OpenOffice.org and Thunderbird; Art Contest with Prizes
OpenOffice to include Thunderbird and Sunbird?
On his blog, Charles H. Schulz writes about what is planned next for OOo development, including OpenOffice.org inclusion of Thunderbird as its default mail client and Sunbird as its default calendar application.
It makes sense to have some semi-official mail and calendar application, since that is frequently requested by potential users. But why not just package them up together for an easy download, while keeping separate downloads available for those who’d prefer that option? (Maybe this is the plan; it’s not detailed too thoroughly anywhere yet.)
I would also consider Chandler as an option for bundling. Though it is a year or more away from final release of a version 1.0, it has some very clever ideas that will simplify a lot of user workflows.
There are hints at other interesting news tidbits in Schulz’ post, such as the plan for OpenOffice.org 3.0, and the improvements to be made in OOo’s extensions development capabilities to come in 2.0.4.
Template and clip art contest with prizes!
The OpenOffice.org Documentation Project is running a contest for templates and clip art to be included in the default OOo installation:
“Here then is the challenge: Create and submit templates and clipart as part of the competition and be eligible for a share of the cash and other awards totaling over USD $5000. (You are always welcome to send in works outside the contest as well.) Winners will be given the opportunity of including their templates in the OpenOffice.org installation sets.”