OpenOffice.org vs Firefox

The idea for this article came when I heard about OpenOffice extension mechanism and I start looking for extensions. I got almost nothing in my searches and I tried to explain to myself why there are so few extensions for OpenOffice. On the other hand you can find numerous Firefox extensions. Below are the facts and possible some conclusions.

I choose to compare OpenOffice with Firefox because these 2 projects are the most successful open source endeavors which are available in some form on all major operating systems. I use both programs. I like both programs and I really want OpenOffice to succeed.

I really like at OpenOffice the features that the software is offering, the XML standardized file format, the fact that is free and open source but I do not like the fact that it takes 20 seconds to start even on a reasonable new computer after i did the speed optimization tricks. Also I do not like the fact that OpenOffice uses so much memory without a clear reason. I know the fact that OpenOffice is monolithic and loads everything and anything when it starts but honestly as a user I don’t care.

I really like at Firefox the features (the lack of features) that the software is offering and the fact that I am able to extend the browser to do whatever I need it to do. I do not like the fact that it uses too much memory and I needed to change some settings in about:config to make Firefox behave. Again I know that almost everybody agrees that the memory consumption is due to a feature and not a bug, but I think this is still debatable.

First thing I looked for was the number of downloads for OpenOffice. You should try this search also. The best I was able to come up was this link You need to download the most recent spreadsheet which is from sometime in February this year and on the row 387 of the sheet you will find the number of downloads which is around 82.000.000 . Another link that I found was this one . Sadly on this page I wasn’t able to find the total number of downloads.

Then I looked for the number of downloads for Firefox. If you go here you will find on the top right the counter with the number of downloads up to date with the option to share the counter on your site.

For the sake of the argument let’s say that now there are around 90.000.000 copies of OpenOffice and 360.000.000 copies of Firefox in the wild.

Then I looked for the list of extensions for OpenOffice. I found it here There are around 20 extensions there, but nothing really useful. Most of the extensions are in early stages of development. On the other hand if you go here you will see that at the time of this writing there are more than 2200 extensions available for Firefox, from which you will find at least 10-20 extensions that are very useful for your particular needs. Myself I have installed 14 extensions.

Another thing I tried to found was the road map for Firefox and OpenOffice. I found the road map for OpenOffice here . It seems to be up to date and also it seems to be that the organization behind OpenOffice live by the road map. I wasn’t able to find an up to date road map for Firefox.

IMHO I think that if you want to develop an extension for OpenOffice or for Firefox the degree of difficulty would be the same. Maybe I am wrong I am not a programmer, but I know that both software are using an XML based mechanism to allow and develop extensions

So, why there are so few extensions for OpenOffice? Honestly I do not have a clear answer but some conclusions are clear:

• Is clear that the guys behind Firefox are able to “sell” there product much better than the guys behind OpenOffice. Just look at the websites and the links that I provided.
• I wasn’t able to find out the revenue model for OpenOffice if there is any, but I think the lack of income is a major hurdle towards a better marketing solution for them. I know Novell, Sun, Google are helping the project, but I think all these companies have their “selfish” reasons which are not all the time on the same page. On the other hand Firefox has a clear revenue model and they are making money and this is seen in their marketing capabilities.
• The fact that Firefox was adopted initially by geeks which used the browser helped a lot in creating the first extensions. Even if the same geeks downloaded OpenOffice, you should try to answer the question: How much time do you have Firefox open on your computer and how much time do you have OpenOffice open?

I think that now OpenOffice is in a similar position with Netscape in their last days. I think is time for OpenOffice to freeze or even better reduce the number of features, and start developing the software using the Mozilla Firefox approach. Minimum features in the core product and then the options to add extensions.

Let me know what you think…