Re: Neo/J release

Joerg Sievers wrote:

> Hi!
>
> Some answers, now from my private account, to be clear:
>
> 1. Sun has spokesmen/spokeswomen
>
> OOo has been founded by Sun and it should not wonder
> nobody here that Sun employees have their own opinion
> if they're working on an open sourced (open minds)
> project. It is their daily job and sometimes they have
> answers on questions or also questions and need
> answers...
>
OpenOffice is and will always be based on StarOffice, which started as a 
project on either UNIX or OS/2.  There was no efforts given then for a 
MacIntosh version as Microsoft and Apple both had products that met the 
needs of that group of folks.

>
> 2. Sun and the Mac port and doing fixes
>
> AFAIK (and I do not know anything) the first steps of
> using Java instead of X11 als have been done by Sun
> in the past.
>
> The NeoOffice guys have done after the initial start a great job
> and I also support the team by doing automated QA if there
> is a request. Sometimes I have a look at their milestones and
> it is really a nice application on the Mac.
>
> Sun has decided not to do a Mac port, so why should they fix
> issues or invest in using Cococa/Java/... they have no interest in?
> Sorry, but nobody and no company would do that!
>
Agreeed!  No company would produce a product that will take a lot of 
resources for little or no return.  I think that Apple and SUN have 
looked at porting OOo to MacOSX and decided against this.  So the only 
effort that is working on it right now is totally volunteer.

> Sun is supporting and sponsoring OOo - with no view on
> which platform it is being done. It is IMHO good for the
> Mac OS X port community that also inside Sun some
> employees have interest in having a Mac OS X port -
> they do their job in private time but they have the knowledge
> of their daily work..
>
That is true, even for Patrick, who no longer works for SUN, that we 
have folks who work for SUN during the day and work on the MacIntosh 
port at night. 

> 3. X11 and Java
>
> It is NOT Sun's job to beat a market where they're not
> present. StarOffice is not available on the Mac, so if
> somebody wants to beat the market it is the OOo
> community and not Sun because they have a Mac OS X
> port.
>
I agree here too.  SUN knows that the market slice is small and there is 
alot of competition for very few $$$ (insert your favorite currency here.)

> It is a market with many small apps: M$ Office, iWork,
> Papyrus, AbiWord (supporting OASIS OpenDocument
> format!), .... have fun and I would happy to help.
>
And the first has a very large and profitable company producing it.  And 
they have abandoned Internet Explorer because of the losses they were 
taking just trying to keep it current.

We have to keep in mind that the MacIntosh audience is small, UNIXes 
have more of a market share than we do, and the we are very picky.  Thus 
a company is going to be very careful and might not consider 
building/constructing a Mac version of their programs.  If we solidly 
support an ALL VOLUNTEER effort, then those who are on the 'wall' will 
join in.  If we don't, then the opposite is more likely and it is 
possible that folks will leave for 'greener' pastures.

If you have a problem with OpenOffice, voice it.  Even better yet, 
figure out a way to fix it.

James McKenzie