Tender to optimize text layout performance for print and PDF export (#202112-01)
The Document Foundation (TDF) is the charitable entity behind the world’s leading free/libre open source (FLOSS) office suite LibreOffice.
We are looking for an individual or company to optimize text layout performance for print and PDF export.
The text layout performance as currently implemented in LibreOffice has lots of issues. All over the codebase text shaping is done over and over again, although it consumes quite some compute cycles. Text shaping is done each time for measuring the text, measuring parts of text, finding line breaks, drawing text on screen. Especially for more involved scripts than Latin, this is problematic. The above issues are especially problematic for printing or PDF export. The time to export a PDF or print a Latin text has doubled since the Harfbuzz implementation.
It’s up to the bidder how to solve the problem. Some possible solutions could be:
- retaining shaping results much longer
- improving the wasteful OutputDevice API
- implement caching
The scope of this tender is to fix at least the following issues:
- Very time lengthy PDF-generation
- Time required to export a large document has doubled for Latin (text layout issue)
Further reference can be found at:
- http://bugs.documentfoundation.org/attachment.cgi?id=156654
- https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/attachment.cgi?id=156709
All technology standards of relevance, as well as their targeted versions for this tender should be declared or defined in the offer’s description of implementation.
A key item of the deliverables for this tender, and therefore also a decision criteria – besides qualification, references, price, and completness of fullfilment – is extensive documentation about the approach chosen to implement the above items, covering more than just the pure implementation. We expect bidders to provide documentation on both the code and the non-code parts of this tender, e.g. methodology, structure and technical aspects.
The Document Foundation will publish this under a free and open source license and make it available to the general public.
Required skills
- Extensive knowledge of C++
- Experience working on the LibreOffice source code
Other skills
- English (conversationally fluent in order to coordinate and plan with members of TDF)
We use free, libre and open source (FLOSS) software for development wherever possible, and the resulting work must be licensed under the Mozilla Public License v2.0.
TDF welcomes applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age.
Bidders will get a preference for including a partner or independent developer who has not been involved in a successful tender before. For such developers, who have not yet been part of a successful tender bid, we aim on a best-effort basis, but without any guarantees whatsoever, to provide some mentoring in understanding the code base and the process in contributing to the code. We expect that time and efforts on the bidder’s side should not be part of the paid work for this tender. Please mention such need of LibreOffice development mentoring in your offer.
As always, TDF will give some preference to individuals who have previously shown a commitment to TDF, including but not limited to certified developers and/or members of TDF. Not being a member, or never having contributed before, does not exclude any applicants from consideration.
The task offered is a project-based one-off, with no immediate plans to a mid- or long-term contractual relationship. It is offered on a freelance, project basis. Individuals and companies applying can be located anywhere in the world.
When budgeting, we anticipated that this project (all items combined) to take in the region of 30 days of work. Should bidders’ assessment result in a significantly different number, please reach out to us before sending your bid, so we can clarify upfront.
TDF is looking forward to receiving your applications, your financial expectations offer in form of a fixed time fixed budget approach and the duration period for the implementation in calender weeks after the final reward of the tender, via e-mail to a committee at tender20211201@documentfoundation.org no later than January 21, 2022.
Applicants who have not received feedback by February 18, 2022 should consider that their application, after careful review, was not accepted.
All bidders are invited to ask their questions on this tender until January 14, 2022. Questions and answers will be made public in a collected and anonymized form.