Update: Reference card for runtime library is now available.
One of the recurring issue when using LibreOffice as a replacement of other office applications is the migration of macros to the LibreOffice BASIC dialect and objects. While the LibreOffice BASIC programming language is almost standard, the objects inside a document have different names, methods and properties, and a rework on the macro is necessary in most cases to make it operational again, when imported from other suites.
Showing our love for free software at LibreOffice FOSDEM booth, and around FOSDEM. Above, from left to right: Italo Vignoli (Italy), Sophie Gautier (France), Mike Saunders (UK/Germany) and Marinela Gogo (Albania). Below, from left to right: Jona Azizaj (Albania), Michael Meeks (UK), and Valerie Dagrain (France).
Last week, we have announced LibreOffice 6.0. Thanks to our incredible global community, we have been able to send press releases not only in English but also in other languages: Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese (Brasilian), Russian, Slovenian, Spanish and Traditional Chinese.
Below, the images of the first page of the PDF files you can download by clicking on the language name. I hope to be able to send next major announcement to more journalists in their native languages, to further improve the results we have obtained with the announcement of LibreOffice 6.0.
Internet, January 29th, 2018. The LibreOffice documentation community is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the Writer Guide 5.4, with all innovations and enhancements of LibreOffice 5.4. The guide is an in-depth reorganization and revision of the Writer Guide 4.2. The work was lead by Jean Hollis Weber, with collaboration from Cathy Crumbley and Bruce Byfield.
The book is targeted to end users, who look for advanced techniques for contents production, maintainability and update of text documents, unleashing the full power of a leading edge, solid word processor.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve talked to the documentation, localisation, QA (quality assurance) and design communities about their preparations for LibreOffice 6.0, which is due to be released this week. For our final Community Focus, we turn to the developer community, which has helped to implement many of the new features you can see in the release notes.
Development in LibreOffice is achieved using a wide variety of tools and services, which is a testament to the maturity and longevity of the project. The LibreOffice developer toolkit is best summarized by going through the lifespan of a single patch:
1. Communication. When a user would like to see a new feature in LibreOffice, or identifies a problem, he/she has one of several options to bring it up:
Users, developers and project members usually roam these communication channels and both development and general discussion is taking place. Communication is key. Then the next part is…
2. Development. During this phase the most important tools in the LibreOffice developers’ toolkit are:
3. Next steps. Once general agreement has been achieved on how to implement a new feature or fix a specific bug, the following services are used:
An overview of our most critical infrastructure used for development and release engineering is available on this site, while the Wiki has a list of additional services.
Another useful tool – a new addition to the toolkit – is the LibreOffice dashboard. You can use it to inspect the development, release and lifecycle of LibreOffice core and its associated repos with a bird’s-eye view.
So that’s the final Community Focus – a big thanks to all developers and testers who’ve helped to add the many great new features in LibreOffice 6.0! (And thanks to Teodor Mircea Ionita for his help with this post.) Stay tuned to this blog for the official announcement of the new release…
FOSDEM 2018 is approaching. As usual, several members of the LibreOffice community will move to Brussels to gather for the largest meeting of free and open source advocates in Europe.
People attending FOSDEM 2018 can find LibreOffice representatives at LibreOffice booth in building K during Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, there will be several LibreOffice-related presentations at the Open Document Editors DevRoom.
Immediately after FOSDEM, on Monday and Tuesday, there will be a LibreOffice HackFest, with developers working at new features and community members meeting to discuss certification, marketing, QA, design, and other relevant topics.
