IBM backs OpenOffice.org @ Apache

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 02 June 2011 15:56

Business IT - Open Source

IBM will actively support the revamped OpenOffice.org project following its move to the Apache Software Foundation.

Since Oracle acquired Sun there has been much speculation about what the company might do with the OpenOffice.org project (an open source office suite).

Oracle has transferred OpenOffice.org to the Apache Software Foundation, where it is considered an incubator project pending evidence of its viability at its new home.

A group of developers previously forked the OpenOffice.org project as LibreOffice with support from Canonical, Google, Novell, Red Hat and others.

IBM has backed the move of OpenOffice.org to Apache, saying it will contribute staff resources from its global development team during the incubator period, though there was no promise of ongoing involvement.

"Open source and standards are key to making our planet smarter and improving the way we live and work," said Kevin Cavanaugh, vice president, IBM collaboration solutions. "As IBM celebrates its centennial, we're actively investing in projects that will help our clients to collaborate in an open manner over the next 100 years."

Like OpenOffice.org, IBM's Lotus Symphony suite supports the Open Document Format standard.