OpenOffice: Go Open Core

Oracle’s acquisition of Sun is still grinding along, but while the gears are still turning I’d like to throw in a request: Make OpenOffice an open-core product. Keep the main program free, but charge for the useful bonuses.

As useful as OpenOffice is — and I use it pretty consistently as a replacement for many parts of Microsoft Office 2007 — there are still things about it I find terribly lacking. It’s missing functionality that I need and that I can’t even buy to add to the product. (The ability to buy additional functionality is a feature, and an underrated one…)