IBM hands Lotus Symphony to Apache for use in OpenOffice

IBM is planning to hand its Lotus Symphony platform to Apache for use in the OpenOffice.org project.

Rob Weir, IBM Open Document Format architect, said in a posting to an Apache discussion list that the company will make the code for Symphony available under the Apache 2.0 licence.

IBM will work with members of the community to integrate various components into the OpenOffice.org platform as part of a campaign to improve IBM's integration with OpenOffice.org.

"When it came down to the code, we maintained Symphony essentially as a fork and, although we occasionally contributed code back, we did not do this well, or often," Weir said.

"We'd like to make some changes in how we do things, and the fresh start at Apache is a good opportunity for this."

The move further expands OpenOffice.org as a standalone project. The platform was handed over to Apache by Oracle in June, having been among the properties acquired when Oracle bought Sun.

Jay Lyman, an analyst at 451 Group, told V3.co.uk that an increased involvement from IBM would be very beneficial to the project.

"I think it is good for OpenOffice and a strong show of support," he said. "The credibility factor with IBM behind it is helpful."

IBM is taking a more prominent role in the project, but Lyman does not see the company taking control of OpenOffice the way Sun did.

"Sun got a lot of heat from the way it managed OpenOffice and I think IBM is going to learn from that," he explained. "I do see IBM maintaining a good open community that is not just in their control."