Stop: How and where does the collaborative work happen?Įric: At places like Campus Libre and the Forge. This is a major difference from the standard, official version of OpenOffice, in which it is much harder to have added some feature that you requested. Stop: So, in the long run, it’s almost like the teachers themselves were able to modify the software to fit their own needs.Įric: Correct. Looking at the proposal, we could easily see that we should implement the toolbar for children between 7 and 9 years of age first, and then the one for older kids. Then we got an extremely interesting suggestion just through the “Ideas and Suggestions” page of our wiki: different, user-selectable toolbars for several age ranges. Stop: Can you describe to us an example of this collaboration?Įric: We had no exact idea of what the simplified toolbars of the word processor should look like. Eventually, after several iterations, we achieve what is expected, or at least be as close as possible. When teachers answer, we the developers explain what is “doable”. Therefore, we ask teachers things like “What features have to be used, at a given age” or “What do you want to be immediately visible in the graphical interface, before clicking anywhere”. Teachers also know best than us what they need from OpenOffice and the requirements of local school programs. It is teachers who know very well the children, what they can do and what is not suited to them. ![]() How do you work, and why?Įric: Our method is very simple! We developers ask questions directly to the teachers who join the project, because they have the right knowledge. Stop: I mentioned that OOo4Kids is interesting also because how the way it is developed. Everybody willing to add other languages is welcome to join the project. The current version is available in French, Portuguese, English, German and Spanish. ![]() Stop: Is OOo4Kids available in different languages?Įric: Yes. Just like the original OpenOffice, it also works on Windows and Mac OS. ![]() Stop: OOo4Kids doesn’t seem limited at all to primary school children! Everybody who thinks that normal office suites are too slow and complicated, or just has a slower computer will love it, but… does it only run on Linux?Įric: Not at all. Stop: That’s an impressive task! What is the result?Įric: OOo4Kids runs correctly on a Celeron 500 + 128 MB of RAM, and on the XO too. To make OpenOffice run on these limited machines we had to simplify its source code and reduce the binary size of about 35%. Other users asked me an office suite that would run even on XO laptops. Many of our users, especially schools, only have old computers with little memory. Stop: Do you do all this only to simplify the interface?Įric: No, we also want to solve another serious problem which is very common here in France and, I’m sure, everywhere else. We have also removed some components which are almost never needed by those users, like support for Databasesii and Java scripting. The interface is explicitly designed for children in the 7 to 12 years age range: attractive and very simple, without looking for this like some bad 3D cartoon. Stop: Eric, what are the main features of OOo4Kids?Įric: OOo4Kids is much simpler to use than the original OpenOffice. Keep reading to know, straight from OOo4Kids developer Eric Bachard, what is that makes OOo4kids unique. ![]() Besides, interaction with developers seems much simpler and friendlier than in many other Free Software projects. OOo4Kids is a special version of (the popular, free and easy to use alternative to Microsoft Office) which is very interesting and useful not only for schools, but also for many adult users.
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