The Document Foundation welcomes Canonical to the project Advisory Board

Berlin, July 26, 2016 – The Document Foundation (TDF) today announced Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu GNU/Linux operating system, has joined the project Advisory Board.

Canonical is the company behind Ubuntu, the leading operating system for cloud and the Internet of Things. Most public cloud workloads, new smart gateways, self-driving cars and advanced humanoid robots are running on Ubuntu. Additionally, Canonical leads the development of the snap universal Linux packaging system for secure, transactional device updates and app stores.

Since its first release in early 2011, LibreOffice has been the default office suite of the Ubuntu operating system. With the announcement of LibreOffice 5.2 in August 2016, it will be one of the first applications to be available as a snap package which will make LibreOffice easier and simpler for The Document Foundation to maintain.

“Canonical has been an active member of the LibreOffice community since the early days, and one of the most frequent sponsors of the LibreOffice Conference. By becoming a member of the project Advisory Board, Canonical will provide the experience and the insights necessary to improve the presence of free software – and LibreOffice – inside enterprises and public administrations worldwide”, says Marina Latini, Chairwoman of The Document Foundation.

“We are extremely pleased to become a member of the LibreOffice Project Advisory Board and having the opportunity to provide our guidance and insights to help improve LibreOffice for users around the world,” said Will Cooke, Desktop Engineering Manager for Canonical. “At Canonical, we believe in the power of open source software. We are committed to developing it, and will support projects and initiatives that help to promote its benefits to a wider audience.”

The Advisory Board’s (AB) primary function is to represent The Document Foundation’s Sponsors, and to provide the Board of Directors (BoD) with advice, guidance and proposals. In addition, the AB is at the kernel of the LibreOffice ecosystem, and as such is key for the further development of the project.