EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND: The OpenOffice.org Community, home of the free software alternative to Microsoft Office has announced details of a major new initiative.

The OpenOffice.org Community Innovation Program is a contest open to all Community members, designed to foster community development and innovation. There are six broad categories for entries: Technical, Community, Tools, OpenDocument Format (ODF), Documentation and Special.

Community Manager Louis Suarez-Potts described the scheme to potential entrants: "What are we looking for? In general terms, we are looking for superlative work that is useful to the Community; work that is challenging, that is non-trivial, and that furthers the Community as much as the software. You can enter alone or in a team; and if you are eligible, you could win a lot of money."

It is expected that the contest will generate keen interest among current Community members, and bring a surge of new members to the Community. The Community welcomes software engineers, testers, translators, authors, support people, artists, marketing people.

The contest has been backed by $175,000 of prize money from Sun Microsystems - part of a $1m investment in open-source community development announced last December.