A few days ago we reported news that Ubuntu was dropping the OpenOffice.org (OOo) suite of apps from default installs of Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition.
Many of you cheered the decision, noting that cramped keyboards and underpowered hardware of netbooks was far from conducive to hardcore office work.
Others did a double-take. The purpose of tiny netbooks is productivity on the go, right?
Obviously Ubuntu planned to offer a replacement, in the form of the web-based Google Docs. That move was met with disdain and concern.
Now, a new proposal has been put forward, one that will still see OOo removed from the netbook remix but replaced by local, offline-friendly apps: Gnumeric and Abiword.
Rick Spencer, one of Ubuntu’s most prominent developers, made a statement addressing feedback on the change, but the relevant part of what he said is the change, namely:
“I think we should try gumeric and abiword by default, and then those who want OOo apps can install just the ones they need later.”
While I’m a big fan of the convenience Google Docs offers (and would’ve been totally stoked with that direction for my own personal us), I find AbiWord a solid stand-in for simple, uncomplicated word processing (I’ve never used Gnumeric but it has a vocal fanbase).
Having a lightweight but still feature-filled set of office app on the ISO, on default installs, ready for people to use is a win all round.
Office suite aside, there’s another potential making U-Turn in the netbook app lineup as developers plan to restore note-taking app Tomboy to the default software set too.
Thanks to om26er