[Libreoffice] [tdf-discuss] Linux distros and LibO packaging

[Andrea Pescetti]

On 09/01/2011 Jean-Baptiste Faure wrote:
> I think that we should have a webpage where Linux distributions who are
> packaging LibO, could list what changes they made compared to the
> "official" build by TDF. ...
> So, is it a good idea to ask the Linux distributions to publish the
> changes they made to the official build ?

It is a good idea to track changes, but it is probably a questionable
practice to make changes. I expected LibreOffice to be consistent across
distributions (something that of course at the moment is not true of
OpenOffice.org since most distributions apply significant patches to
it). Are there compelling reasons why distributions should ship versions
of LibreOffice that have significant changes with respect to the
"official" version?

The OpenOffice.org experience, and the first distribution-specific
LibreOffice bugs like
http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss@documentfoundation.org/msg04508.html
make me think that fragmentation, while of course allowed by the
license, should be discouraged when it comes to functionality; I'm not
questioning desktop integration or branding, but I'd like to know why
distributions feel they have to make changes to functionality...

Regards,
  Andrea.