OpenOffice calls on Dell for distribution deal

By Tom Sanders on Mar 15, 2007 11:56 AM
Filed under Training & Development

Open source project appeals directly to Michael Dell.

The OpenOffice project has published an open letter to Dell chief executive Michael Dell asking him to bundle OpenOffice with new systems.

"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," the group's marketing lead John McCreesh wrote.

The letter touted the high quality of OpenOffice and the fact that it is free. McCreesh also solicited a financial contribution from Dell to assist in the further development of the open source productivity suite.

The letter was inspired by Dell's IdeaStorm project to solicit feedback from customers by letting users vote on suggestions from fellow users.

A suggestion to bundle OpenOffice with new systems attracted more than 25,000 votes, making it the second most popular after requests to sell Linux systems.

Dell has not yet responded to the widespread calls to support the open source applications. The company has promised to study the feedback from Ideastorm and provide updates on its website.