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Go-oo

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Go-oo
Company typeFree and open-source software
IndustryOffice productivity software
Founded2003
FounderMichael Meeks (initially as ooo-build)
Defunct2010
FateMerged into LibreOffice
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Michael Meeks
ProductsOffice productivity software suite
OwnerNovell (sponsor)

Go-oo—an abbreviation for Go-Open Office—was a free and open-source office productivity software suite developed under the sponsorship of Novell. Its origins trace back to 2003 when the Linux company Ximian, led by Michael Meeks, created a collection of patches for OpenOffice.org named ooo-build. In October 2007, Go-oo emerged as an independent fork, integrating additional functionalities. This version incorporated improvements that were not accepted by the original upstream project managed by Sun Microsystems. These enhancements included superior compatibility with Microsoft Office file formats, accelerated development timelines, and more lenient policies regarding external contributions. The initiative concluded in 2010 after the establishment of LibreOffice, which absorbed much of Go-oo’s features and governance principles.

History

The inception of Go-oo dates back to 2003 as a patch collection for OpenOffice.org, initially crafted by Ximian before its acquisition by Novell. Known as ooo-build, this patch set aimed to streamline the building process of OpenOffice.org on various Linux distributions and to incorporate community-driven enhancements that had been declined by Sun Microsystems.

By 2005, the project had adopted the go-oo.org domain, and in October 2007, Novell launched the first standalone Go-oo release (version 2.3.0). Following this, major Linux distributions such as SUSE Linux, Debian, and Ubuntu transitioned to using Go-oo instead of the unaltered upstream source. Additionally, several Windows-based editions—including OxygenOffice and OpenOffice.org Novell Edition—were developed on top of Go-oo.

Go-oo provided enhanced support for Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) formats, featuring limited write capabilities, "hybrid PDF" export options (PDF documents embedding source files), and tools like the Sun Presentation Minimizer. Its more flexible contribution guidelines fostered wider community participation compared to the stricter rules enforced by Sun Microsystems.

Nevertheless, Go-oo attracted criticism from segments within the open-source community due to its inclusion of Microsoft-related technologies such as support for Visual Basic for Applications, OOXML, and Microsoft Works file formats, along with reliance on the Mono framework controlled by Novell. Critics expressed concerns about potential patent liabilities and interoperability challenges. Some speculated that Go-oo’s advancements mirrored Novell’s 2006 collaboration with Microsoft, which allegedly constrained interoperability features within Go-oo.

In September 2010, The Document Foundation initiated LibreOffice as a comprehensive fork of OpenOffice.org, incorporating numerous developers and codebases from Go-oo. Consequently, Go-oo was phased out in favor of LibreOffice, which integrated many of its patches, enhancements, and governance models while discontinuing Mono usage.

Today, LibreOffice and its corporate variant, Collabora Online, are recognized as the primary successors to the Go-oo code lineage.

Versions

Stable releases of Go-oo generally followed shortly after OpenOffice.org’s stable versions. Version numbering differed between Windows and Linux builds through their final digits. Starting with version 3.1.0 in May 2009, a stable Mac release became available.

Version Windows release Linux release MacOS X release
2.3.0 October 8, 2007 November 14, 2007 —
2.4.0 April 30, 2008 February 20, 2008
2.4.1 June 10, 2008 June 26, 2008
3.0.0 October 22, 2008 November 21, 2008
3.0.1 February 4, 2009
3.1.0 June 2, 2009 May 28, 2009
3.1.1 September 16, 2009 September 5, 2009 September 4, 2009
3.2.0 February 26, 2010
3.2.1 July 21, 2010 June 4, 2010

Benefits

  • In specific tasks, Go-oo exhibited quicker execution speeds relative to OpenOffice.org.[1]
  • To enhance speed, OpenOffice.org 3.0 omitted numerous dictionaries; instead, localized versions offered selected languages as optional downloads. Conversely, starting from version 3, Go-oo bundled a wide range of dictionaries together as a single extension included in the installer.
  • Improved integration with GTK+ elevated the user interface experience on Linux systems.
  • Enhanced rendering of Chinese fonts significantly boosted usability in Asian regions.[2]

Functionalities

  • On Linux, Go-oo features 3-D slide transition animations within Presentations.
  • Employs the GStreamer multimedia framework on Linux to deliver superior multimedia capabilities.
  • Integrates the Mono framework for UNO automation, allowing scripting in languages such as C# and Boo.
  • Substitutes the standard zoom button with a combo box, offering better usability compared to original OpenOffice.org; subsequent versions of OOo adopted comparable zoom controls.
  • Go-oo Calc supports customizable colors for sheet tab labels.
  • Includes an embedded "Solver" utility in Calc 2.4.x, while OpenOffice.org only introduced this tool starting from version 3.0.

Supported file formats

  • Go-oo can generate Office Open XML (OOXML) documents, not merely read them.
Import
  • Compatible with opening OOXML files on older Windows 98/ME platforms, unlike OpenOffice.org 3.x which lacks support for these legacy operating systems.
  • Provides support for VBA macros.
  • Capable of importing files from Microsoft Works and Lotus Word Pro formats.
  • Go-oo Draw natively opens SVG files; in contrast, OpenOffice Draw requires an additional extension for this functionality.
  • Bundles the PDF Import extension by default beginning with version 3.0.
  • Offers enhanced support for EMF drawings and imports graphics from WordPerfect.
Save/Export
  • Starting with version 3.0, Go-oo can save XLS files secured with passwords using a basic encryption method compatible with applications such as Gnumeric.
  • Enables saving documents in OOXML formats (docx, xlsx, pptx) through the Novell OpenXML Converter, compatible with both Go-oo 3.x and Novell OpenOffice.org Edition on Windows.

Limitations

  • Localization packages for Go-oo are distributed solely as language add-ons to the English base installation. The translations of interface elements and dictionaries occasionally differ from those in OpenOffice.org.

Additional distinctions

  • Application icons, quick launch buttons, and associated file icons in Go-oo utilize the Tango icon set.
  • Go-oo installers were generally released several days after corresponding OpenOffice.org builds.
  • The Windows version of Go-oo closely mirrored the Novell Edition of OpenOffice.org, sharing similar version numbers (for example, Go-oo 3.0-19 compared to Novell Edition 3.0-22).
  • Unlike OpenOffice.org, which initiates a setup wizard upon first launch for user configuration and registration, Go-oo disables this initial wizard.

See also

External links

  • The final iteration of go-oo.org has been preserved in archives
  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named fastest_edition
  2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named derstandard
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