Keeping track of LibreOffice activity

noun_27464LibreOffice is a big project, with over 7 million lines of source code and hundreds of developers, testers, translators and other contributors spread across the globe. With so much activity going on, it can be difficult to keep track of recent developments – so here are a few pointers to keep you in the loop.

Upcoming releases

The current supported release of LibreOffice is 5.1, and the latest bug-fix version is 5.1.3. There are three more bug-fix updates due this year, so see this wiki page for information on the release schedule. The last planned update will be 5.1.6, due in October.

Meanwhile, the development team is working hard on LibreOffice 5.2, which is scheduled to be released in the first week of August. A beta version (for testing) is due very soon – keep an eye on this blog for more information. You can also see a mid-development list of new features in 5.2, but bear in mind that everything is subject to change!

Team calls

Many teams inside the LibreOffice project have regular audio or video calls to catch up, share ideas and ask questions. These teams also share minutes (notes) from the meetings afterwards, so that others can keep track of news and developments.

For instance, the Engineering Steering Committee (ESC) usually has a call every Thursday to discuss technical aspects of the project: release engineering, new features, quality assurance, mentoring new developers, and other matters. Minutes from these are posted on the projects mailing list – see the archive here (search for “minutes of ESC” for recent calls).

Similarly, the Design Team holds regular Hangouts to discuss user interface changes and usability enhancements. Then there’s the Infrastructure Team, which has calls to talk about the hardware and software that’s used by LibreOffice contributors, and the Documentation Team, which has just started regular calls to coordinate content and bring in new writers. Minutes from all of these teams are also posted on the projects list.

Finally, The Document Foundation’s Board of Directors has regular meetings to discuss organisational aspects: finances, budget requests, the yearly conference and so forth. Minutes from these meetings are available on the wiki.

Annual Report

A good summary of last year’s activity in the LibreOffice project is provided in the Annual Report. This is currently being worked on, and will have detailed updates from the native language projects, hackfests, development and QA teams, plus information on donations received throughout 2015 and other aspects of the project.

We’ll post an update on this blog when the 2015 Annual Report is available – meanwhile you can read about what happened in LibreOffice during 2014 in the previous report.