Just over a year ago I was riding in my supervisor’s SUV from my hometown of Chattanooga, TN to the windy city of Chicago, IL.  We were going to a convention for the web hosting service that our company uses.  While on this trip, we did something I never do, (and still don’t), we listened to NPR.  On this particular day, the topic was computer software, and this very different idea called open source.  It was on this trip that I first learned about open source, and also about OpenOffice.org.

Steady readers have probably noticed that this is my third week talking about OpenOffice.org, and before I have not spent more than one week on any program.  There are a few reasons for my special treatment of OOo:  it is a big program made up of many smaller parts, it is a mature and growing project with many features that a younger project would not have, it is a major player in the open source world, and many more…  But the main reason that I have so much to say about OpenOffice.org is because for the past year, ever since that road trip to Chicago, I have been actively involved in the OpenOffice.org project.

One of the oddities for this project is the name, OpenOffice.org, I mean it really does look and sound like a website.  Of course, it is a website.  But the name that also refers to the project (the work behind making and maintaining the program) and the program itself.  The back story behind the unusual name has to do with trademark violations and furniture companies, but no matter how it got its name, I like it.  The reason it is so cool to me is because the best part of OpenOffice.org is the dot-org - the organization, the community, the people that -are- OOo.  Over the past year, I’ve gotten to know quite a few of them, and eventually, I became one of them.

Readers of this website are generally people who like to “do it yourself”. They build or upgrade or repair their own computers, or at least they like to read about stuff like that.  Open source programs take that to a whole new level by letting the user not only control the hardware, but also the software.  Anyone who wants to can contribute code, fork the whole code off into a new project (although this is generally frowned upon within the community), sell it, give it away, make alterations for one’s own personal copy, or offer the new code to the community and the public at large.

Even if someone can’t code (like me) one can get directly involved in making the program better by filing bug reports or feature requests, recruiting others to join in, answering other users questions, and many other ways.  I’ve had the pleasure over the last year of being involved to varying degrees in those capacities.  Even now, as I write this column, it is my hope that someone out their in Internet-Land will get interested in open source, just like I did a year ago when I heard that broadcast on NPR.
Now, on to the free stuff! 

OpenOffice.org has a number of sister projects that have spring up around it to find of fill in the blanks that OOo hasn’t gotten to yet.  Many of these projects work closely with OOo proper and are run by people actively involved in OOo.



One of the parts of an office suite that makes it usable is the “extras” that come with it:  the templates, the clip art, the macros.  OpenOffice.org in its basic download form is a little light in these areas.  Enter OO Extras.  OO Extras is a storehouse of templates and tutorials that anyone can download and use.  There are many downloads available and they come in a multitude of languages.



OOoMacros is a similar site, except it focuses on macros.  Macros are little sub-programs that can be as simple as a “remembered” set of often repeated steps or as complex as creating a game within OpenOffice.org.



OOoDocs and OOoAuthors are two sites that contain documentation for OOo, that is, FAQ, setup guides, walk-throughs, users guides, tutorials, etc..  OOoDocs has been around a lot longer, so it has more information but it hasn’t been updated in quite a while.



OOoAuthors, on the other hand, is much more up-to-date, but, as the name suggests, it is a site for the authors of the documentation, so it’s not as user-oriented as OOoDocs.  You can also find more guides and FAQ on the main OOo site.

Next week, I be talking about Mozilla, the internet and email suite that is becoming the most trusted web browser in the world.  The combination of OpenOffice.org and Mozilla is the free killer app that can fully replace any expensive office suite on the market today.  If you don’t want to wait until next week to grab this awesome browser, just visit the Mozilla Website or, if you want a CD with both OOo and Mozilla ready for quick install on any Windows machine, visit the MozOO.org website and download your ISO today.