' ads"
jasonkostempski 10y ago
I think its a bad idea to even use the word "Office" because it sounds like a lame rip-off you'd download from CNet. In fact, Im suprised MS doesnt have a legal issue with it. Thats always bugged me about a lot of OSS projects and vegan dishes, they pick a name based on their competitor instead of something original that doesn't constantly remind the user they're not quite getting the "real thing".
- jkot 10y ago
  OpenOffice uses name 'office' for 30 years, 5 longer than MS does. Wiki: > OpenOffice.org originated as StarOffice, a proprietary office suite developed by German company StarDivision from 1985 on. > MS office 1.0 released : November 19, 1990[1] Office 1.0
  - ajmurmann 10y ago
    That's not the public perception.
  - brewdad 10y ago
    Maybe that's the naming solution then. StarOffice* * The Open and Libre Office Suite Everyone could write it as *Office to save typing. Then users would simply say the full name. "AsteriskOffice" Nevermind....
    - elchief 10y ago
      And maybe rewrite it in C# and call it OctothorpOffice...
      - jasonkostempski 10y ago
        Coctothorp is how I pronounce C# :) That or C++++ because # looks like 4 overlapping +'s which I've always assumed is what they were hinting at.
        10y ago
cyphar 10y ago
> Average user doesn't care if something is "open" they care if it's free. The naming "Libre" is important (though maybe we shouldn't be using French as the language to describe the concept of freedom with a single word). It gives the opportunity to explain that not only will Libreoffice not cost you any money, you have freedom while using it. Calling it "Office for Free" is a _very_ bad idea as it will muddy the waters of the meaning of "free software" in the lexicon of people who aren't into technology.

pbhjpbhj 10y ago

I'm not entirely sure of the current situation, but ... If you look they call it "Apache OpenOffice". Previously what we term "OpenOffice" was only called "OpenOffice.org (OOo)", why? Well because there was already a product trademarked and marketed as Open Office and IIRC there was a legal challenge. So OOo was the open version of StarOffice. Perhaps Sun/Oracle or Apache bought that trademark? A brief search at USPTO's TESS suggests that the word mark "OpenOffice" is registered to Pathway IP SARL of Luxembourg, whilst Apache have "OpenOffice.org". So the question is LibreOffice or OpenOffice.org. I like LibreOffice but then I'm in Western Europe. Someone noted it's poor for India and China due to pronounceability.

TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
Oracle used to sell Oracle Open Office, the commercial edition of OpenOffice.org.
vorg 10y ago
If OpenOffice is retired as specified in 7.3(b) in the submission... > 7.3 There is no active attention to preservation of the trademarks related to Apache OpenOffice. (a) Inappropriate use of Apache and its symbols in names of offerings will be defended when brought to the attention of branding@. (b) Uses of OpenOffice, Open Office, openoffice.org and other similarities without attribution to Apache are not addressed. ...then LibreOffice could start using the OpenOffice brand, e.g. "Libre OpenOffice". I think Apache giving up the brand like that would create a bad precedent, though. Another of Apache's projects might get forked and renamed by the subset of its PMC that do the programming, who then later claim their brand back using this as a precedent. E.g. Apache Groovy might be cloned by the Grails crowd and renamed the Grails Language, and with the programmer in Groovy's PMC who adequately knows his way around Groovy's codebase joining them. When Apache Groovy has further atrophied, the Grails people could then claim the "Groovy" brand using the "OpenOffice Precedent".