The Office of Public Works has adopted several open source software solutions including OpenOffice, Mozilla Thunderbird, Firefox, Linux, Apache, PHP, MySQL, and GIMP. OpenOffice is now installed on all PCs to provide PDF creation and compatibility with Microsoft Office 2007 files. Over 800 staff now solely use OpenOffice while around 400 still use Microsoft Office 2003. The OPW was initially motivated by cost savings, standards compliance, and reducing dependence on proprietary software. Deployment involved pilot programs, training, and overcoming resistance from some staff. Lessons learned include the need for senior support, dedicated resources, training, and treating it as a change management project. Future possibilities include consolidating OpenOffice, adopting open source email and collaboration

1. Open Source Software in the OPW
Liam Stewart
Assistant Principal / Network Manager
liam.stewart@opw.ie

2. The Office of Public Works
 Founded in 1831
 9 Business Units
- Property Management
- Property Maintenance
- Project Management
- Heritage Services
- Architectural Services
- Engineering Services
- Facilities Management
- Flood Relief
- National Procurement Service

3. To be covered

Open source developments

Open source software used by OPW

Why OPW has chosen open source

Experiences with deployment of OpenOffice
(inc. Lessons learned)

Future possibilities

4. OPW's IT function - Scale of operation
- 125 sites
- 100+ servers
- 1,200 PCs
- 45 LANs
- Extensive wireless deployments

5. Technologies in use
- Windows XP desktops
- MS-Office 2003/OpenOffice 3.2
- Windows 2003 servers
- Novell Netware 6.5 (servers)
- Unix / Linux (servers)
- Oracle/MySQL/MS-SQL Server
- Citrix (thin client)
- Storage Area Networks (SAN)
- VMware virtualisation
- VoIP

6. We are no longer alone

8. Guardian newspaper moves to OpenOffice

9. Open Source Software in use in OPW

OpenOffice 
WPKG

Mozilla Thunderbird 
Socialtext (Wiki)

Mozilla Firefox 
Clam AV

Linux (SuSe) 
Wireshark

Apache/PHP/MySQL 
Nmap

Scribus (Desktop publishing) 
Prey (stolen devices)

Gimp (alternative to Adobe 
GIS (PostGres,
photoshop) GeoServer, Mapserver,

Trac (Bugtracker) OpenLayers, GeoExt,
Quantum Desktop)

OpenProj (Project
Management)

10. Why Open Source?
 Standards
 Community-driven
 Licensing
 Can reduce the need for public procurement (e.g. Thunderbird, OO)
 Access to source code
 Cost
 Lessen dependence on proprietary software / vendor-lock-in
 Reduce risk of viruses (e.g. Thunderbird mail)
 Can make advanced software available to all users as standard

11. Mozilla Thunderbird (E-mail)

Commenced roll-out in early 2009 on a
staggered basis

Currently in excess of 1,100 users (60 left to
do)

12. Mozilla Firefox

Provided as standard on all PCs to give users
an option

Publicise Firefox “Add-ons” (e.g. WOT,
NoScript etc.)

Some issues with “Microsoft” Web sites

13. WPKG (Software deployment)

15. Scribus (Desktop Publishing)

16. GIMP

17. Novell OES2 (SuSe Linux)

18. PortableApps

Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition (web browser)

Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition (email)

ClamWin Portable (antivirus) Pidgin Portable (instant messaging)

Sumatra PDF Portable (PDF reader

KeePass Password Safe Portable (password manager)

CoolPlayer+ Portable (audio player)

OpenOffice.org Portable* (office suite)

19. Prey (Recover stolen mobile
devices)

20. What is OpenOffice?
Word in Office is Writer
in OpenOffice.
Excel in Office is Calc in
OpenOffice.
Powerpoint in Office is
Impress in OpenOffice.
Paint in Office is Draw in
OpenOffice.
Access in Office is Base
in OpenOffice.

21. OpenOffice – Brief history

Source code originally developed by StarDivision,
(later acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1999)

Sun released code as Open Source in 2000

Stated aim was to compete with Microsoft

OpenOffice released in 2002

Sun retained “StarOffice” as commercial product

Oracle acquires OpenOffice along with Sun in 2010

Spin-offs include Go-OO and LibreOffice

22. Standards war (ODF v OpenXML)
• ODF implemented in • OpenXML
OpenOffice, Lotus implemented in MS-
Notes etc. Office 2007
• ODF supported by • OpenXML is
IBM, OASIS etc. supported by Microsoft
• ODF is an ISO • OpenXML is an ISO
standard standard
• File types include • File types include
ODT, ODS, ODP DOCX, XLSX, PPTX

23. OpenOffice 3.2.1 - features

Similar in look and feel to MS-Office 2003

Runs on all major platforms
 PDF creator (and editor!)

Batch conversion utilities

Support for MS-Office 2007 file types (e.g. Docx)

Portable version

As Gaeilge

Can recover damaged MS-Office files

Central management

Open Office needs only 450MB of hard disk space over
Microsoft Office 2010 (3GB)

24. OpenOffice 3.3 (Beta) - features

Usability enhancements

Calc will support 1M rows (currently 65K rows)

Increased document protection features

25. Benefits of OpenOffice

Eliminates the headache of licence
management

Open standards

Community resource for support

Free software upgrades

Cost savings

26. OpenOffice - OPW's approach to deployment
 Trialled in IT Unit (2004/5)

Dedicated resource / support

Piloted in selected areas (2005)

Approval from MAC to deploy (2006)

Extensive communications to staff
 Training programme (voluntary)

External assistance in initial stages

Demos to Business Units - Publicised benefits
 Intranet site

Hand-holding

27. Approach to deployment (Contd.)

Competitions

Free CDs etc. for home use

Regular communications

Retain MS-Office file types

Eventual removal of MS-Office from PCs

New PCs only have OO unless there are
mitigating circumstances

29. Obstacles & problems along the way

Resitance from some staff (e.g.Professionals)

Engineers refused to use anything but Excel

Legacy Microsoft formatting (e.g. Templates)

Unusual legacy fonts

Macros (Visual Basic)

Staff declining training courses

Copy & Paste

Printer driver issues

Passwords in Excel

30. OpenOffice – Perceptions that need to
be overcome

Its free so it can't be any good!

We're an enterprise so we need a big “brand”
behind us

My job is so important, I have to have MS-
Office!

We won't get support!

31. Lessons learned
 Senior management support is critical
 Dedicated resources are required at the early stages
 Training is important (and ideally, compulsory)
 Stick with MS-Office file types
 Communications strategy
 Pilot first!
 Remove MS-Office from PC after a period
 New PC builds should have OpenOffice installed (with MS
files as the default)

32. Lessons learned (contd.)

Treat as change management project

Freebies are (always welcome!

Be flexible (e.g. Excel may do a particular job
better)

33. OpenOffice in OPW – Current Status
• Installed on all PCs (to provide PDF creation
and MS-Office 2007 file support)
• 800 staff using solely OpenOffice
• 400 staff still using MS-Office 2003

34. Legacy Microsoft file types
• DOC, XLS & PPT are proprietary binary file
formats! (OpenOffice has reverse-engineered
legacy file types)
• Standards for Microsoft legacy files not
published
• Archiving documents – what happens 20 years
hence?

35. Powerpoint supports back 3 versions (2000, 2002, &
2003).
Powerpoint 95 is 4 versions back!

36. How not to go about an OpenOffice
project......

38. Linux on the desktop?
French Gendarmerie currently replacing Windows XP with
Ubuntu (85,000 users across 4,500 police stations). Aim to
complete by 2015.

39. OpenOffice variants

40. Ribbon interface - How much
training will your users need?

41. Re-learning how to use Microsoft Office?
http://www.exceluser.com/explore/surveys/ribbon/ribbon-survey-
results.htm

42. MS-Office 2007 fonts
• Calibri & Cambria introduced in 2007
• Problems printing in earlier versions of MS-
Office (i.e. files created in MS-Office 2007 but
saved as legacy file types)
• OpenOffice substitutes an alternative font

43. MS-Office 2010 v OpenOffice 3.2
Head-to-head
http://www.itpro.co.uk/620845/head-to-head-office-
2010-vs-open-office-3-1/7
http://www.production-
engineer.com/blog/index.php?
post/2010/02/20/OpenOffice.org-vs.-
Microsoft-Office
A Tie!

44. Compatibility issues when opening
MS-Office files in OO
 Microsoft proprietary formatting
 VB Macros (Try Go-OO)
But......Incompatibilities are not unique to OO!
What about Microsoft formats, AutoCad etc.?

45. Useful resources
 Bristol City Council – Building a business case for OpenOffice.org
http://www.opensourceacademy.org.uk/osacademy/our_partners/bris
tol-city-council/business-case-guidance/building-a-business-case-
for-staroffice-or-openoffice.org
 Large-scale migration to an open source office suite: An innovation
adoption study in Finland
http://acta.uta.fi/pdf/978-951-44-8216-8.pdf
• Towards the freedom of the operating system – The French
Gendarmerie goes for Ubuntu
http://www.osor.eu/studies/docs/IDABC.OSOR.casestudy.Gend
armerie.10.pdf

46. On-line resource
http://openoffice.blogs.com/

47. Are there risks in deploying
OpenOffice?
• What are Oracle's plans for OpenOffice?
• Software Improvement Group - Risks in the adoption of
OpenOffice.org by Government Institutions
http://www.sig.eu/blobs/Publicaties/Publicaties
%202010/2010%20OpenOffice.pdf

48. Should we be concerned about
Microsoft in years to come?
Of the original Fortune 500 list of companies
published in 1955, only 11 are still on the
list!

49. Where to next for OPW in terms of
open source?
- Consolidate and extend Open Office
- Open Source e-mail server (Zimbra?)
- Ubuntu on the desktop?
- Open Source GIS
- Open Source collaboration tool (“Teamwork” -
http://www.twproject.com)?
- Wordpress as an alternative to traditional Web site
development and CMS

50. Thanks
Contact details: liam.stewart@opw.ie