A: Look here, darling, I've got something to tell you right now, and it is of highest priority.

B: You make me curious. Continue.

A: I've found some reasons to feel some affection towards you.

B: Can you be more precise in this statement, please?

A: I've found four reasons to feel an affection towards you increased up to 100 percent.

B: Go ahead ...

A: These are the reasons, in order from top to bottom:

1. You look so beautiful.
2. You give me reason to live.
3. I get excited when I think of you.
4. We can exchange more than words.

B: This is a numbered list, shouldn't it be a bullet list?

A: You're right as always, darling. I love the way you edit my words right out of my mouth.

B: Thank you for saying that. Al least you got the punctuation right. But you could have read the Sun Editorial Style Guide, Chapter 3, and follow that advice.

A: You're welcome, darling - better I wake up now.

This can happen to a tech writer when mixing up the following:

• reviewing a newly written Sun book all day long
• reading High Fidelity by Nick Hornby late at night
• trying to live a personal life, as much as possible, if possible at all

Now you see them, now you don't - I'm writing about those toolbars, as we call them, that keep popping up whenever you don't need them. While later, once you managed to get rid of them, you could need the one or the other toolbar, but where is it now?

OpenOffice.org by default tries to show the toolbars that you might need, according to the current context. When you use the down arrow key to scroll down a Writer text, different toolbars can appear.

• With the cursor in a table, you see the Table toolbar.

• Position the cursor inside a numbered list, and you see the Bullets and Numbering toolbar.

• A list inside a Writer table cell even shows both of the above.

• Scrolling across an image, another toolbar asks for your attention. And so on.
  

Now, if you don't want such a toolbar you can close it with the small icon on top of that toolbar. Scroll further down and back, and there it is again. This can get annoying.

But keep in mind that toolbars are there to help you with editing, formatting, inserting new objects, and so on.

These kind and helpful companions can be scared away in two different ways:

• Click the Close icon on a toolbar to close the bar temporarily. It will reappear as soon as possible.

• Choose “View - Toolbars - (name of the toolbar)” to close it forever.

A permanently closed toolbar will never again come back. Except when you summon it up by “View - Toolbars - (name of the toolbar)”.

By the way, it's easy to lose track of what all those icons do. Here are another two companions, one temporarily and one permanently: You can enable an extended help text for every icon.

• Press Shift+F1 and point the mouse to an icon. You see the extended help text. This mode is valid until you click anywhere or press Esc.

• Choose "Tools - Options - OpenOffice.org - General" and enable the extended help tips permanently.

Windows users can mark the second Tuesday each month to be the “patch day” (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patch_Tuesday). With clocklike regularity some severe and critical security holes get fixed. In the accompanying advisories you can read that before these patches were applied, any evil minded person had been able to take control of your computer.

It is a good thing to patch these security holes, but wait: when new security holes get fixed every month, will there be an end to those chain of holes some day? Is your computer secure following any patch day? Following the ten thousandth patch day?

The answer: your computer will never be secure. There will always be security holes that until now almost no one knows - except for some evil minded people somewhere else on this planet, may be.

The bad news about this is that, although most of computer viruses and trojans and other malware are aimed at Windows computers, other systems are vulnerable, too.

Just enter “security patch quicktime” to any Internet search page, or enter “security patch Oracle”, or even “security patch Sun”. You will find that no one is safe.

The good news is that you can take action to secure your computer. The extent of security will never be “100 percent secure”. But you can make your computer more secure than it is without any protection.

It's a little bit like life, where there are real viruses and other threats to your health. Use common sense, but in the best sense. Get good security advice and protection where it is necessary. Avoid unnecessary risks. Live with the fact that total security is not possible, and don't let yourself be scared too much. No risk, no fun. No unnecessary risk, no unnecessary pain.

Visit a page like http://onguardonline.gov/stopthinkclick.html and study the security rules.

By the way, you create backup copies of your documents and store them at a secured place? What if a hurricane or fire destroys your computer and the shelf with all your backup CDs?

Wouldn't it be a nice idea to have copies of your important documents on a secured and trusted web server? With your documents stored on a web server, you can access them from any place in the world, wherever there is a public Internet access point. You trust your bank to store your money, so you - and only you - can use any ATM or cash machine worldwide to retrieve your money. Would you trust a company to store your documents in the same secure way?

Just in case you missed it, the new OpenOffice.org Community forum opened it's virtual doors recently. This announcement was sent out on the ooo-announce mailing list:

The OpenOffice.org Community announces the opening of the OpenOffice.org Community Forum http://user.services.openoffice.org. This new Forum goes beyond being simply a knowledge base of questions and answers and is rather a place for OpenOffice.org users to interact freely with each other.

The Forum has been established by a team of enthusiasts who bring a wealth of expertise gained in providing OpenOffice.org forum-based support. Initially launched in English, the new platform has the capability to support multiple languages in future. Your native-language community can tell you what support is available in your language http://projects.openoffice.org/native-lang.html

This free resource powerfully complements the other user services and support OpenOffice.org offers to individuals, companies, and governments, including those listed on the Support Page, http://support.openoffice.org.

The Community Forum organizers would like to express their gratitude to all those who've made this possible, including:

• The OpenOffice.org Documentation Project http://documentation.openoffice.org/
• The Sun community support group
• The Sun network support staff in Hamburg, Germany
• All their colleagues who have spent an incredible amount of their personal time in setting up this new site

The Forum is available now for all to use and is ready for your participation. Whether you have questions to ask or answers to provide, you are very welcome.

The OpenOffice.org Community

Sometimes you want to perform a clean reinstallation of OpenOffice.org. No previous settings should be imported from the previous installation. This is not complicated, but it requires one important manual step. First let me explain where the OOo folders are to be found.

The folders

OpenOffice.org occupies two folders with some subfolders on your computer. If you have downloaded a single big OOo file, a third folder is involved.

The download version

If you have downloaded your version, you most possibly have a very big download file in your browser's download directory, and a folder with a name like "OpenOffice.org installation files".

The very big download file has an .exe extension on Windows. It is a self-extracting archive file. You double-click it, and a dialog asks you for the folder where to store the installation files. Later the very big file can be used to archive this version on a backup medium, or you can delete the file.

The "OpenOffice.org installation files" folder should not be deleted, because it contains vital information on the files that get installed. You cannot perform a clean uninstallation of OpenOffice.org if you delete the "OpenOffice.org installation files" folder. --- NOTE: the developer in charge of this mechanism assured me that you can safely delete this whole folder. This is in conflict with my own experience, however. Make your own choice. ---

The setup program

After the self-extracting big archive file has created the "OpenOffice.org installation files" folder it automatically calls the setup program from inside that folder. If you have found OOo on a CD, the setup program is there inside an installation folder.

This setup program displays some dialogs where you can choose the folder and modules to install. To change the default settings, you must select the custom installation.

After setup, you can find the shared files (formerly known as the "network installation" files)

• on Windows systems in a folder that has a name like C:\Program Files\OpenOffice.org

• on Linux systems that folder may be located in /opt/openoffice.org

(normally, the version number of OpenOffice.org is a part of that folder names)

All users that want to run OOo should have "read and execute" permissions for these files, but only the administrator should have "write" permissions.

The setup program also installs a desktop integration, either for you or for all users on the machine. This essentially means there are some links in your Start menu that call the programs from the "network installation/programs" folder.

Now, when you or any user starts an executable program file of OOo the first time, the Welcome dialog is displayed. Accept the license and continue through the dialog pages. At the end of this stage, the "profile" folder from the shared "network installation" folder will be automatically copied to your home folder and renamed to "user".

• On Linux systems, you now have a hidden folder like ~/.openoffice.org/user

• On Windows XP systems, this is the folder C:\Documents und Settings\your_name\Application data\OpenOffice.org\user

• On Windows Vista systems, this is the folder C:\Users\your_name\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice.org\user

(add the version number to the OpenOffice.org folder name)

You may need to enable viewing hidden and system files to be able to see this folder.

Clean removal of all config files

So, after this long explanation, you know some facts about the file structure of OOo on your system. Now I can tell you the trick and give you a tip - this is the OOo Tips and Tricks blog, isn't it?

The trick is this: when an administrator with write permissions to the "network installation" files starts a deinstallation, this only removes the "network installation" files. All the "user" folders of all users are still there. These folders contain the customized configuration that the users have set up, among other files like custom wordbooks, custom autotexts, and much more.

This means if there might be some problem with the user configuration, that uninstalling and reinstalling will not help at all. The user configuration gets not changed by a reinstallation. At least this is true for small upgrades from one developer snapshot to the next. There may be some changes when you install a new release version to the same network folder as the old version. But normally this would not happen, because release versions have different folder names for the "network installation" folder.

So here is the tip: the right way to perform a clean reinstallation, deleting all existing user settings from previous versions, is as follows:

1. First, as an administrator, uninstall the "network installation" files.

2. Then delete the "user" folder from the user's home directory, as stated above. If you do not want a clean reinstallation, do not touch this user folder.

3. Then remove the "OpenOffice.org installation files" folder if it exists.

4. Now the admin can perform an installation of the new "network installation" folder, and every user can start OOo again to automatically copy the "profile" folder to the "user" folder.

After a clean install, every user must set all the personal settings again. Documents that have been saved to other folders are still there, of course.

Today the Professional Template Pack for OpenOffice.org was released by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

These are all the templates that until now you could only buy together with StarOffice 8. For all of you OOo users out there, these templates are free now, free as in freeware. So don't hesitate to visit the extensions web site and download the template pack. Installation is as easy as double-clicking the *.oxt file that you download.

Currently the templates are in English only, but we will release several additional language versions with localized content soon.

And while you are at extensions.services.openoffice.org please have a look at all the other extensions. New extensions are published so frequently that you will want to bookmark this web site on your personal toolbar.

I've got to admit it's getting better
a little better all the time

The OooCon2007 is done and over now. Looking back on the week in Barcelona, I have to say that it was a pretty amazing time. Barcelona is an amazing city, and the University where the conference was hosted is absolutely stunning.

We arrived in Barcelona around noon on Tuesday. The first discussions got underway later in the afternoon, starting with the Native Language Confederation meeting. This was a lively discussion that covered a lot of the topics near and dear to the hearts of the people involved with translations. The first day ended with the NLC party that was held in the University entry hall.

Day 1 started with a lively Keynote address from Louis Suárez-Potts and focused on where OpenOffice.org is heading with version 3.0. After the opening comments, breakfast was served outside. It was a great chance to meet people and associate faces with the names we see in the mailing lists and projects.

The next presentation was given by Hu Cai Yong from RedFlag Chinese 2000. It was really interesting to listen to. The presentation itself was given in Chinese with a running English translation. The focus was on how software developed by Western countries does not serve the cultural needs and differences for Asia.

From there, the group split into the various parallel sessions.

A few sessions I attended that I found quite interesting:

• Across the Great Wall – a story about Peter Junge, how he came to live in China and what he does for RedFlag.

• Integrating OpenOffice.org with Web Content Management Systems – a presentation about eZ publish, and open source CMS.

• The price is high! Is it too high? - an interesting discussion about the OpenOffice.org API.

Day 2 started out with the Community Council Question and Answer session. This drew a lot of attention, and a lot of really good questions were asked. There was definitely not enough time scheduled for this session. From there, everyone again split into the various smaller meetings.

A couple sessions that I found interesting:

• OpenOffice.org & Alfresco – the integration of OpenOffice.org and Alfresco. Especially nice was the new Alfresco menu extension for OpenOffice.org that allows you to use OpenOffice.org to access your documents in the Alfresco CMS.

• Why are you doing this to me?!? - a very interesting presentation from Maurizio Berti covering various migration issues he has encountered when migrating companies to OpenOffice.org, and the innovative solutions they came up with.

Day 3 was another very busy day, and they got started around 8:00. One session that stuck in my mind was Office OpenXML: a technical approach for OOo given by Hubert Figuiere. This presentation looked at the technical details of how OOXML support can and is being supported in OpenOffice.org. It's not an easy task.

The Doc.next - The Future of the Documentation Project session was well attended. We covered the current state of the OpenOffice.org documentation, and then looked to the future... what we can do to keep the momentum going and fix some of the problems we have with the existing documentation. A lot of new ideas are being tried out such as moving the documentation to the OpenOffice.org Wiki. You can see an example of that with the Administration Guide. 

The conference concluded with a roundtable chaired by Louis where various key OpenOffice.org community members and representatives from Sun, Novell, Google, RedFlag, IBM, and so on had a chance to answer some pointed questions about their views on topics around OpenOffice.org. It was a nice conclusion to the conference.

Was it all worth attending? Definitely. The information presented in the various info sessions was really valuable. What really stood out though was the time between the info sessions where people mingled in various parts of the University just talking about their own projects and ways they work with OpenOffice.org. It was a chance for people from unrelated projects to meet up, find out what each is working, and form new contacts... and even offer new ideas and suggestions. I am sure that more than 2 or 3 people discovered that they were working on the same ideas from different angles.

If you were not able to attend this year, you can catch up a little on what went on by watching the videos but.... it's not as good as actually being there.  I hope to be there next year, and to meet up with even more community members.

Q: Are my text files, spreadsheets, and presentations secure when I use OpenOffice.org?

A: Yes. OpenOffice.org is one of the software suites that use an open, international standard for saving files. The standard is called ODF ( Open Document Format). Being an international standard, you can be sure that you will be able to open the files you save today even in many many years from now.

Some other file formats that are still in use today do not offer you this standard conformity. Data that you save in those other formats may be no longer accessible to you when you decide to not pay for the latest software updates, or when you want to use another computer platform.

Q: Can I password-protect my files so no one can look what's inside?

A: Yes. Check the Save with Password box on the File Save dialog, then enter a password with at least five characters. Be very sure to remember that password when you later try to open the file again! OpenOffice.org uses a strong data encryption. In theory, it may be possible to break the password using brute-force methods, that means, to try and try and try with all possible passwords until the file opens. But with the strong OOo encryption, even the fastest computers will need many years to succeed.

Some other office suites also use passwords to secure the contents, but their encryption algorithm is supposed to be much less secure that the one used in OpenOffice.org.

Q: How can the encryption be secure when the program code is made public?

A: Modern computer software uses modern cryptographic methods that are published as common knowledge. The file contents are encrypted using the supplied password, and the file can only be decrypted using the same password. With open source software like OpenOffice.org, every programmer can verify that there is no more magic than this.

With some other software that is proprietary, when even trying to decompile the software to have a look what is inside is prohibited by legal or technical means, you cannot be so sure that your data is really safe from spying eyes.

Q: But I found out how to view a password protected spreadsheet without using the password, and it was easy.

A: The cell protection of a spreadsheet is only a tool to prevent the contents from occasional changes. Have a look at the OpenOffice.org application help: Open a Calc spreadsheet, press F1, look for the index entry "protected contents". There you find an explanation about the different security levels and various methods to protect contents in OOo.

If you want to really protect your spreadsheet, use the Save with Password check box on the File Save dialog. Of course, this strong protection only works when you save in ODF file formats.

Q: Must I be afraid of macros inside the documents that I receive?

A: Use common sense and there is nothing to be worried about.

OpenOffice.org (if built by Sun Microsystems and downloaded from OpenOffice.org) will not execute any macro that may be waiting inside a Word or Excel file. You are safe to open the file. If you want you can look into the macros inside the file, if you want you can delete them, and you can save the file with or without the macros. It's your choice.

OpenOffice.org will not execute any macro that is inside its own ODF file format by default. Except macros from trusted sources. You can define which sources you trust. Open Tools - OpenOffice.org - Security, then click on Macro Security (see image).

With OpenOffice.org, security is right at your hands.

Easter Eggs are always fun to discover, and almost all software seems to have something hidden away. OpenOffice.org has a few Easter Eggs tucked away waiting for you to find them, one in Calc and one in Writer.

Open a new Writer document. Type:
     StarWriterTeam
and press F3. You will see a few of the guys from the original development team.

Open a new Calc spreadsheet. Pick any cell and type:
     =GAME("StarWars")
Use the mouse to control your player and click to fire.

A Free and Open World

Today I read a question in an OOo mailing list. It was about this:

"OpenOffice.org is free. Do you use advertising like most free things that causes tons of popup ads?"

And the answer of course is that there is no advertising and no annoying popup ads. You don't need to submit your mail address to some unknown people who promise to use it wisely, and you will not get a customized home page anywhere that tracks your Web habits.

How comes?

Is it possible that there exists a total different parallel world, free from adverts that try to sell something to you? A world without any monetary greed, and without commercial exploitation?

Yes, such a world exists. And you can be a part of it.

Here are some links taken randomly from my bookmark list (and I'm quite sure that the world of humanity is much bigger than the hyperlinked part of the Web):

• Software: http://www.sourceforge.net - find more than 140.000 projects that are offered for free and that invite you to participate and share

• Information: http://www.wikipedia.org - find what other people know about our world that they want to share, and contribute your own findings in an organized way

• Creativity: http://creativecommons.org/ - find musicians, movie makers, book authors, who care more for distributing their art than for getting rich fast, and give them a hug by paying them with your attention (or more)

• Responsibility: http://www.rightlivelihood.org/recip.htm - ask any one of the laureates how you can help, or just read what they achieved and discuss this with your friends

• Working, money, health, religion: well, on some topics the common "truths" about what is the right way of living and what is wrong are really strong. Just giving any one link may lead to big trouble with some people. Instead of giving a link, I'll ask you to watch the movies Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi.

So what has this to do with OpenOffice.org? It is a place where your contribution does matter. You can help to improve the project. Thousands already do this, every day, right now, all over the world.

Very small steps to global world peace, but might be important first steps in your life. There is a world where popup ads are not important at all. A world where your work really matters. Open Source is one part of that great world.