Intel becomes a LibreOffice distributor

Intel has become a major backer of the LibreOffice open-source productivity suite, joining the advisory board of the The Document Foundation and distributing the Microsoft Office alternative.

Just a few days after The Document Foundation (TDF) released LibreOffice 3.5, Intel said it had put LibreOffice for Windows from SUSE on the virtual shelves of its AppUp Center. The online store is these days aimed at ultrabook users, despite having its origins in the netbook era.

"I have been using LibreOffice from day one for presentations at conferences and for data analysis," Intel open source community lead Dawn Foster said in a statement. "Our engineers have worked with the LibreOffice codebase to optimise it for Intel hardware. Adding it to the AppUp Center is an obvious extension, and will provide an exciting feature for all Ultrabook users."

LibreOffice began life in late 2010 as a fork of the popular OpenOffice suite. The Document Foundation made the split after Oracle took over OpenOffice sponsor Sun Microsystems.

OpenOffice itself has since been handed over to the Apache Software Foundation, so is no longer under Oracle's control.

According to Intel, LibreOffice's AppUp version should provide "smooth, silent installation" and easier uninstallation.

"We are thrilled to add Intel to our existing roster of supporters," TDF board member Florian Effenberger said in the statement. "TDF is first and foremost a vendor-neutral project committed to excellence in the office suite space, but we greatly value the support and advice we gain from organisations such as SUSE, Red Hat, Google, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and Software in the Public Interest (SPI)."