update IBM has joined the OpenOffice.org project and pledged to further use the open-source software in its own products.
The company will contribute code from the development of its Lotus Notes software, and it will in turn make use of the OpenOffice.org application suite in its own products.
OpenOffice is an open source alternative to Microsoft's Office desktop applications suite, and features applications including a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program and database, among others.
IBM will not be offering support for the product to customers. However, it will make technical contributions to the project and use code from the project in its own tools.
Specifically, IBM said that it will have 35 programmers working on the OpenOffice code and it will contribute software to improve the product for people with disabilities--an important feature, particularly to government customers such as Massachusetts, United States.
The move is meant to make OpenOffice a more viable alternative to Microsoft's Office and create more products that support the OpenDocument Format (ODF)--a standard document format which competes with Microsoft's Open XML. ODF is the native file format for OpenOffice.
John McCreesh, marketing project lead for OpenOffice.org, said IBM's participation was "great news".
"We welcome IBM's contributions to further enhancing the OpenOffice.org product. But equally important is IBM's future commitment to package and distribute new works that leverage OpenOffice.org technology supporting the ISO-certified OpenDocument Format [ODF] standard," McCreesh said. "ODF is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the IT industry to unify round a standard and deliver lasting benefit to all users of desktop technology."
IBM already supports the OpenDocument formats in its Lotus-branded document editor, spreadsheet, and presentation applications. Engineers created those programs, which are delivered via a Web server rather than locally installed, by forking the OpenOffice code.
According to IBM, joining OpenOffice.org would be a major step in furthering the cause of the ODF, which is currently competing against Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) standard.
Mike Rhodin, general manager of IBM's Lotus division, said: "We believe that this relationship will improve our ability to deliver innovative value to users of IBM products and services. We also believe that the collaboration will lead to an even broader range of ODF-supporting applications...and solutions that draw from the OpenOffice.org technology."
David Meyer of ZDNet UK contributed to this article.
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