OpenOffice, a popular office software suite, has a rich history that dates back to the 1990s. The software was initially developed as StarOffice by the German company StarDivision, which was later acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1998. After the acquisition, Sun released the source code of StarOffice under an open-source license, and the project became known as OpenOffice.

One of the notable spin-offs from the original OpenOffice project is Go-oo or Go-OpenOffice, which was started by Novell company to continue developing the software independently. However, according to developers who worked on the project at the time, Sun delayed approval of outside contributions in order to preserve its rights to close the code and sell it.

Despite this setback, OpenOffice continued to evolve under the guidance of Sun Microsystems. In 2002, Sun released the source code of OpenOffice, marking the beginning of a new era for the software. Over the years, OpenOffice has incorporated new programs and features, and has been ported to various platforms under the name StarOffice.

In recent years, OpenOffice has faced stiff competition from Microsoft Office, which remains one of the most popular office software suites in the world. However, OpenOffice has continued to attract a loyal following among users who prefer open-source software.

One of the benefits of using OpenOffice is its ease of installation and use on Linux-based operating systems such as Linux Mint. In this article, we will compare the performance of OpenOffice 4.1.11 with LibreOffice 7.2.5.2 on a Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon desktop.

To begin, we downloaded OpenOffice 4.1.11 from their official website and manually installed it on our test system. We then compared its performance to that of LibreOffice 7.2.5.2, which is the latest version pre-installed in Ubuntu Studio 22.04 (still under development).

Our comparison revealed that both OpenOffice and LibreOffice performed well in terms of speed and functionality. However, there were some differences in their user interfaces and feature sets.

Overall, OpenOffice remains a popular choice among users who prefer open-source software, and its performance on Linux Mint is impressive. Whether you're looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office or simply want to try out a new office software suite, OpenOffice is definitely worth considering.

Openoffice linux mint