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Category: Meetings
Insights from the InstallFest 2024 conference in Prague
Our Czech community reports back from a recent event…
For the third time, the LibreOffice project had its own booth at InstallFest 2024, and here we present our experiences from the event.
On the weekend of 16th and 17th March 2024, the InstallFest 2024 conference took place at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague. The conference was held after a two‑year break and under the direction of a new team led by Jan Langmaier. This year, according to the organisers’ estimates, about 300 visitors attended, making InstallFest a successful follow‑up to previous editions. Unfortunately, higher participation is limited by the space capacity of the chosen venue.
The lack of space also affected the LibreOffice booth, which had to be a bit aside from the main event. On the other hand, anyone heading to one of the main lecture halls could not miss us – our exclusive position made us unmissable. Even so, there were far fewer visitors at our booth than in previous years.
Feedback gained at InstallFest
Conferences of this type appeal mainly to the younger generation, who must not be absent. It is therefore not surprising that young people from primary or secondary school are well represented among the visitors at the LibreOffice stand. This year, however, this was significantly more disproportionate than at other times – it can even be said that young people dominated. We always interviewed them, asking what they use LibreOffice for, how long they have been using it, whether it is used at school, where they go, and whether their classmates know about the suite.
The answers were generally similar. LibreOffice tends to be used by young people for basic tasks such as writing texts, creating presentations for school and so on. Those who create presentations in Impress for school assignments have to convert their presentations to PPTX format. Surprisingly, we’ve had good feedback on compatibility with this format, although it is of course problematic.
Very few visitors know about the cloud or mobile versions of LibreOffice, but there are some. We were surprised that one high school student reported using the cloud‑based, non‑paid version of OnlyOffice; after learning about the circumstances (ie that this software is in Russian hands and thus subject to EU sanctions), he understood why the institute he was working with (apparently a non‑profit of some sort) did not want to purchase the paid version of OnlyOffice. It simply cannot.
Many visitors would welcome some changes in LibreOffice’s user interface. While some prefer the traditional toolbar layout, others prefer a Microsoft Office‑like look and feel – either for personal taste or for ease of transition from Microsoft Office. LibreOffice allows you to use different interfaces, but this option is hidden in the menus. Visitors would appreciate if, when LibreOffice is first launched, a wizard were displayed to guide the newcomer through the various setup and customisation options, including user interface selection.
We received a request from one tutor to allow multiplication of a combinational number by a combinational number in LibreOffice Calc, and also to simplify the notation of simple arithmetic operations such as multiplication and division. Currently this has to be done using verbally defined functions, so he would welcome the ability to use simple symbols typed from the keyboard.
Although it would seem that office software cannot attract the attention of youngsters, one ninth-grader stayed with us for perhaps an hour. Obviously he was the record holder.
Zdenek Crhonek has a huge part in translating the LibreOffice manuals into Czech. These manuals are translated by a whole bunch of volunteers, and we displayed their covers here.
Traditionally, Collabora Online, the cloud version of LibreOffice, which is now very stable and usable and with a really extensive arsenal of features, attracted a lot of interest.
There were many interesting meetings of people who often only know each other from the virtual world; that’s what these conferences are for. A regular visitor to our booth is Ladislav Sieger, PhD., from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering CTU. He always has a problem to solve, an observation, or a comment.
After party
A very interesting opportunity (and meeting) was a visit to the basement of Strahov’s dormitories, where the SH Bastlíři (translated “DYI makers”) created their own facilities, a workshop that is available to (almost) everyone. Here you can come across a server rack on the ceiling of the toilet, a circular machine, a 3D printer and other interesting things. The visit to these premises was followed by a dinner at a nearby restaurant, where the participants from among the organizers (including speakers, technical staff, exhibitors) were taken by a chartered bus (!).
Conclusion
The new organising team has done its task well. If there were problems, we are not aware of them; that is, they were of a completely minor nature. For us, the biggest problem was with the location of the stand; perhaps this played a role in the rather low attendance of interested people. Although we probably had the most space of all in the end and did not have to make any space constraints, we may not have reached as many visitors as we could have.
However, the other perspective should also be taken into account. Although LibreOffice plays a primary role in the world of open‑source software, it is considered a utility that does not attract as much visitor interest. Therefore, we have tentatively agreed with the organisers to change that next time on our side, and they have promised to help us.
Anyway, those who visited our booth hopefully took something away with them (besides stickers and leaflets), especially thanks to Zdeněk, who maintains a lively communication with LibreOffice’s front‑line staff and has information literally first‑hand. He can thus provide far more insider insight than one Czech community member alone on the stand could in previous years.
All of the talks were filmed and the recordings are available on YouTube.
Nepali Community celebrates LibreOffice 24.2 Release Party with CS50x Nepal students
Suraj Bhattarai, our Nepalese LibreOffice Community Liaison, writes:
We shared some positive words around the LibreOffice project, among students of IOE Purwanchal Campus enrolled in CS50x Nepal. The LibreOffice orientation was scheduled for two hours on 21st February, 2024 at the MSC special classroom of the same campus; it was a special session in the CS50x Nepal timeline.
The session that I delivered gave a general overview of the LibreOffice project, The Document Foundation, the Document Liberation Project, past activities carried out by the local Nepali community, customization tips and tricks for familiarity, and how to contribute or connect in the community.
Moreover, the session – organized for 30 CS50x Students – included a total participation of 47 people, seven of whom were Nepali Community members, six of whom were other students, and the rest were the CS50x staff. The session was primarily intended to introduce the LibreOffice suite and provide hands-on experience with it, to the newly enrolled, first-year students in the campus, who were actually enrolled for the CS50x classes.
The session had this breakdown:
- 40 mins of talks
- 30 mins of quick presentation competition using LibreOffice Impress
- 30 mins of release party cake and celebration
- And lastly, 30 mins of Plane Rush competition as a fun touch to the session
The competition was facilitated by our community volunteers, where they distributed some gifts as well. The challenge for the competition was to create a visually appealing, quick three-page presentation using LibreOffice Impress on-the-spot, in 25 minutes. All they had to do was recreate the presentation slide version of the LibreOffice university/school (English) flyer.
The gifts were LibreOffice T-shirts, water bottles, Document Liberation Project stickers, pens and more. The same gifts were distributed to winners of the Plane Rush activity as well, and some light items like stickers and pens were given to everyone present in the session.
After some hands-on experience with LibreOffice Impress, a quick survey was conducted, where 27 of the participants claimed that they tried LibreOffice for the very first time. The same survey had asked what they love about LibreOffice. And honestly, a majority of them mentioned the reasons to be: open source, free, compatible with Microsoft Office files, community driven, cross-platform, privacy, and feature-rich.
The latter half of the session was filled with fun, as we cut and shared the vanilla-flavored release party cake with everyone present in the room. The environment was really fun with flashes, noise, claps, smiles, and cameras and eyes all over the cake.
Lastly, in the sunset and the open ground, participants flew their own paper planes based on LibreOffice PaperPlaneFront.odg. The session was totally fun and a unique experience for everyone. And yes, they did collect the planes for paper recycling later on. And with this, the day, joy and celebration all came down to a happy ending with the efforst from the Nepali community.
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LibreOffice at FOSDEM 2024
FOSDEM is the biggest meetup of free and open source software (FOSS) developers in Europe, and takes place every year, in early February, in Brussels. And the LibreOffice project is always there!
We had a stand with merchandise, and community members were present to answer questions, provide information about new features in LibreOffice, and meet people from other FOSS projects.
Our LibreOffice pens were very popular, as were Document Liberation Project stickers and flyers. Many visitors to the stand were regular LibreOffice users and just wanted to say thank you, some buying a T-shirt or hoodie as well. We even had a couple of donations on the spot! Others asked what they can do for LibreOffice.
And here are a few photos from the event, and our community dinner. This is just the beginning though – we plan to be at many more events this year!
Recap of LibreOffice Localization Sprint 2023 in Nepal
Suraj Bhattarai, our Liaison for the LibreOffice Nepali Community, sent us this report:
In October 2023, the LibreOffice Nepali Community organized an online localization event. They called it the “LibreOffice Localization Sprint 2023” with a tagline “Unlock Native: LibreOffice Speaks Nepali”. The localization sprint was mentored by localization expert Saroj Dhakal, our liaison in Nepal (me – Suraj Bhattarai) and Kathmandu University engineering student Aadarsha Dhakal.
In order to build excitement around the event, they invited key open source community and student clubs from different locations in Nepal. The invitation was generously accepted by AskBuddie, Kathmandu University Open Source Community (KUOSC), Birendra Open Source Club (BOSC), and Nepal Open Source Klub (NOSK) – and they all joined the collaboration. Following the immediate announcement, many volunteers came forward and expressed their willingness to join in and contribute to the LibreOffice project.
LibreOffice’s Nepali Community started their sprint on 11th of October. 42 people appeared on the first day orientation. Since many of the involved people were absolutely new to localization, expert Saroj Dhakal begin with an introduction to LibreOffice and The Document Foundation’s Weblate instance. Later, the mentors made participants familiar with the localization process in our tools, with a quick demonstration on how to proceed with strings, checks, and different glossary terms.
The webinar was hosted by Satya Raj Awasthi from NOSK and facilitated by Saroj, Suraj, Adarsha from KUOSC, Abhishkar Aryal from AskBuddie, and Kushal Pathak from BOSC. The sprint was initially considered for a span of two weeks – but the participants showed strong interest, and carried it on for the full month.
The localization sprint had a hard choice with clashing timelines, due to two of the approaching major festivities affecting the consistency of the sprint. Indeed, the sprint had to take a break for 10 days, so effectively the sprint only took place for 19 days. Still, some very committed participants still utilized some of their time in between.
Each day, the participants met online in a video call, querying mentors about difficult translations. Those who were inexperienced with localization were suggested only to proceed for one hour a day while in the group call with mentors. But other, more experienced people were free to utilize any appropriate time of the day based on their flexibility.
Most students thanked the LibreOffice Nepali Community for organizing the localization on such an open scale. At the same time, they admitted that they could effectively utilize their vacation time in learning new things, all thanks to the sprint. The event finished on the10th of November. So the effective hours each participant contributed to the project was around 19. With this, the LibreOffice localization Sprint 2023 officially counts as the third longest LibreOffice localization sprint organized by the Nepali Community.
Summary
- Name: LibreOffice Localization Sprint 2023
- Event Duration: 11th October- 10th November
- Active Participation: 16 (until the end date)
- Involved from the community: 4
First half
- Winners: 7
- Prize: LibreOffice printed 750ml Aluminum Water Bottle
- Strings localized: 6,817+
Breakdown
- Translated: 4025
- New strings suggested: 2792
- Checks corrected: 12
Second half
- Winners: 3
- Prize: LibreOffice printed 750ml Aluminum Water Bottle
- Strings localized: 4,118+
Breakdown
- Translated: 2316
- New strings suggested: 1802
- Checks corrected: 6
Leaderboard winners
- Winners: 6
- Prize: Event logo printed T-Shirt
In total
- Winners: 16
- Prize: Event logo printed T-Shirt
- Strings localized: 10,935+
Breakdown
- Translated: 6341
- New strings suggested: 4594
- Checks corrected: 18
The participation and appreciation certificate for the involved communities were issued on 18th of November. The prizes to all the winners were shipped by Dec 4th. The individual communities invited winners and participants in their own campus space and celebrated in-person handover and closing of the sprint, promising members to introduce more LibreOffice activities in their space.
TDF says: huge thanks to everyone involved! What a fantastic effort, with great results 😊
Of reencounters in the Aztec capital – LibreOffice Latin American Conference 2023
Daniel Rodriguez and Celia Palacios write…
The ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlán dawns on an autumn Thursday in November, which could well be just another one and, probably for many people, it will be. But there are different threads of a great plot brewing from the roads that converge there. People come from different parts of the world, in addition to those who travel from different parts of the country to meet in this annual regional event.
It is nothing more and nothing less than the IV Latin American Congress of LibreOffice 2023, which this year was organized in close collaboration with the Division of Electrical Engineering (DIE) of the Faculty of Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the non-profit organizations Cuates.net, Fundación Dedica and the National University of Alto Uruguay, as well as the companies OSS Integral Institute, Collabora Online and allotropia.
There is an atmosphere of joy for the reunion; accents from different latitudes of our America and Europe can be heard, in the cases of those who try to speak in the language that unites us as a region. But also dialogues in English when the words did not flow in our language; the spirits were high and generous for this unprecedented event in the north of the American continent.
The opening took place in the “Sotero Prieto” auditorium of the Engineering Annex, where a group of volunteers from the university were waiting at their posts, whom we identified throughout the event for their willingness to provide directions and general information and, above all, to make each attendee feel welcome.
It seems to me that the event was more successful than I thought it would be, being very close to the end of the semester. However, the students were very interested in the workshops. I think these events are important for the community to learn about free software, particularly LibreOffice, and to break these stereotypes about free software. It is not difficult, it is so open that you decide what you want to do with it.
Dr. Rocío Aldeco – Head of the Computer Science Department
We see familiar faces, greetings, badges with hurried letters and others, written in more detail, group photos; but the murmur diminishes when the opening ceremony begins with the words of Dr. Rocio Aldeco on behalf of our host UNAM, of the living legend of free software, Federico Mena, and finally, as representative of The Document Foundation, of Celia Palacios. They all take the stage to open the meeting with words of thanks to UNAM, to TDF, as well as to the members and volunteers, encouraging them to continue with the enormous work they do every day.
After the first morning, the paths temporarily bifurcate: there are those who choose to remain in the auditorium to listen to the keynote talks and those who head to the laboratory to participate more actively. In both spaces, a wide range of topics are addressed, ranging from the path taken to adopt the OpenDocument Format in Taiwan, to quality control or development with Python and LibreOffice.
I’m pretty impressed. First, by people there – friendly people, full of passion. I met many community members for the first time, and they all gave me a friendly welcome. Second, the conference itself is well organized, thanks to the amazing team. (Though I couldn’t understand what they are talking about, but the whole flow ran well, and some interim schedule changes didn’t cause problems.) Third, by the city – I could see the celebration of Día de Muertos everywhere. Very interesting. Some Aztec ruins, the pyramids, and in the evening people singing and dancing on the street of Mexico City.
One of my missions this time is to introduce LibreOffice Asian community members. I do hope that there are stronger connections between the Latin American and Asian communities, and we can do something together.
Franklin Weng – President of BoD, Software Liberty Association Taiwan
But the conversation does not end in the formal spaces of the agenda: groups are formed to debate, share information, exchange contacts and form networks to continue thinking and building. The story would not be complete without mentioning that in addition to the technical exchange, there were social and cultural moments.
At the end of Friday, the farewells arrived, but they are only a goodbye, even though a place to meet again for 2024 has not yet been defined.
The success of the event can be explained in many ways, but we choose this one: the hard work of the great organizing team.
Thank you, Mexico City; thank you, UNAM; thank you, Hispanic LibreOffice community!
