TDF Community Blog

Today we’re talking to Yusuf Keten, who added new features to LibreOffice as part of the Google Summer of Code 2020. He was mentored by Muhammet Kara from Collabora Productivity. Here’s what he had to say…

To start, tell us a bit about yourself!

I was born on February 25, 1998 in Istanbul, Turkey. Currently I’m a third-year Computer Engineering student at Hacettepe University in Turkey. I really like coding. Nowadays, I am working on computer graphics. Also, I have academic projects about GPGPU programming. I am contributing to LibreOffice in my free time because of my enthusiasm for open source culture.

Apart from programming, I like to spend my time playing electric guitar, drawing. Also, I describe myself as a coffee lover! You can find me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Why did you decide to become a member of The Document Foundation, the non-profit behind LibreOffice?

I came across TDF when I attended a LibreOffice Bootcamp given by Muhammet Kara. He explained what TDF does, and its values. I was really impressed, because supporting an open source project is a wonderful mission. Also, there are lots of talented people in TDF. Therefore, I wanted to be part of this great organization and contribute to TDF’s activities.

What are you working on in LibreOffice right now?

I have been working on User Experience topics for nearly a year. I created a new Additions dialog as during my Google Summer of Code work. It provides an interface for adding any extension types such as fonts, templates etc. with only one click. Also, users can search extensions based on how many votes they have, downloads and comments. Check out my GSoC report.

Anything else you plan to do in the future?

In my GSoC project, there are still some bugs and missing features. I would like to fix these bugs and add these features. Also, I may add other new features to LibreOffice, if they is needed.

Even though I worked on User Experience parts until now, I may work on computer graphics aspects of LibreOffice in the future – because I’m improving my skills in this area.

We at TDF would like to share our appreciation for Yusuf for all his contributions! We’re really happy to have him on board as a member. Indeed, everyone in the community who’s active in our projects is welcome to become a member!

We’re just over half-way through the Month of LibreOffice, November 2020, in which we award sticker packs to all contributors in our projects and community! (Plus, a bonus chance to win extra merchandise: a mug, T-shirt or hoodie.)

So how’s it going? Well, we’ve already awarded 262 sticker packs:

Is your name/username not on that page yet? Do something about it! There are many ways to help out – you don’t need to be a programmer. Let’s see…

How to get your stickers

There are many ways you can help out – and you don’t need to be a developer. For instance, you can be a…

• Handy Helper, answering questions from users on Ask LibreOffice. We’re keeping an eye on that site so if you give someone useful advice, you can claim your shiny stickers.

• First Responder, helping to confirm new bug reports: 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 7.0.3”.

• Drum Beater, spreading the word: tell everyone about LibreOffice on Twitter or Mastodon! 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 your stickers.

• Globetrotter, translating the user 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.

• Code Cruncher, contributing source 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.

• Docs Doctor, writing documentation: Whether you want to update the online help or add chapters to the handbooks, here’s where to start.

Join in! We’ll be posting regular updates on this blog and our Mastodon and Twitter accounts until the end of the month…