Apache OpenOffice is and always will be free to download from our website.  The license allows you to use it yourself and share copies with friends and families or even total strangers.  You may use it on home machines, in the office, with your small business, school, church, gardening club, etc.  And if you know how to program software, you can take the source code for OpenOffice and modify it and share it with others as well.  This is what open source means.

So it is sad when we receive emails from users, reporting that they have paid real money, as much as € 30 ($40 US), to websites in return for a link to our website.  These websites promise the user immediate access to "open source office software with support for the lowest price", claim that "supplies are limited" and that prices are "50% off, if you order within the next 2 minutes".  But after entering your credit card, or authorizing payment via SMS, you are merely redirected to the www.openoffice.org  website, where you can download the same Apache OpenOffice software that everyone else downloads for free!

Of course, the fact that you are reading this blog is evidence that you are familiar with OpenOffice and know that it is free.  The people who will be tricked into paying are those who do not read our blog, those who are not already familiar with OpenOffice. 

But with your help we can reach those in need of a free office suite, and make them aware of Apache OpenOffice and let them know that they can download it for free.   The more people who know about OpenOffice, the fewer people who will be fooled.   To help, go to our download page and the "Help Spread the Word" section.  Use any (or all) of those links to share the word about OpenOffice to your friends and family.   Let's try to make as many people as possible aware of OpenOffice!