OpenOffice.org leaves Oracle, becomes LibreOffice

After months of Oracle since it acquired SUN Microsystems, OpenOffice.org, the open-source office software suite that for years has been trying to position itself as a free alternative to the Microsoft Office behemoth, is evolving. A major restructuring of the OpenOffice.org project announced today has separated OpenOffice.org from database developer Oracle, which inherited it when it acquired Sun Microsystems earlier this year.

This removes control of the suite from any one company. As if to highlight the change and signal the start of a new era, the OpenOffice.org project is now officially known as The Document Foundation. Because the OpenOffice.org trademark is owned by Oracle, the software suite itself has been given the temporary name of LibreOffice—"free office." (According to reports, Oracle has been asked to join the Foundation and donate the OpenOffice.org brand to the cause.)

A statement on The Document Foundation's Web site lays out the Foundation's goals:

Our mission is to facilitate the evolution of the OpenOffice.org Community into a new open, independent, and meritocratic organizational structure within the next few months. An independent Foundation is a better match to the values of our contributors, users, and supporters, and will enable a more effective, efficient, transparent, and inclusive Community. We will protect past investments by building on the solid achievements of our first decade, encourage wide participation in the Community, and co-ordinate activity across the Community.

The current version of LibreOffice, LibreOffice 3.3 Beta (picking up at exactly the version number where OpenOffice.org left off) can be downloaded from The Document Foundation's Web site.

So it is a turning point of OpenOffice for better of course.