Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

Hi all,

I stumbed upon the Zonbu website http://www.zonbu.com/ and in their promotional video http://www.zonbu.com/software/demo.htm "Monica" talks about the "Zonbu Office Suite" which is clearly OpenOffice - even though the name OpenOffice is never mentioned. The Zonbu Office Suite is also mentioned in their FAQ.

What are the legalities of "rebranding" OpenOffice in this way? Zonbu's target market is clearly aimed at new and non tech-savvy users wanting a hassle-free computing experience.. just the kind of people who wouldn't recognise OOo from their elbows. Personally, it galls me not to see credit being given to all the hard-working folk on the OOo team.

Anyone in the know that can put my mind at ease, and tell me that what Zonbu are doing is okay?

Hello,

OpenOffice.org is cited on this page : http://www.zonbu.com/software/apps2.htm

Jumbo444

Thanks Jumbo444. Ironically, when I was surfing the Zonbu site that was the only page that didn't load (it was simply blank when I clicked on the link). However, is it still okay that Zonbu refer to OOo as the Zonbu Office Suite everywhere else except on the page you mention where they refer to it IMO correctly as Zonbu's OpenOffice.org?

That's what the "free" in Free Software means: there are no restrictions on what you (or Zonbu) do with it.

If they have modified OOo, and distribute the modified applications, then they would be required to provide the source code for their modifications. But in this case--and here's where the traditional free software idea gets subverted--it's debatable whether web applications are actually being distributed.

I had a look and I must admit that the main thrust of Zonbu is their Laptop for $279 and mini-desktop for $99. On most of the pages they do seem to make quite clear that the entire S/W stack is Open Source and thrown in "free". They do explicitly reference OOo, so I don't think that that they've really crossed a moral line or a legal one.

The way that the H/W boys + nano technology are going we'll having the Linux/OOo handkerchief next!