Open Source Office Suites Are Few, But Filled with Applications

“OpenOffice is also growing increasingly visible, helped in
large measure by its pre-installation on Linux netbooks from the
likes of Dell. And as we saw last week, OpenOffice.org offshoots
such as Go-oo, OxygenOffice Professional, and OpenOffice.org
Portable are taking hold, as well.

“Yet maybe it’s because of OpenOffice.org’s very domination, or
perhaps it’s due to the ambitious nature of building a suite, but
challenges in the open source office suite space are surprisingly
scarce. Action seems brisker in open source development of
individual applications like word processors and spreadsheets.
Meanwhile, other developers have been creating open source suites
outside the office productivity realm, including suites specific to
customer relationship management (CRM), content management (CM),
and classroom education.

“But the open source office suites that do exist are all
definitely worth a look. Like OpenOffice.org, open office offerings
such as GNOME Office, KOffice, and Siag Office are built and
maintained by enthusiastic development communities who firmly
believe in open source benefits such as code reusability,
collaboration, and customizability.”

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