Distribution of and Linking to OpenOffice.org
Contents
- General Information
- About Us
- Banner and Logo Use
- Community Distributor
- Trademark
- About Working with OpenOffice.org
- Other Relevant Information
General Information
You are free to distribute and sell OpenOffice.org. The only legal provision is that users should be kept aware of the location of the source of the executable binaries distributed. That is, all users should be informed that the source can be found on OpenOffice.org. Of course, we also ask that you support the project that makes this possible.
About Us
Please use this text when describing OpenOffice.org.
"OpenOffice.org is a fully-featured open-source office productivity suite available as a free, extensible download for major platforms in over 90 languages. It is compatible with competing office suites. OpenOffice.org is developed, supported, and promoted by an international community operating from the OpenOffice.org website. OpenOffice.org stores data in the open XML file format adopted by the international standards body OASIS as the OpenDocument Format (ODF) and approved by the ISO as ISO/IEC 26300:2006."
Banner and Logo Use
In addition to the official OpenOffice.org logo, we also have the Community Distributor banner, CD-ROM labels, and other graphics. You need permission to use any of these on your website, CDs, or printed collateral. To obtain permission, please follow the description in the Logo and Trademark section.
We are further interested in tracking all use of OpenOffice.org graphics. Please indicate, then, in filling out and submitting the form:
- The name of your company and its website address, if any
- The purpose of the company (what it does)
- Who you are and your relation to the company
OpenOffice.org and the OpenOffice.org logo are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Use of the mark, "OpenOffice.org" in commercial environments is possible only with permission. Submit requests via the form provided in the Logo and Trademark section.
Community Distributor
A Community Distributor is a person or corporation distributing OpenOffice.org software, either as a download mirror or as a CD-ROM distributor. In order to become a Community Distributor, read over the provisions on the Distribution Project.
License
OpenOffice.org source is distributed under the LGPL:
This license has been approved by the Open Source Initiative (Open Source Initiative) and by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). It has been extensively documented and analyzed, but if you are in doubt as to its application and limitations, you should probably examine it with an attorney.
The essential points are:
- You must include a copy of the license with the program (the regular installer does this);
- You have either to include the source code or tell the users where it is (/); and
- If you modify the OpenOffice.org source, you need to publish those modifications, as source code (some kinds of modifications are exempted from this rule; see the licenses for details).
To sum up: Yes, you can pre-load OpenOffice.org on your PCs, without fees or special authorization. We ask a few things:
- That you work with us and load the computer with our binaries and source--see the Distribution Project for information;
- That you let us know by submission of a request indicating your company's name and relevant other particulars;
- That you refer to OpenOffice.org as Openoffice.org and not as "OpenOffice" or "Open Office";
- When describing the code's features, please use our Features page. See also our Product pages, as they are probably more up-to-date; and
- That you list yourself as a "Community Distributor" as we describe above and use our graphics.
You can read learn more of about us and, after you have received permission from the Community Manager, you may download our logos. Below, we have links to logos that you may use on CDs, floppies, and so on.
About Working with OpenOffice.org
Loading OpenOffice.org on your computers or selling it on CDs is only the beginning of your partnership with the OpenOffice.org community. As an Open Source software project, we are eager to have you as a new participant in the process of developing future versions OpenOffice.org and OpenOffice.org-based products. We are an open community, actively seeking new businesses with a stake in seeing our project succeed.
We need the support that only companies profiting from OpenOffice.org can supply. Volunteer programmers, testimonials, Web and FTP mirror servers, translators, and documentation writers all are urgently needed. In turn, you get to make sure that the changes that come with new versions benefit you and your customers.
The best way for you to get involved is to join our mailing lists and forums.. Further, if you, your employees or associates are able to contribute time to the project, you may wish to join some of the OpenOffice.org projects.
Other Relevant Information
Language support: Please note that OpenOffice.org is available in many but not all the languages of the world. Please also note that some languages for which OpenOffice.org has been configured have weak or absent dictionary and thesaurus support. Others, however, have entire communities supporting the project and product in their native language.
Additional Information
You've probably already found the supplementary documentation at OpenOffice.org. See also:


