The Social Logic of Freedom: OpenOffice.org

What are the social and political implications of OpenOffice.org's success? Used by more than 60 million, developed by and contributed to by thousands, and natively employing a file format that is increasingly mandated by governments, OpenOffice.org can rightly claim to be at the intersection of political, social, and technological trajectories, and is seen a tool of economic and technological liberation. Cost is but one, albeit important, element in the equation, but the focus has been on the social implications of switching to commodities that eliminate built-in dependency and implicitly include the consumer in the making of the product.

Louis Suarez-Potts, Community Manager and Community Lead, OpenOffice.org Louis Suarez-Potts is the Community Manager and community lead of OpenOffice.org, a role he has held more or less since the project's inception. He speaks throughout the world on OpenOffice.org and open source; his emphasis is on the social logic of free software. Suarez-Potts holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and is the Senior Community Development Manager at CollabNet.