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back to article Apache OpenOffice security fixes emerge

Details have emerged about the security fixes that came bundled with Apache OpenOffice 3.4.0, the latest version of the open-source productivity suite. Apache OpenOffice 3.4.0, released last week, included fixes for three security vulnerabilities, all rated as "important". The trio included an integer overflow error involving …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Which one?

    So can someone let me know which new version of Office I should be using...

    The Apache version or the LibreOffice version?

    Personally I don't care about the politics of it all - but I would like to know that I am not working with the betamax version of the software.

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Which one?

      Because of the different licenses that two versions use, you can expect any must-have OpenOffice feature to be incorporated into LibreOffice, but not vice-versa.

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    2. Anonymous Coward
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      Headmaster

      Re: Which one?

      ...or, for mac users, NeoOffice.

      Probably the most obnoxious option as regards the parent company's ethos but, unfortunately the only version worth using on OSX as, for now, it's the only one which supports native OSX goodies such as QuickLook, versions and fullscreen mode.

      It also has a microscopically less fugly native[-ish] GUI than either OpenOffice or LibreOffice... but that is a *very* relative statement.

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    3. Ilgaz
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      Both?

      They both have advantages. No matter what happens, there can't be a "betamax" situation since both use same, truly documented and open file format. It isn't like Ms word vs wordperfect.

      In fact, I would also have abiword installed, for quick edits. (same as above)

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    4. Captain Scarlet
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      Re: Which one?

      Whichever one you want

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    5. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      @AC 19:02GMT - Re: Which one?

      Easy answer for you!. As an end-user, there is no big difference between the two so you can freely pick any one you want.

      Now if you are a paid corporate developer/manager looking for some code to pilfer freely without being forced to contribute back to the community, then OpenOffice is the way to go. You don't care about politics but IBM and Oracle surely do.

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  2. Anonymous C0ward

    "downloads of the software had crossed the one million milestone"

    And most of those are from people who haven't heard about the LibreOffice split, I'll bet. Is there any reason other than butthurt why Oracle didn't give OpenOffice to TDF?

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    1. CABVolunteer
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      Re: "why Oracle didn't give OpenOffice to TDF?"

      It boils down to licencing: - Apache versus GPL. Rob Weir of IBM shed just a little more light a few days ago on why IBM is supporting OOo under Apache rather than LibreOffice here: http://lwn.net/Articles/497392/#Comments

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    2. Ilgaz
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      IBM / Apache

      IBM and Apache have a very high prestige in corporate World. It isn't like those 1m didn't have a clue.

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  3. Aqua Marina

    Ok so have they fixed...

    ... the bug that stops the column from adding up correctly if it has a hidden row in it?????

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    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Ok so have they fixed...

      Well, I think the latest LibreOffice has a fix for that so my guess would be it's made its way to OpenOffice.

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  4. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    As said elsewhere

    The OpenOffice developers have, in their majority, left the OpenOffice project and created LibreOffice.

    So if you really want an open Office application, you want LibreOffice.

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    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Re: As said elsewhere

      People with @Novell.com mail addresses... They are the good guys here eh?

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  5. david 12 Silver badge

    A bit technical, but ---

    Have the fixed the feature that using the Office Script Language to reference a broken DLL corrupts the stack?

    It took me a while to figure out why a numerical calculation DLL crashed OO every time, when the same DLL worked in Excel with no problems.

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    1. Tom 7
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      Re: A bit technical, but ---

      If the DLL is corrupting the stack is Excel just ignoring that fact and providing rubbish results somewhere?

      I think I'd prefer the thing to crash - at least you know there’s a problem there. Or maybe you do financial forecasts for the treasury?

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      1. david 12 Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: A bit technical, but ---

        >>is Excel just ignoring that fact

        No.

        Excel (and Office), always check and correct the stack after any call to an external add-in. This allows me to find and correct errors that are hidden by OO crashing. Which is why I was testing in Excel.

        And yes, I was doing financial forecasts for a treasury.

        I should clarify that you could crash OO by calling any DLL incorrectly, even though the DLL itself was solid.

        Spreadsheets always provide rubbish results somewhere: it is caused by user errors.

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        1. Tom 7
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          Re: A bit technical, but ---

          Cheers - I wasn't aware Excel let you know there was a problem - haven't used it for years now - or Calc or other come to that - like me belt, braces, velcro and superglue too much.

          Surprised OO doesn't have a dll wrapper too though!

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apache just drop it; LibreOffice replaced it due to Oracles' greed/stupidity.

    People must be dumb to download 'OpenOffice' past the split.

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