Team OpenOffice.org e.V.

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Frequently Asked Questions on TOOo

In the list of frequently asked questions you will find answers to all areas of Team OpenOffice.org

Who is Team OpenOffice.org e.V. (TOO) & what is the current status?

Team OpenOffice.org e.V. has been registered as a non-profit association in 2003. Mission and purpose of the association is support and distribution of the software OpenOffice.org. The association was originally founded to organize the annual OpenOffice.org Conference. Since 2003 it collects donations which are used to further the development of the office productivity software.

Following the withdrawal of the main sponsor, the trademark OpenOffice.orgTM was handed over by Oracle to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF), which now also provides the home of the developmentproject. Furthermore the funding of many developers is no longer available. Independently Team OpenOffice.org continues to foster the steady development of this fantastic software, improve it even more and ensure that it works as a stable and secure product – as a free office software for everyone.

Members of the board of Team OpenOffice.org e.V. are Martin Hollmichel, Stefan Taxhet and Matthias Hütsch.

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What assets does Team OpenOffice.org e.V. currently hold related to OpenOffice.org?

The TOO assets range from an enormous amount of man-years of developer experience to the fact that about 95% of the current source code is a product of the programming of the engineering team in Hamburg, who have invented and developed the software continuously until today.

Further assets span from TOO having the know how to solve complex problems within the product to having the capacity to put professional, full-time engineers on the job of fixing bugs, develop new releases and bringing innovation to the product.

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Would work be done under the aegis of the Apache Software Foundation or is this a separate development effort?

TOO is an independent effort, that looks to support the broader ecosystem and thereby the ASF. We are currently talking to the ASF about how we align needs and requirements. Joined forces would be the best for everybody involved and the entire user base.
TOO strives to become a cooperative contributor that looks to satisfy users’ needs and work on a reliable release schedule. In our opinion, the support of paid developers that can put in professional work will be necessary.

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Why are you releasing “White Label Office 3.3.1” and not “OpenOffice.org 3.3.1”?

White Label Office 3.3.1 is a maintenance release for OpenOffice.org 3.3.0. It contains important security fixes, brings back the colored document icons and fixes a number of known issues. See the release notes for more details.

The release is called „White Label Office“ because OpenOffice.org and the OpenOffice.org logo are registered trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United States and other countries. Team OpenOffice.org and the ASF could not reach an agreement for a shared usage.

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What is a Release Candidate?

A Release Candidate is the last version before the final release of the software and is distributed to get a check of the product quality.

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When will the final version come out?

This depends on the feedback for this Release Candidate. We believe that the final version will be released in January/February 2012. For more information please see www.teamopenoffice.org

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Is LibreOffice the successor of OpenOffice.org?

LibreOffice has been forked from the OpenOffice.org code base. Both office suites evolve in parallel. OpenOffice.org is nowadays maintained as project Apache OpenOffice (incubating) at the Apache Software Foundation (ASF).

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What should the fundraising campaign achieve?

Following the withdrawal of the main sponsor, financing of many ORACLE developers is no longer available. This is why TOO has started the fundraising campaign. TOO wants to develop OOo further, create new features and ensure that it remains available in a stable and secure form.

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Is Team OpenOffice.org legitimate, to collect donations for OpenOffice.org?

TOO does not collect donations for the OpenOffice.org product, but for any kind of support activities that serve the reliability and improvement of the software. In the past this included among others the annual conferences (2003 - 2010) and development contests. In 2011 this will include the support of a group that, after the withdrawal of Oracle as the main sponsor, will build up a team with full-time professional developers as well as service and support engineers.

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What are the donations used for?

Your donation is needed, e.g. for the following activities:

  • Save as much know how as possible from the original developer team, that created >95% of the code
  • Stabilisation, bug fixing and support for the latest version
  • Development of new releases and innovative applications
  • Provision of help and advice to users. We want your contacts at OOo to remain readily accessible
  • Marketing to ensure that as many people as possible hear about the free alternative to MS Office
  • Attendance at trade fairs and other events
  • Organisation of events for developers and users

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How much money is needed?

The amount of money is directly linked to the number of developers. With more donations we can pay a stronger group for a longer period of time.

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I am using OpenOffice.org in my company. Does Team OpenOffice.org offer support?

We are planning to provide professional service and support for your installation. Please contact us under This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Are donations tax deductible?

Donations for the benefit of Team OpenOffice.org e.V. are not tax deductible. Please also contact your tax adviser.

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