One week ago we started a new Month of LibreOffice, celebrating contributions all across the project. And over 100 sticker packs have already been awarded!
Not got one yet? Then join in – here are some ways to get involved and claim your stickers:
Category: Community
Starting today: the Month of LibreOffice, November 2018!
Yes, it’s that time of the year again! As you probably know, LibreOffice is made by hundreds of people around the world. We have a busy community working on source code, documentation, translations, user support, marketing and many other topics. And throughout November, we want to give special credit to every contribution – and encourage even more people to get involved!
So how does this work? In a nutshell, if you contribute to the LibreOffice project this month, you can claim an awesome sticker pack at the end:
Over the next four weeks, we’ll be keeping track of contributions and add your name (or username) to this wiki page if you help out. The page will be updated daily, and everyone listed there can claim a sticker! Here’s how you can get involved…
How to get your stickers
Here are some ways you can contribute to the project and get your stickers…
- Answer questions from users: Over on Ask LibreOffice there are many users looking for help with the suite. We’re keeping an eye on that site so if you give someone useful advice, you can claim a shiny sticker.
- Help to confirm bugs: go to our Bugzilla page and look for new bugs. If you can recreate one, add a comment like “CONFIRMED on Windows 10 and LibreOffice 6.1.2”. (Make sure you’re using the latest version of LibreOffice.)
- Spread the word: Tell everyone about LibreOffice on Twitter! Just say why you love it or what you’re using it for, add the #libreoffice hashtag, and at the end of the month you can claim a sticker. (We have a maximum of 100 stickers for this category, in case the whole internet starts tweeting!)
- Translate the interface: LibreOffice is available in a wide range of languages, but its interface translations need to be kept up-to-date. Or maybe you want to translate the suite to a whole new language? Get involved here.
- Contribute code: The codebase is big, but there are lots of places to get involved with small jobs. See our Developers page on the website and this page on the wiki to get started. Once you’ve submitted a patch, if it gets merged we’ll send you a sticker!
- Write documentation: Another way to earn a badge is to help the LibreOffice documentation team. Whether you want to update the online help or add chapters to the handbooks, here’s where to start.
So there’s plenty to do! Dive in, get involved and help make LibreOffice better for millions of people around the world – and enjoy your sticker as thanks from us. We’ll be posting regular updates on this blog and our Twitter account over the next four weeks!
LibreOffice monthly recap: October 2018
Here’s our regular recap of events and updates in the last month!
- The Albanian LibreOffice Community made an awesome recap video of our recent conference in Tirana. Check it out:
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- Also, we’ve been uploading presentation videos from the conference. Apologies for the echo in the audio, but it’s the best we could do given technical limitations of the venue – try using headphones and it should be a bit clearer. There are many more videos to come!
- As a large open source project serving millions of end users, LibreOffice has extensive infrastructure. We talked to Guilhem Moulin, who is in charge of The Document Foundation’s infrastructure and services, about new developments and how others can get involved.
- Meanwhile, the QA community organised the first Bug Hunting Session for LibreOffice 6.2, which is currently in development and due to be released in early February next year. There will be more sessions in the coming weeks, so if you want to help us make the next version super reliable, you can give us a hand!
- We continued our series of “Community Member Monday” interviews, talking to Ahmad Haris from Indonesia and Onyeibo Oku from Nigeria.
- Gökhan Gurbetoğlu from our Turkish community organised some LibreOffice training in Istanbul. 25 people were present and Gökhan focused on Writer and Calc.
- Italo Vignoli from TDF wrote about marketing activities in the LibreOffice project since the beginning of the year. He talks about events, press releases, and the Annual Report.
- Finally, the German community and CIB organised a Hackfest in Munich, with 25 participants who worked on bugfixes, polishing features, and sharing information. Oh, and there was great pasta as well!
Keep in touch – follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Like what we do? Support our community with a donation – or join us and help us to make LibreOffice even better!
Community Member Monday: Onyeibo Oku
LibreOffice is a truly international project – its user interface has been translated into over 100 languages, and our community is made up of contributors all across the globe. Today we talk to Onyeibo Oku from Nigeria, who is helping to promote LibreOffice and open standards…
Tell us a bit about you!
I live in Enugu, which is in Enugu State, Nigeria. I lecture in a state university – and I also do graphic design and love music! By music, I mean “music” as an art – not just for consumption.
Although I didn’t go through formal training or education in music, I learned a bit of sight-reading (slow though), interpretation of chords, movements etc. and I play the keyboard (piano etc.). I communicate my understanding of music through digital sequencing. That implies that I compose and arrange sometimes. My choice of reference (genre) is wide but I appreciate classical, contemporary classics, jazz and choral music the most.
Sometimes I’m active on IRC: I spend some time in the #fedora-qa (quality assurance) channel on Freenode. I also visit #python when I run into problems with my programming. For communication I use Telegram, and I am also on Twitter and LinkedIn.
How do you use LibreOffice in your work?
I write reports and do grade sheets with Libreoffice. Every lecturer prepares result sheets – I do mine with LibreOffice. I also collaborate with students authoring research papers using Writer. The commenting feature is indispensable.
How are you promoting FOSS and LibreOffice?
I operate the ##floss4arch channel on Freenode. There, I discuss the benefits of open source tools in the practice of Architecture with students of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology. I am a Fedora Ambassador, and a (former) council member of the Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA).
What are the challenges to adoption of FOSS in Nigeria?
The major challenge with adopting FOSS in Nigeria is the perception of “free”. Free things are considered “inferior”. Despite this mindset, it is hard to find a Nigerian who uses the internet without experiencing open source solutions like Firefox. Therefore, they’re mostly oblivious to how open-source products are pushing standards worldwide. Since Nigeria is weak in enforcing copyright laws, the average citizen has a skewed interpretation of licensing and the importance of software “freedom”.
What does LibreOffice need most right now?
For me, I think Libreoffice Calc should be able to retain header images when saving to MS Office DOC/DOCX file formats (and vice-versa). Currently, logos placed within headers disappear when the document is migrated to Microsoft’s format. A better commenting feature would certainly attract increased usage among the academics. Writer also sometimes seems jerky when working on documents with numerous pages.
What tools do you use for your work?
Apart from LibreOffice, I use Inkscape, GIMP, Blender, and Scribus. Python comes in when I need to automate tasks that support it. Then, I use Geany and Gedit for coding. Lilypond, Timidity++, Ardour and Audacity come into play when I need to arrange or sequence music.
Anything else you want to mention?
Yes – I work with FOSS 90-95% of the time. Open source software technologies are revolutionary!
Thanks to Onyeibo for his time! Anyone can help to promote LibreOffice and open standards in local communities: discover our existing native language projects, and also the regional mailing lists. If you want to start a new community, leave a comment below and we’ll get in touch!
Coming up: The Month of LibreOffice, November 2018
Next month, on November 1st, we’re starting a new Month of LibreOffice. But what does this mean? Well, it’s your chance to get some cool stickers for your laptop, PC, bike, pool table, or indeed anything else you have!
From the start of November, we’ll make a note of contributions all across the project, in development, QA, marketing, documentation, translations and more. Everyone who helps out in the community can claim their stickers – and if you’re already a long-time contributor, you can encourage other people to join in as well!
We’ll post more details on November 1st, including specific ways to get involved and help to make LibreOffice even better. Stay tuned…
Video recap: LibreOffice Conference 2018 in Tirana, Albania
Our Albanian community has created this great recap video the recent conference in Tirana – check it out! And a big thanks for their help with organising the event.
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