FAQ OpenOffice.org and NeoOffice

What is NeoOffice?

NeoOffice is a fork of OpenOffice.org for Mac OS X.

Fork Means NeoOffice is another project, and is not OpenOffice.org. This way, NeoOffice project does not contribute to OpenOffice.org, and does not help to fix any OpenOffice.org bug.

Using Java/Cocoa binding, its look is like native integration with the Mac OS X system. This means, for example, native access to all the fonts in Mac OS X a different way than OpenOffice.org does (OpenOffice.org does use all Apple fonts, but not the same way).

NeoOffice uses GPL license and is built on top of OpenOffice.org X11 by using Java/Cocoa bindings for the User Interface (UI).

Said differently, it means uses a license not compatible with OpenOffice.org, so, to avoid legal issues, NeoOffice code cannot be used in OpenOffice.org, and OpenOffice.org developers must entirely rewrite the code for the same features.

More informations in About NeoOffice

What is OpenOffice.org X11 for Mac OS X / Darwin PPC/Intel ?

OpenOffice.org X11 is a version of OpenOffice.org (OOo for short) that uses the UNIX system, that the Mac OS X is based on. So, the OpenOffice.org X11 behaves like a UNIX program within Mac OS X. The program can be used quite productively on Mac OS X system, if you are an experienced Mac OS X user or familiar with UNIX systems (e.g. Linux). If you know what UNIX means, you should be able to work with OpenOffice.org X11 with relatively little effort.

The Mac/X11 version can now be considered deprecated. It can still be build and as far as known still runs, but there will not be much development effort invested in it anytime soon. Please use the native Aqua port instead.

For developers: OpenOffice.org X11 uses LGPL license and is developed within openoffice.org CVS. You will also have to sign a JCA (read the bottom of the page) to contribute to the effort.

More information about OpenOffice.org X11 in OpenOffice.org Mac porting pages

Native OpenOffice.org port status

OpenOffice.org for Mac/Aqua is considered an established port with the 3.0 release. There are a number of known (an probably a greater number of unknown :-) ) issues left, but that is the same for all other established ports. Mac/Aqua is now considered one of the primary platforms.

Mac OS X port Home: [Mac OS X port Home]

Aqua links: [Aqua Version of OpenOffice.org]

Blogs: [Developers blogs]

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Q1: Where can I find OpenOffice.org or NeoOffice?

A: You can download both from respective sites.

Download OpenOffice.org from here (openoffice.org)

Download NeoOffice from here (neooffice.org)

Q2: Why does there seem to be several parallel efforts?

A: This is a very normal situation in open source. And because of historical and personal choices.

This mail from Kevin Hendricks provides some historical details.

If you want to really understand the situation, here's some additional reading for you: History of NeoOffice and OpenOffice.org, Quote from Patrick may explain some of the licensing situation, and finally, you may also want to read another FAQ

Q3: Where do I get support for OpenOffice.org Mac/Aqua ?

A: The support.openoffice.org is the main place for all support related to openoffice.org.

The OpenOffice.org for Mac OSX support page is specifically for Mac OS X users.

Q4: But it would be more efficient, if there would be only one effort...

A: Probably. A proposal to work together has been made, and NeoOffice developers refused.

OpenOffice.org does concern several developers who are working on their free time only. Any change is for OpenOffice.org project, and the name of the developer who wrote the code does not appear in the code after integration : this is community project.

The NeoOffice project is a Patrick Luby and Ed Peterlin project only.

The problem is : there is curently no possibility for OpenOffice.org to use NeoOffice code, even if this code is interesting, because of the licensing issues. So every change must be rewritten for OpenOffice.org project, using another implementation.

A big part of changes are using Java in NeoOffice, and this is as wrote Ed Peterlin, a short term choice. The Java part of NeoOffice is not interesting for OpenOffice.org since OpenOffice.org project wants to use only Cocoa/Carbon.

Q5: OK. I downloaded OpenOffice.org X11. How do I use it?

Please consider using the standard Mac/Aqua port instead. The X11 version is not going to be around indefinitely. However here is some legacy information:

The complete installation, either for PowerPC or Intel machines and even more are described (currently) in .pdf format for the following locales:

• English-US: http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/Howto_OOo_2.0_MacOSX_english.pdf
• German: http://de.openoffice.org/files/documents/66/3209/MacOSX_Install_de_HowTo_OOo2_1.4.pdf
• French: http://fr.openoffice.org/docs/MacOSX_Install_fr_HowTo_OOo2_V1.4.pdf

Further informations are available at: http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/