Author: Italo Vignoli
LibreOffice 24.8.4, optimised for the privacy-conscious user, is available for download
Berlin, 19 December 2024 – LibreOffice 24.8.4, the fourth minor release of the LibreOffice 24.8 family of the free open source, volunteer-supported office suite for Windows (Intel, AMD and ARM), MacOS (Apple and Intel) and Linux, is available at www.libreoffice.org/download.
The release includes over 55 bug and regression fixes over LibreOffice 24.8.3 [1] to improve the stability and robustness of the software, as well as interoperability with legacy and proprietary document formats.
LibreOffice is the only office suite that respects the privacy of the user, ensuring that the user is able to decide if and with whom to share the content they create. It even allows deleting user related info from documents. As such, LibreOffice is the best option for the privacy-conscious office suite user, while offering a feature set comparable to the leading product on the market.
Also, LibreOffice offers a range of interface options to suit different user habits, from traditional to modern, and makes the most of different screen sizes by using all the space available on the desktop to put the maximum number of features just a click or two away.
The biggest advantage over competing products is the LibreOffice Technology engine, the single software platform on which desktop, mobile and cloud versions of LibreOffice – including those from ecosystem companies – are based.
This allows LibreOffice to produce identical and fully interoperable documents based on two ISO standards: the open and neutral Open Document Format (ODT, ODS, ODP) and the closed and fully proprietary Microsoft OOXML (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX), which hides a large amount of artificial complexity, and can cause problems for users who are confident that they are using a true open standard.
End users looking for support can download the LibreOffice 24.8 Getting Started, Writer, Impress, Draw and Math guides from the following link: books.libreoffice.org/. In addition, they can get first-level technical support from volunteers on mailing lists and the Ask LibreOffice website: ask.libreoffice.org.
LibreOffice for Enterprise
For enterprise-class deployments, TDF strongly recommends the LibreOffice Enterprise family of applications from ecosystem partners, with three or five year backporting of security patches, other dedicated value-added features and Service Level Agreements: www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-in-business/.
Every line of code developed by ecosystem companies for enterprise customers is shared with the community on the master code repository and improves the LibreOffice Technology platform. Products based on LibreOffice Technology are available for all major desktop operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS), mobile platforms (Android and iOS) and the cloud.
The Document Foundation’s migration protocol helps companies move from proprietary office suites to LibreOffice, by installing the LTS (long-term support) enterprise-optimised version of LibreOffice, plus consulting and training provided by certified professionals: www.libreoffice.org/get-help/professional-support/.
In fact, LibreOffice’s mature code base, rich feature set, strong support for open standards, excellent compatibility and LTS options make it the ideal solution for organisations looking to regain control of their data and break free from vendor lock-in.
LibreOffice 24.8.4 availability
LibreOffice 24.8.4 is available from www.libreoffice.org/download/. Minimum requirements for proprietary operating systems are Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (no longer supported by Microsoft) and Apple MacOS 10.15. Products for Android and iOS are at www.libreoffice.org/download/android-and-ios/.
Users of the LibreOffice 24.2 branch (the last update being 24.2.7), which has recently reached end-of-life, should consider upgrading to LibreOffice 24.8.4, as this is already the most tested version of the program. Early February will see the announcement of LibreOffice 25.2.
LibreOffice users, free software advocates and community members can support The Document Foundation by donating at www.libreoffice.org/donate.
Enterprise deploying LibreOffice can also donate, although the best solution for their needs would be to look for the enterprise optimized versions of the software (with Long Term Support for security and Service Level Agreements to protect their investment) at www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-in-business/.
[1] Fixes in RC1: wiki.documentfoundation.org/Releases/24.8.4/RC1. Fixes in RC2: wiki.documentfoundation.org/Releases/24.8.4/RC2.
Announcement of LibreOffice 24.8.3, the office suite optimised for the privacy-conscious office suite user who wants full control over the information they share
Berlin, 14 November 2024 – LibreOffice 24.8.3, the third minor release of the LibreOffice 24.8 family of the free open source, volunteer-supported office suite for Windows (Intel, AMD and ARM), MacOS (Apple and Intel) and Linux, is available at www.libreoffice.org/download.
The release includes over 80 bug and regression fixes over LibreOffice 24.8.2 [1] to improve the stability and robustness of the software, as well as interoperability with legacy and proprietary document formats. In addition, support for Visio template format VSTX has been added.
LibreOffice is the only office suite that respects the privacy of the user, ensuring that the user is able to decide if and with whom to share the content they create. It even allows deleting user related info from documents. As such, LibreOffice is the best option for the privacy-conscious office suite user, while offering a feature set comparable to the leading product on the market.
Also, LibreOffice offers a range of interface options to suit different user habits, from traditional to modern, and makes the most of different screen sizes by using all the space available on the desktop to put the maximum number of features just a click or two away.
The biggest advantage over competing products is the LibreOffice Technology engine, the single software platform on which desktop, mobile and cloud versions of LibreOffice – including those from ecosystem companies – are based.
This allows LibreOffice to produce identical and fully interoperable documents based on the two ISO standards: the Open Document Format (ODT, ODS, ODP) and the fully proprietary Microsoft OOXML (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX), which hides a large amount of artificial complexity, and can cause problems for users who are confident that they are using a true open standard.
End users looking for support can download the LibreOffice 24.8 Getting Started, Writer and Impress guides from the following link: /books.libreoffice.org/. In addition, they will be able to get first-level technical support from volunteers on mailing lists and the Ask LibreOffice website: ask.libreoffice.org.
LibreOffice for Enterprise
For enterprise-class deployments, TDF strongly recommends the LibreOffice Enterprise family of applications from ecosystem partners, with three or five year backporting of security patches, other dedicated value-added features and Service Level Agreements: www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-in-business/.
Every line of code developed by ecosystem companies for enterprise customers is shared with the community on the master code repository and improves the LibreOffice Technology platform. Products based on LibreOffice Technology are available for all major desktop operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS), mobile platforms (Android and iOS) and the cloud.
The Document Foundation’s migration protocol helps companies move from proprietary office suites to LibreOffice, by installing the LTS (long-term support) enterprise-optimised version of LibreOffice, plus consulting and training provided by certified professionals: www.libreoffice.org/get-help/professional-support/.
In fact, LibreOffice’s mature code base, rich feature set, strong support for open standards, excellent compatibility and LTS options make it the ideal solution for organisations looking to regain control of their data and break free from vendor lock-in.
LibreOffice 24.8.3 availability
LibreOffice 24.8.3 is available from www.libreoffice.org/download/. Minimum requirements for proprietary operating systems are Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (no longer supported by Microsoft) and Apple macOS 10.15. Products for Android and iOS are at www.libreoffice.org/download/android-and-ios/.
LibreOffice users, free software advocates and community members can support The Document Foundation by donating at www.libreoffice.org/donate.
Enterprise deploying LibreOffice can also donate, although the best solution for their needs would be to look for the enterprise optimized versions of the software (with Long Term Support for security and Service Level Agreements to protect their investment) at www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-in-business/.
[1] Fixes in RC1: wiki.documentfoundation.org/Releases/24.8.3/RC1. Fixes in RC2: wiki.documentfoundation.org/Releases/24.8.3/RC2.
Art at the Tobacconist’s, with a Catalogue made with LibreOffice
Manuel Frassinetti is one of our heroic volunteers working on the localisation of LibreOffice, including the site and wiki, in Italian. During the day, Manuel runs a tobacco shop in Modena – the city where he was born and where he lives – where he organises exhibitions of works by local artists.
In 2023, after the conclusion of the tenth edition of Art at the Tobacconist’s, he decided to publish a catalogue of the eight exhibitions that took place in the first six months of the year, followed by a series of photos recalling the journeys he made together with his wife Patrizia, who passed away in 2022.
To produce the catalogue, Manuel used his Linux PC with LibreOffice, in the unusual guise of a desktop publishing tool. The catalogue was printed and distributed to the customers of the tobacco shop, as well as to the artists who participated in the exhibitions.
FRASSINETTI_CATALOGO_COMPThe resolution of the images has been reduced to 150 dpi to keep the file size within the limit imposed by the blog.
Interview: Jonathan Clark, team member, developer focusing on RTL / CTL / CJK
Hello Jonathan, you have been hired by The Document Foundation in the role of developer focusing on the issues of languages written from right to left, or RTL (Right to Left).
Not only RTL topics – also CTL (Complex Text Layout), and CJK (Chinese-Japanese-Korean). I wanted to point this out, first for the interest of those communities, and second because I feel strongly about the scope The Document Foundation has chosen for this role.
In order to have great language support, I think you need to have two different kinds of people working together: those who can speak to the incredible depth of specific languages and the unique needs of the people who use them; and generalists who can, in the limit, think about all languages, and thus avoid oversights that will prove costly in the long term. I see this role as much closer to the latter than to the former.
Let’s start with a short biography: your origins, your studies, your professional experiences.
My origin is the Canadian wilderness. My parents introduced me to PC games when I was young, and I was instantly and insatiably curious about how they worked. I learned C++, and that eventually led to an undergraduate degree in Computing Science from the University of Alberta.
Most of my professional experience has been working on commercial C++ software quality tools, both as an individual contributor and by providing technical leadership.
For the past few years, I’ve been doing a deep dive on modern game engine technologies as a passion project. Among many other topics, this included real-time text layout and hardware-accelerated text rasterization.
When and how did you approach open source software?
As a user, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t use open source software in one way or another. I’ve never felt comfortable trusting closed-source software for anything important, and that discomfort has only grown over time as business practices change.
As a developer, I’m a bit of a hypocrite – other than a few small projects, I haven’t contributed much. However, speaking both normatively and from experience, I firmly believe that the only way to deliver quality software is with the transparency and accountability of open source.
Why did you decide to respond to The Document Foundation’s job search?
I think it’s important. I want to help people use open source software to work and create in their own language.
There are other reasons, too: I’m a long-time user, interested in linguistics, and my background seemed like a good fit for the role. But the most important thing to me is that I can believe in the mission.
What is your experience as a developer, and why do you think you can contribute significantly to LibreOffice?
As an individual contributor, I’ve been using C++ for a long time and I’m comfortable with large code bases. I’d never looked at the LibreOffice source code before, but it’s similar to projects I’ve worked on in the past.
Finally, what is your feedback after the first few months in the LibreOffice project?
The main feedback I want to offer is praise for the new contributor outreach effort. Most open source projects seem to treat this as an afterthought, but a lot of work has been put into attracting, guiding, and retaining new LibreOffice contributors. It’s wonderful to see.
It’s also been great to see the passion from the community about improving language support.
FOSDEM 2025: LibreOffice Technology DevRoom Call for Papers
FOSDEM 2025 will be only in person, taking place on Saturday, February 1, and Sunday, February 2. LibreOffice Technology DevRoom is scheduled for the morning of Saturday, February 1, from 10AM to 2PM.
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
Submission open: 30th October 2024
Submission deadline: 1st December 2024 at 11:59PM CET
Acceptance notifications: 6th December 2024
Final confirmation deadline: 12th December 2024
Final schedule announcement: 15th December 2024
Devroom: 1st February 2025 from 10AM to 2PM
Please note that the submission deadline is managed by the FOSDEM team and not by the devroom managers, which means that after that deadline nothing will be accepted.
We might update this call for papers with further details, as soon as we receive them from FOSDEM organizers. Please check TDF blog and social media channels on a regular basis.
CALL FOR PAPERS
We are inviting proposals for talks about “LibreOffice Technology, a development platform for desktop, mobile and cloud office suites“.
Main topics are LibreOffice development, localization, QA, UX, documentation, extensions, migrations and general advocacy, plus the native document format ODF. Please keep in mind that product pitches are not allowed at FOSDEM.
In order to fit as many presenters as possible in the schedule, the length of talks will be limited to a maximum of 20 minutes, including questions, according to the number of submissions.
TALK SUBMISSIONS
FOSDEM Pretalx system will be open for applications starting from October the 30th, 2024.
To submit a talk, please visit the FOSDEM 2025 Pretalx website: https://pretalx.fosdem.org/fosdem-2025/cfp. Please select “LibreOffice” as the *track* and ensure you include all the requested information when submitting a proposal: the title of the talk, a short abstract (one / two paragraphs), some information about yourself (name, bio and photo, but please do remember that your profile might be already stored in Pretalx).
If you already have a Pretalx account from last year, even if your talk was not accepted, please reuse it. Create an account if, and only if, you don’t have one from a previous year. The system is the same used for LibreOffice Conference, so you should not have issues with Pretalx, but in case you have please contact italo at libreoffice.org for help.
All presentations will be recorded and streamed. Sending your proposal implies giving permission to be recorded.
For accepted talks, speakers will receive an email to confirm that the proposal has been accepted. They may expect additional emails with more instructions, for instance to confirm their travel schedule.
CONTACTS
Italo Vignoli: italo at documentfoundation.org
Michael Meeks: michael.meeks at collabora.com