Zdeněk Crhonek (aka “raal”) from the Czech LibreOffice community writes:
The new version of the LibreOffice Draw Guide 25.8 has been translated, and announced on our social media. The team is almost identical, with translations by Petr Kuběj, Zdeněk Crhonek and Radomír Strnad and technical support from Miloš Šrámek. Download it from the website. Thanks to everyone for the hard work, and if anyone would like to join the team, they are welcome to do so.
Excellent work everyone!
At the recent Open Source Conference 2025 in Luxembourg there were two talks about LibreOffice.
The first was Lessons learned from 13 years at The Document Foundation and LibreOffice, where Florian Effenberger, Executive Director of the foundation, talks about the legal setup of The Document Foundation and how its statutes enshrine values and ideals like openness, transparency and meritocracy.
Then there was Open Innovation and Open Source in Schleswig-Holstein – Practice for Europe, where Sven Thomsen, CIO of the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein (which is moving to LibreOffice), outlined the state’s pioneering path toward digital sovereignty through Open Source and Open Innovation. The talk highlighted the risks of dependency on proprietary software—including lack of transparency, inflated costs, and reduced security.
As November started, we kicked off a new Month of LibreOffice campaign, celebrating community contributions all across the project. We do these every six months – so how many people got sticker packs this time? Check it out…
Excellent work! Hundreds of people, all across the globe, have helped out in our projects. And those are just community contributions, not including the hundreds more from our ecosystem and certified developers!
We’re hugely thankful for the work – and, of course, everyone who contributed in November and is listed on the wiki page can get a sticker pack, with the stickers shown above.
If you see your name (or username) on this page, get in touch! Email mike.saunders@documentfoundation.org with:
…and we’ll send you a bunch of stickers for your PC, laptop and other kit. (Note: your address will only be used to post the stickers, and will be deleted immediately afterwards.) If you contributed to the LibreOffice project in November but you’re not on the wiki page, please let us know what you did, so that we can add you!
And we have an extra bonus: ten contributors have also been selected at random to get an extra piece of merchandise – a LibreOffice hoodie, T-shirt, rucksack or snazzy glass mug. Here are the winners (names or usernames) – we’ll get in touch personally with the details:
The Document Foundation is the small non-profit entity behind LibreOffice. It oversees the project and community, and is now expanding with new developer roles. So let’s say hello to Dan Williams, who joins the team to work on design and user interface (UI) improvements, with an initial focus on macOS:
I’m from the USA, have lived on both US coasts at various times, and now live back in the “midwest” where I grew up.
I was previously a software engineer, team lead, and manager at Red Hat for more than 20 years. In that time I’ve worked on a large variety of projects, from local networking to cloud networking to desktop software. I spent two years helping build the One Laptop Per Child software stack which was an eye-opening experience from a UI and design perspective. I believe passionately in free and open-source software; all the code I’ve written so far in my career is open-source.
Oddly enough, I’m not new to the LibreOffice community; I was an OpenOffice contributor and co-founded the NeoOffice port to Mac OS X (now called macOS). That led to being hired by Red Hat to package and improve OpenOffice for Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, where I helped start the 64-bit port and realize the Native Widget Framework that’s still used in LibreOffice today. I eventually handed my Red Hat OpenOffice duties over to Caolán McNamara (now at Collabora) and moved on to networking. I still recognize quite a few of our community members who I worked with before!
Outside of office software I’m the maintainer of the ModemManager WWAN software stack and I seem to have developed a hobby of collecting LTE and 5G base stations. I enjoy playing with hardware (especially if it runs Linux), baking and cooking, building large structures out of wood, and occasionally brewing beer in my basement.
A significant part of my new role will echo my early OpenOffice contributions: Mac! I’ll convert the last bits of Carbon API into modern Cocoa ones. This old code involves some pretty core functionality like popup menus and key modifier detection so it’s going to be tricky but we need to do it. Nobody knows how much longer Apple’s going to support HIToolbox but I’d like to be prepared. I’m also going to improve general Mac usability and experience; I’ve been using LibreOffice on macOS since the beginning so I’m familiar with its rough edges.
But the Mac isn’t the only platform so I’ll be driving user interface improvements and fixing annoying bugs everywhere else too, regardless of platform or visual backend. I also look forward to working with the LibreOffice Design community to try out new ideas and see what sticks.
I enjoy the challenge of working throughout the entire codebase, from the depths of VCL/SAL up to the UI logic and layout in the applications at the top. I’m also a big believer in automated testing and continuous integration (CI) and I hope to improve our reliability and reduce regressions. It’s often a pain to write tests for a small bug fix or any other change, but I think they’re necessary for a healthy project.
What are the most annoying interface and interaction bugs, for the Mac or otherwise? Make sure they’re in Bugzilla! I need help prioritizing issues – so here’s your chance to get your favorite bug looked at.
If you’re interested in LibreOffice’s user interface and visual identity, join the Design team.
Do you have Cocoa experience on the Mac and a bit of extra time? Help me out with bugs! I’d be happy to get you started.
The Document Foundation (TDF) is the non-profit entity behind the LibreOffice project. It collects donations from users, and employs a small team to support and coordinate the worldwide community that makes the software. In TDF there are various bodies including the Board of Directors, Membership Committee, and the Board of Trustees:
These foundation bodies are guided by a set of policies, and now the Board of Directors has voted on a Code of Ethics and Fiduciary Duties. The code ensures that members of the Board of Directors “strive to speak and act with the mission and effectiveness and the best interest, and only the interest, of the foundation in mind.” See here for the results of the vote.
Tokyo, Japan – The LibreOffice Asia Conference 2025 is scheduled to take place on December 13-14, 2025, at the Internet Initiative Japan Inc. headquarters in Iidabashi Grand Bloom, Tokyo. The event will bring together the Asian Open Source community to discuss developments in LibreOffice, the OpenDocument Format (ODF), and related technologies.
The conference features a diverse lineup of international speakers covering various technical and community-oriented topics. Below is an overview of the sessions organized by the speakers’ regions.
The Indonesian delegation brings a strong spirit of sharing. Diah Asyanti will recount the inspiring journey of open document adoption by educators in Indonesia, a significant step for the education sector. Community sustainability is also a key focus for Ahmad Haris, who will thoroughly explore the challenges and strategies for regenerating young talent in FOSS projects.
Equally engaging, Rania Amina invites participants to dive into the fun side of contributing to LibreOffice, debunking the myth that contribution is difficult or boring. For technical enthusiasts, Sartika Lestari is ready to share practical tips on LibreOffice automation using Python ScriptForge.
As the host, the Japanese community presents topics highly relevant for both new users and developers. Kenta Ito & Yuichi Kojima will lead a beginner-friendly session designed to help users transition smoothly to LibreOffice Writer.
On the innovation front, Koji Annoura will introduce “Dana Language,” an intriguing new approach to intent-driven automation. Meanwhile, Saburo Yoshida will open perspectives on how contributing to LibreOffice is inclusive and not limited to programming skills alone.
Perspectives from Europe, specifically Germany, will enrich participants’ understanding of standards and business. Svante Schubert will emphasize why the OASIS OpenDocument Format (ODF) standard is crucial for long-term interoperability. Complementing this, Lothar K. Becker will dissect how Open Source has become a strategic competitive factor for the private sector.
Experts from Taiwan are set to share deep technical techniques. Jia, Jun Xu will demonstrate how customizing key components can significantly boost productivity. For those who love problem-solving, Buo-ren Lin & Po-Yen Huang will introduce the unique “Vibe-debugging” method to tackle bugs in LibreOffice.
The conference is further colored by speakers from around the globe. From India, Manish Bera will share effective strategies for growing the LibreOffice community. Tomaž Vajngerl from Slovenia will showcase cutting-edge features in Collabora Online.
Important updates regarding the community and ODF status in South Korea will be delivered by DaeHyun Sung. Finally, Eyal Rozenberg will raise vital issues regarding non-Western script support, uniting the interests of RTL and CJK language communities.
The LibreOffice Asia Conference 2025 aims to foster collaboration among Asian communities and promote the advancement of free and open-source office software.
Participation in the conference is free of charge, but advance registration is required via the Connpass platform.
Important Notice for International Participants
The Connpass registration system is primarily designed for residents of Japan. Participants residing outside Japan (particularly those in the EEA) who have concerns regarding personal data protection are advised to contact the organizers at ja-contact@libreoffice.org prior to completing their registration.
