ODF

  • LibreOffice 4.2 offers increased performance and interoperability

    Steve WoodsLinux, Open Source, Open Standards, Tech

    The Document Foundation has announced the release of LibreOffice 4.2 for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. The new version is better integrated into Windows 7 and 8, as it now groups the preview of opened documents on the taskbar by application. A list of the last documents opened can now be displayed on the taskbar with a right mouse click.

    According to The Document Foundation, Calc – the spreadsheet application – has undergone the most extensive changes in its history, which should result in considerable increases in speed when calculating large volumes of data. A new optional formula interpreter enables massively parallel calculation of formula cells using the GPU via OpenCL.

    In addition to this, LibreOffice developers have improved interoperability with Microsoft Office, particularly when reading and writing .docx files. Amongst other things, LibreOffice 4.2 interprets MS SmartArt graphics better than the previous version. New import filters now also read Abiword documents and Apple Keynote presentations. A new start screen now shows a preview of recently opened documents.

    screenshot of new start screen in LibreOffice 4.2 running on Ubuntu Linux
    New start screen in LibreOffice 4.2 running on Ubuntu Linux

    The improvements also include the option in Windows environments the ability of centrally managing and locking down the configuration with Group Policy Objects via Active Directory and blocking individual options.

    On the mobile side, LibreOffice now supports an Impress Remote Control for iOS – in addition to the already available Impress Remote Control for Android – which allows visual management of presentation delivery on the laptop using the screen of an iPhone or iPad. The app is currently waiting for review from Apple, and will be announced as soon as it is available on iTunes Store.

    Moreover, the development team has also cleaned up and tweaked the user interface and revised 70% of dialog boxes. It will also look more modern due to the new flat Sifr icon set.

    All the new and improved features of LibreOffice 4.2 have been summarised here.

  • EU also recommends ODF as a standard format

    Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Politics, Tech

    ODF file iconAs an answer to a question from a Swedish politician the EU Commission has also confirmed ODF as a standard document format, Germany’s Linux Magazin writes. However, free software advocates are criticising the step as “not far-reaching enough”.

    image of Amelia Andersdotter MEP
    Amelia Andersdotter MEP
    At the end of November 2013 Amelia Andersdotter MEP, a member of the Swedish Pirate Party, submitted a written question to the EU Commission in which she dug deeper in two points into what was happening with file formats recommended by the EU. In 2011 Inter-Institutional Committee for Informatics had instructed all departments to support the OOXML standard developed and controlled by Microsoft. Andersdotter inquired what sense this still made when only one manufacturer is implementing the standard and how communication could take place with public sector organisations who are using other standards.

    The Commission’s answer was given a few days ago. According to a report on Joinup, the EU’s public sector open source news site, EU Commission Vice-president Maroš Šefčovič himself responded to the written question and mentioned OOXML and ODF as minimum requirements for document exchange. Šefčovič maintains that this ensures no vendor lock-in exists or can occur. In addition, public sector organisations should support other file formats in accordance with the best effort principle, i.e. if this is practically possible.

    Open source activists, such as the Open Forum Europe are describing the decision as overdue, but are criticising the EU for missing an opportunity for the EU to lead by example for not daring to stipulate ODF as a single open standard. Switzerland’s Open Systems Group welcomes this first step, Joinup states. Mathias Stürmer is even hoping that the Swiss government will follow suit, even though it is not within the EU; although it would definitely help to prompt other public sector organisations to make the change to ODF.

  • Recommended: Scribus

    Steve WoodsLinux, Open Source, Tech

    In the immediate aftermath of my mother’s recent death, I offered to prepare the order of service for her funeral. I felt this was one small service I could perform for her, as well as presenting me with an ideal opportunity to re-acquaint myself with Scribus, the free and open source desktop publishing (DTP) package.

    screenshot of Scribus
    My mother’s order of service being edited in Scribus. Click on image for full-sized version

    When it comes to operating systems, Scribus will run on Linux, other Unix-like operating systems, Mac OS X, Haiku, Microsoft Windows, OS/2 and eComStation; and that’s pretty impressive for a start.

    Scribus is designed for layout, typesetting and preparing files for professional quality image setting equipment. It can also create animated and interactive PDF presentations and forms. Example of its use include writing small newspapers, brochures, newsletters, posters and books.

    Scribus supports most major bitmap formats, including TIFF, JPEG and Adobe Photoshop. Vector drawings can either be imported or directly opened for editing. The long list of supported formats includes Encapsulated PostScript, SVG, Adobe Illustrator, and Xfig. Professional type/image setting features include CMYK colors and ICC color management. It has a built-in scripting engine using Python.

    Text can be imported from OpenDocument (ODF) text documents, such as those produced by LibreOffice Writer, Microsoft Word, PDB (Palm OS) and HTML formats, although some limitations apply. OpenDocument text (.odt) files can typically be imported along with their paragraph styles, which are then created in Scribus. HTML tags which modify text, such as bold or italic will also be handled pretty well.

    Scribus is available in more than 24 languages and is released under the GNU General Public Licence (GPL).

  • USL Umbria 1 migrates 300 workstations to LibreOffice

    Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Tech

    USL Umbria 1 logoItalian regional health organisation USL Umbria 1 has completed the first phase of its migration to Libre Office, Libre Umbria reports.

    USL Umbria 1’s territory includes the districts of Perugia, Assisi, Trasimeno, the middle and upper Tiber valley and the upper Chiasco valley (the Chiasco is a tributary of the Tiber. Ed.).

    LibreOffice menu screen
    LibreOffice start centre

    After some two months from the start of the migration, USL Umbria 1 has already converted 300 stations from running proprietary office suites to LibreOffice and is scheduled to migrate the rest of its PC pool within the next few months.

    In parallel with the LibreOffice installation, users are being offered training in the new software; those who’ve already been switched to the open source office suite should complete their training by the end of the year.

    In the opinion of the LibreUmbria project, USL Umbria 1 is a good example of how it is possible for public sector organisations to adopt free and open source software.

  • LibreOffice 4.2 international bug hunting session announced

    Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Tech

    the LibreOffice logoThe Document Foundation, the non-profit organisation behind the free and open source LibreOffice productivity suite, announced earlier today that the LibreOffice 4.2 International Bug Hunting Session will start on 6th December and end on 8th December. During the three days, volunteers from all over the world will test the beta of LibreOffice 4.2 to find bugs and regressions.

    bug hunting image

    LibreOffice 4.2 will be released at the end of January 2014 with a large number of new features and loads of fixed bugs. See the release notes for more details. The community is working to make this major release the finest in the history of the free office suite.

    In order to join the bug hunting session, volunteers should download LibreOffice 4.2 Beta 2 from http://www.libreoffice.org/download/pre-releases/.

    Mentors will be available at least from 08:00 UTC to 22:00 UTC and will be reachable through IRC (irc://chat.freenode.net/libreoffice-qa) and the QA mailing list (libreoffice-qa@freedesktop.org).

    Other information on the LibreOffice 4.2 International Bug Hunting Session can be found on the Document Foundation wiki.

  • LibreOffice 4.1.3 released

    Steve WoodsLinux, Open Source, Open Standards, Tech

    the LibreOffice logoThe Document Foundation (TDF) blog announced earlier today that LibreOffice 4.1.3 has been released for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. This is the third minor release of the LibreOffice 4.1 family, which features a large number of improved interoperability features for proprietary and legacy file formats.

    According to TDF, the new release is another step forward in the process of improving the overall quality and stability of LibreOffice 4.1. Nevertheless, for enterprise adoptions, The Document Foundation suggests the use of LibreOffice 4.0.6, which is supported by certified professionals.

    The release of LibreOffice 4.1.3 is taking place just one day before the LibreOffice HackFest in Freiburg, Germany, where the community will gather at the ArTik to get started on EasyHacks under the mentoring of experienced LibreOffice developers such as Thorsten Behrens, Eilidh McAdam, Bjoern Michaelsen, Markus Mohrhard, Eike Rathke and Michael Stahl.

    LibreOffice 4.1.3 is available for immediate download. Change logs are available at the following links: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Releases/4.1.3/RC1 (fixed in 4.1.3.1) and https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Releases/4.1.3/RC2 (fixed in 4.1.3.2).

  • Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region to save €2 mn. with OpenOffice

    Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Politics, Tech

    Flag of Emilia-RomagnaThe administration of the Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region will switch to the open source OpenOffice productivity suite, Joinup reports. It thus hopes to save some €2 mn. euro on the licences that it would have spent for updating the ubiquitous MS Office suite. To prepare the migration, a three-month pilot involving 300 workstations has started at the region’s Directorate-General for Agriculture; all other regional departments will switch over to OpenOffice by the end of 2014. The region employs some 3,545 office staff.

    screenshot of OpenOffice splash screen

    The region is currently using a ten year-old version of MS Office. Instead of spending €2 mn. to upgrade 3,200 proprietary licences that are due to expire next year, the province decided to switch to OpenOffice which “offers basically the same functionality”.

    The region has set aside a budget of €220,000 for the switch to OpenOffice; this budget includes a staff training element.

  • Italy’s Macerata province halfway through LibreOffice migration

    Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Tech

    the LibreOffice logoJoinup, the EU’s public sector open source news site, reports that Italy’s Macerata province is halfway its migration to the free and open source LibreOffice suite as a replacement for Microsoft Office. LibreOffice is currently used on 230 of its 450 workstations. The migration is expected to be completed in December next year.

    The same article also reports that Windows is being replaced by Linux as the workstation operating system used for non-specialised tasks on the provincial government’s PCs.

    These moves are expected to save the provincial authority some €150,000 in 2014. For Italy as a whole, the Asca news agency states the LibreOffice 2013 Conference in Milan was told that migrating the public sector to LibreOffice could save the public purse €300-500 mn.

  • LibreOffice improves support for OOXML

    Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Tech

    the LibreOffice logoAccording to Heise, Suse and Lanedo have completed a project to improve the interoperability of the free and open source LibreOffice productivity suite with OOXML, the format used by Microsoft Office files. The requirements were jointly defined by several bodies, including Munich City Council, the Swiss Federal Court and the French Ministry of Culture and Communication and the project received total funding of €160,000.

    The improvements have been incorporated into LibreOffice versions 3.6, 4.0 and 4.1. The code is licensed under the LGPL and MPL 1.1 3, but may also be used under the Apache 2 licence, so it can also be incorporated into Apache OpenOffice.

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