Contributed by Benjamin Horst | osViews This article was syndicated under osViews' Open Content License. January 20, 2004 3:59 PM

"In recent years, Apple -- to the surprise of many -- has been one of the largest champions of open standards and open source software throughout the industry. It would seem only logical that it would continue this trend by building an open-standards office suite or even building upon an already-existent open source project much in the same way that the company did with its Safari Web browser. These issues have been weighing on the mind of editorial contributor Benjamin Horst, who submitted the following editorial contribution to osViews which weighs the pros and cons of such a strategy."
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While OpenOffice.org is already the dominant office suite on Linux, and is probably a secure number two on Windows, it is only just beginning to find its place on Macs. This is surprising given the healthy dose of skepticism that Mac users have developed toward Microsoft's products and activities over the decades.

However, considered from the context that MS Office may have an even stronger mindshare position on the Mac than on MS' own Windows operating system, and that OpenOffice.org has not released a complete Mac version yet, it begins to make sense. But that does not mean it should continue this way!

There are two good options at this point. The first is to simply adopt the OpenOffice.org file formats as the default for the newest version of Appleworks, whenever it is released. This would help to fulfill the need for a diverse palette of software that nevertheless is compatible via shared, openly documented file types. Appleworks users, OpenOffice.org, StarOffice users and others, would suddenly find themselves completely compatible with one another.

Each person could use his or her preferred software, without sacrificing interoperability with the world at large. While this is normal with graphics files like JPEG and PNG, it has never before happened in the office suite market. It may even seem alien now, but once it takes hold no one will be willing to revert to today's difficult environment. One by one we can hope to see office suites adopting the common formats of OOo, leading finally to a level playing field in the marketplace. As good as this is, I think there is an even better alternative.

The second option is to follow the example Apple created with its Safari web browser, it based on the khtml rendering engine. Apple could use the OpenOffice.org code and build its own custom Mac OS X GUI on top of it. Because of OOo's distribution under a dual licensing scheme, Apple would have great flexibility with regard to the creation and sharing this software.

It would not even be required to be free of cost. In fact, by opting to use the SISSL, Apple could keep the source code to its new OpenOffice.org derivative private, as long as it delivers a fully open reference product that can deal with the software's file formats. When using the OOo file formats, the OOo software itself qualifies as that reference product (which is how StarOffice uses the SISSL license). Apple could christen this product Appleworks, and have arguably the best office suite in the world, with minimal development time.

Microsoft's reputation for vindictiveness makes one wonder how they would react to this situation. It would probably not be pleasant to be on the receiving end of a Microsoft vendetta, but there is very little they could now do to Apple, short of cutting off development of MS Office. With the increased scrutiny they are under since the antitrust trial, and continuing litigation, any such move would clearly be seen as an attempt to exercise monopoly power.

Even so, with a new Appleworks based on OpenOffice.org, its interoperability with the MS Office formats and its increasing reputation as the replacement for MSO, there may be little need for MS Office anymore, either on the Mac or on any other platform.

A fundamental change in the marketplace could well be on the horizon. Each new adoption of OOo makes its arrival more likely, and the alliance of Appleworks with OpenOffice.org, in either of the alternatives discussed above, would help bring that change into the light for all to see and anticipate. The liberation of the office suite could soon be at hand!



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