Hi!
I use OpenOffice.org only for PDF generation in my project, but my users have to download the whole OpenOffice package if they want to use the software. Is there any Ooo installer which only installs a headless Writer, and wich has a minimal installer which dont includes the other unused components (UI, Impress, etc.)?
You can ship headless OpenOffice.org with your application.
edit: AFAIK, there is no headless installer for MS Windows, but you can extract files from cabs and add them to your installer. This is what Alfresco is doing.
If you want to keep separate user profile you need to edit bootstrap.ini and write new UserInstallation path or use -env:UserInstallation command line argument when starting OpenOffice.org.
If you are using Ubuntu, have a look at http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=openoffice&searchon=names&suite=karmic&section=all ... it contains the various OpenOffice packages