plenty560@yahoo.com wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
> Has anybody here ever built OpenOffice from sources, or know of
> someone who has recently, who can say that doing so is possible?

Yes. I build OOO from source whenever a new version comes out.

I run Gentoo Linux which makes it easy to build such gigantic projects.

> After all, it seems that so many big US corporations are
> eager to cave in to the demands of the NSA or RIAA/MPAA.
> I have to wonder whether OO maybe has spyware in
> the binary download that is not in the source code download.
> AT&T, Comcast, etc... why would Sun be any less unethical?

Anything could be hidden in the hundreds of megabytes of OOO source code.
Don't think you are safe when building a binary.

I think you may be a bit paranoid.

--
Regards,

Gregory.
Gentoo Linux - Penguin Power