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NeoOffice 2.0 Alpha 3 Released

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the opening-offices dept.

ndansmith writes "NeoOffice, the port of OpenOffice.org to Mac OS X, has made their 2.0 Alpha 3 release available for download. From NeoOffice's site: 'This release is based on the OpenOffice.org 2.0.2 code and includes all of the new OpenOffice.org 2.0.2 features,' including the utilization of Open Document formats. Currently only the PowerPC version of the software is available publicly, but users can download the Intel version by purchasing a membership."

9 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. really? by geoffspear · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Normally I hate the people who complain that a new version of some random piece of software isn't really news, but come on. It's a new alpha release.

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  2. Alpha, but usable by fak3r · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is an Alpha release yes, but if you've used OOo 2.0.2 you know what features you're getting, and that's huge, plus I've only had the last Alpha crash twice on me, and it's far/far more useable than my old Office X. Really, with this and OOo out for OS X I can't see any reason that a normal user would need to buy a 300$ office suite (and I think that's a 'good thing')

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  3. Speed increase? by multiOSfreak · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's great to see a new version of NeoOffice coming out, but what I really want to know is if the latest release is any faster than the previous versions. The older versions work great but are painfully sluggish.

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  4. Re:Intel binaries by static0verdrive · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Way to subvert their attempt at coming up with funding for development. This project is maintained by a only few people, and developed mostly by only one person, who does it full-time. The actual release will be free to download, but they do the "Early Access Subscription" program to attempt to raise funds because they have over 2 million downloads a year and are still losing money just keeping the website up. This project needs our help to keep going, and it is a great project. Installing X11 and using OOo is acceptable for some, but the NeoOffice suite is all about being native - fully standardized Mac Aqua menus and no need for X11. The way to go for grandma and other mac-only users and/or newbies.

    If you don't want to support the project, that's your choice, but recommending ways to circumvent their request for donations (for the alpha alone, no less) makes you look greedy, and is precisely why the main developer may not be able to continue development full-time if he can't afford to. I pay the linux distributions I use and like to show my support, and I fund open source projects I use frequently with donations of anywhere from $25-$50 to help them out, considering all they do for us.

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  5. Free as in Fiction by yoxi · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I have to say I find it just deeply infantile, people harrumphing because something they want isn't immediately available to them for free. When you say you want something for free, what you really mean is 'I want someone other than me to pay for it'. In opensource, someone (individual or collective) is always paying, in time, experience, and actual money in order that the wider user community doesn't have to. NeoOffice: 2 guys working hard to make a more OSX-friendly (and therefore more useable) version of OOo available are spending their time, experience, and money to do this. Now they're asking for help doing that, because it's a project worth keeping going, and it's not sustainable without help, some of which needs to be financial. If you want the Intel version of the Alpha 3 for free, wait 2-3 more weeks until it's available for free - the people who do choose to support the project by paying a little money to get the releases a little early (and therefore be the bug-testers) are contributing towards keeping this great project going. How would bittorrent piracy be contributing? If you want the release bad enough to want to pirate it, that ought to mean you appreciate it enough to see that the project that makes it possible needs supporting, not undermining. Grow up.

    1. Re:Free as in Fiction by ploppowaffles · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Three little letters: G. P. L. NeoOffice is 95% OpenOffice.org. Why should I have to pay to be a bug-tester on an open source (read GPL'd) project? Bittorrenting the builds would not be piracy, it would be 100% legal under the GPL. The NeoOffice guys have no right to control the distribution of GPL'd code, duh.

    2. Re:Free as in Fiction by Geurilla · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Grow up indeed.

      If the developers are strapped for cash and need "donations" they should just ask for them instead of charging for their "free software". People are upset not because they are ungrateful and selfish, but because the developers, as contributors to FOSS and GPL code, have a moral obligation to uphold the principles of the community and are failing to do so. The developers are violating, if not the letter of the GPL, at least the spirit of the GPL, and so deserve any ill-will directed toward them. If they don't want to play the game then they should not participate, no matter how much time, effort, and money they have contributed to benefit the community.

      We are perfectly capable of being grateful for their contribution while simultaneously censuring them for their moral failures.

    3. Re:Free as in Fiction by yoxi · · Score: 2, Insightful
      'Violating the spirit' - great rhetoric. But the pragmatics of the situation are in another universe: so you're someone with an intel mac, and you want to use NeoOffice, and you want it right now. What are your options?

      Well, you can compile your own binary from the (always was, still is, always will be) freely available NeoOffice source code - the intel code is there right now, go for it. You don't want to do that? What are your options?

      Well, if you can bear to wait a couple more weeks you can download a binary for free from the developers.
      And why is it there in the first place? Because people have made sufficient financial contribution to make it actually possible for the 2 guys to spend 60-70 hours a week between them making the code work for you. You don't want to wait that long? What are your options?

      well, you can pay $25 for a binary compiled on your behalf, thus along the way helping to make it possible in the future for there to actually be a beta release with better functionality, aquafied widgets and all that, and eventually a full release of the app.

      These are all options. They're all GPL-friendly. It's completely your choice whether you compile now, make a financial contribution now, or bear a 2-4 week wait for something that wouldn't be there at all without some people's financial contributions. The developers tried 'voluntary donations' and it didn't work, that's the reality. This way, NeoOffice v2 for PPC and intel exists right now, that's the reality. Waah, waah, it's not fair, they're not playing by the rules... you want NeoOffice or not?

  6. Re:Just use the X11 Build, avoid NeoOffice by supremebob · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'd like to agree with you, but:

    * The X11 version of OpenOffice requires Apple X11 to be installed before it will launch. The install isn't horrible, but it is still far more difficult than the "drag and drop" installers that Apple users have come to expect.
    * The launch time and overall performance of X11 OpenOffice is horrible compared to a native Macintosh app.
    * Compared to a native Mac application, the X11 OpenOffice interface looks like crap and the integration with other applications leaves a lot to be desired.

    Honestly, X11 OpenOffice isn't up to the standards that most people expect from well polished Apple software. It's not like F/OSS isn't up to the challenge, either... Just look at Firefox for the Mac.