Open Office sends begging letter to Dell

IN AN ASTONISHING DISPLAY OF NAÏVETÉ Open Office's John McCreesh has written to Dell claiming that the two companies have much in common.

We learn that more than 25,000 people said they'd like Dell to preload open sauce software. That's quite a lot of people, but the problem is that this 25,000 was spread over two days while Dell shifts the same number of systems in a couple of minutes.

We further learn that open office has taken more than twenty years to engineer. Was that twenty years realtime or twenty man-years effort? Suddenly, claims that Microsoft can't get a product out on time pale into insignificance.

The tragic letter ends with a pathetic plea for cash: "We'd also be happy to accept any financial contribution that Dell might offer to help ensure that OpenOffice.org continues to evolve in the future."

Here's the letter in full:

Michael S.Dell, Chairman and CEO
Dell Computer Corporation
One Dell Way
Round Rock, Texas 78682
March 12th, 2007

Dear Michael
An Open Letter and Invitation from the OpenOffice.org Community
Dell Computer Corporation has become one of Fortune's “America's Most Admired Companies” by providing great value, high quality computers and peripherals, but most of all, by listening to your customers. Your recent “IdeaStorm” initiative is the latest example of this.
Here at OpenOffice.org, we were delighted to see that the second most requested feature by Dell customers was to have our office software pre-installed on Dell systems. This request attracted more than 25,000 votes in two days.
We believe that OpenOffice.org 2 software perfectly matches Dell's values. OpenOffice.org 2 is high quality office software, the result of over twenty years' continuous software engineering. It runs under all common operating systems. It offers everything users expect from office software, plus some bonus features that may pleasantly surprise them. It's easy for customers to use, with a familiar look and feel, and can read and write a wide range of file formats, including Microsoft's. On top of all this, being licenced under open-source terms, it represents outstanding value for money for you and your customers.
Let's have a conversation about how we could build an “OpenOffice.org supplied by Dell” product to give your customers what they are asking for. We'd also be happy to accept any financial contribution that Dell might offer to help ensure that OpenOffice.org continues to evolve in the future.

Sincerely
John McCreesh
Marketing Project Lead
OpenOffice.org