open standards

Joint effort to produce first 100% open source, enterprise-grade cloud office suite

30/01/2016 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Tech, Uncategorized

Kolab Systems, creators of Kolab, the leading open source groupware and collaboration framework, today announced a partnership with Collabora Productivity, the architects behind LibreOffice Online, the cloud-based office productivity suite.

The first version of Kolab with integrated CloudSuite functionality is due to appear around the middle of 2016.

Collabora’s CloudSuite web-based document product will be available as an integrated component in Kolab. The integration of CloudSuite into Kolab will allow users to work on documents simultaneously using a fully-featured online office suite from within the Kolab collaboration suite. Users will be able to create text documents, fill in spreadsheets and design presentations together, even when they are in different locations. Documents can later be saved in popular formats, including Open Document Format (ODF) and MS-compatible formats. The CloudSuite offering also comes with Collabora Office, a professional LibreOffice distribution, for offline use on the desktop.

CloudSuite complements Kolab’s integrated editor, which is also gaining collaborative editing capabilities. Users will be able to collaborate in real-time composing emails, setting agendas for meetings or adding contacts to distribution lists before sharing their work with colleagues and clients.

“For too long, closed and insecure solutions have been the industry standard for office and groupware productivity,” said Kolab System’s CEO, Georg Greve. “With this partnership Collabora and Kolab are taking the lead, not only with bleeding edge technological innovation and an office stack with full, user-friendly and comprehensive collaborative features, but also with a product that respects users’ freedoms, protects their privacy, and guarantees their work will not be locked away in proprietary formats.”

“Collabora Productivity is delighted to provide a key building block in Kolab’s comprehensive, new offering,” said Michael Meeks, General Manager at Collabora Productivity. “Kolab Systems have been a leading light in open source for many years and we look forward to supporting their ambitious growth plans in the enterprise sector and beyond.”
Mail merge embedding in LibreOffice Writer

11/01/2016 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Tech

Miklos Vajna of open source consultants Collabora has produced a short video showing the recent changes in mail merge in LibreOffice.

If you ever used the mail merge wizard with a Calc data source, then you know how it worked in the past: you’ve got 3 files: the .odt mail template, the .ods data source and a .odb data source definition that defines how to access the .ods.

The procedure has now been changed. As of LibreOffice 5.1, the .odb data source has been eliminated and the .ods data source is now embedded directly the .odt mail template.
HTTP status code proposed to report legal obstacles

24/12/2015 Steve WoodsOpen Standards, Tech

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has as its mission “to make the internet work better by producing high quality, relevant technical documents that influence the way people design, use, and manage the Internet“.

As part of this work, the IETF develops and promotes voluntary Internet standards, in particular the standards that comprise the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP).

These standards include HTTP status codes, which are derived from both IETF internet standards, IETF RFCs other specifications and some additional commonly used codes.

The IETF’s HTTP Working Group has recently published a draft RFC proposing a new HTTP status code – status code 451 – for use when resource access is denied as a consequence of legal demands.

The draft’s introduction gives the rationale for the proposal:

This document specifies a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) status code for use when a server operator has received a legal demand to deny access to a resource or to a set of resources which includes the requested resource.

This status code can be used to provide transparency in circumstances where issues of law or public policy affect server operations. This transparency may be beneficial both to these operators and to end users.

Getting into detail, the draft states that responses using this status code should include an explanation in the response body of the details of the legal demand, i.e. the party making it, the applicable legislation or regulation and the classes of person and resource to which it applies.

The use of the 451 status code implies neither the existence nor non-existence of the resource named in the request. That is to say, it is possible that if the legal demands were removed, a request for the resource still might not succeed.

The draft also gives an example of status code 451 in action.

HTTP/1.1 451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons
Link: <https://spqr.example.org/legislatione>; rel=”blocked-by”
Content-Type: text/html

<html>
<head><title>Unavailable For Legal Reasons</title></head>
<body>
<h1>Unavailable For Legal Reasons</h1>
<p>This request may not be serviced in the Roman Province
of Judea due to the Lex Julia Majestatis, which disallows
access to resources hosted on servers deemed to be
operated by the People’s Front of Judea.</p>
</body>
</html>

For those unfamiliar with the People’s Front of Judea, here’s some background information. 🙂

One of the reasons behind the proposal is that existing status code 403 (Forbidden) was not really suitable for situations where legal demands mean access to resources is denied.

Comments on the draft will be received until 13th May 2016.

The numbering of the status code pays homage to science fiction author Ray Bradbury‘s 1953 dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451.

Reposted from Bristol Wireless.
Collabora & ownCloud announce partnership & release CODE for LibreOffice Online developers

16/12/2015 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Tech

Collabora, the architects of LibreOffice Online, have announced a the formation of a partnership and the release of CODE (Collabora Online Development Edition), a distribution of LibreOffice Online and ownCloud Server. The purpose of CODE is to give interested developers from any field an easy way to get early access to the very latest untested feature additions and updates to LibreOffice Online, in order to enable them to develop, test and contribute. ownCloud is the company behind ownCloud Server, the world’s most popular open source enterprise file synchronisation and share (EFSS) software. The partnership will deliver a combined commercial solution during 2016, based on an integration of Collabora CloudSuite – a trio of Online, Mobile and Desktop office productivity – with ownCloud Server.

“We’re delighted to partner with ownCloud to strengthen our go-to-market posture as we look forward to fulfilling the considerable market demand for an Open Source cloud document suite,” said Michael Meeks, Collabora Productivity’s General Manager. “This initial release of CODE is our first step in this exciting journey. By design, Collabora Online does not include essential cloud functionality such as identity management or storage. CODE gives a showcase of how filling this gap with a complementary integration with ownCloud gives a taste of the final deployment experience.”

“Collabora is a great open source contributor and a great partner for ownCloud to deliver a full LibreOffice Online experience integrated with ownCloud to the ownCloud Community. Developers and Users will be able to easily view and edit documents while storing them in ownCloud,” said Frank Karlitschek, ownCloud founder and project leader. “This integration proves the power of integration between leading Projects and allows full support for all major document, spreadsheet and presentation file formats.”

CODE (Collabora Online Development Edition) allows prototype editing of richly formatted documents from a web browser. It has good support for key file formats , including text documents (docx, doc, odt, pdf, etc.), spreadsheets (xlsx, xls, ods, etc.) and presentations (pptx, ppt, odp, etc.). All files are processed in the cloud and rendered locally. This initial version allows basic editing. Collaborative and rich editing are planned. Interested developers can download CODE as an easily deployable virtual machine base image, bundled with ownCloud Server, and start contributing to both projects right away.
LibreOffice 4.4.7 released

11/12/2015 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Tech

Yesterday The Document Foundation announced the release of LibreOffice 4.4.7, the seventh and final minor release of the LibreOffice 4.4 family. LibreOffice 4.4.7 is the “still” version, which is aimed at more conservative users and enterprise deployments.

The Document Foundation recommends the deployment of LibreOffice in enterprises and large organisations with the backing of certified professional support.

LibreOffice 4.4.7 is available for download from http://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-still/.

The next release of the more cutting edge LibreOffice 5.x series will take place early in 2016.
The Document Foundation seeks boost to LibreOffice developer numbers

25/11/2015 Steve WoodsLinux, Open Source, Open Standards, Tech

The Document Foundation has announced a new drive to increase its developer community beyond the level of 1,000 reached in October 2015.

The growth of the LibreOffice developer community has been extraordinary, with a monthly average of over 16 new hackers contributing to the code since September 2010. This is due in the main to mentoring by the project’s founders. After five years and 1,000 new developers, though, the complexity has changed, and the project needs to invest on mentoring a new generation of coders.

LibreOffice has always been available on multiple operating systems – Linux, Mac OSX and Windows – and is now on the verge of being available on multiple platforms: desktop, mobile and cloud. Consequently, the project needs a wider range of developer skills, which can be achieved only with a renewed effort targeted to attract new contributors.

“When LibreOffice started, the codebase we inherited was known for being extremely hard to contribute to, for both technical reasons and a lack of mentors reaching out to new hackers,” says Bjoern Michaelsen, a member of LibreOffice engineering steering committee and a director of The Document Foundation. “Today, the LibreOffice project is known for its welcoming atmosphere, and for the fun. We strive to continue on this path for the next 1,000 code contributors.”
LibreOffice wins two awards

23/11/2015 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Tech
PortalProgramas.com has announced that LibreOffice, the leading open source office productivity suite, has won 2 prizes in its 2015 awards for free software applications.

The 2 categories in which LibreOffice won were:
1. Esencial para empresas (essential for companies), because it covers all enterprise office automation needs without adding licensing costs;
2. Mayor potencial de crecimiento (best growth potential); this was awarded because LibreOffice is regularly updated and is open to new features and applications.
Other winners included GNU Health (most revolutionary), WordPress (essential for communication) and CyanogenMod (best for mobile).

Congratulations to LibreOffice, The Document Foundation and all the other winners.
“Open source can liberate local authorities being held to ransom,” says Dutch MP

13/11/2015 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Politics, Tech

Open source software is a good option for local authorities who are dissatisfied with the price and quality of their software, says Dutch Labour MP Astrid Oosenbrug. This former sysadmin believes open source and open standards can liberate local authorities from their current suppliers, who she maintains can have too much power over their customers.

Situation “has been going on for years”

It recently became apparent from an investigation by NRC and Reporter Radio that many local authorities feel they are being held hostage by their software suppliers who are making the most of a dysfunctional market with price increases. According to Oosenbrug, the situation “has been going on for years”. She has been campaigning for a long time for open standards and open source solutions, her greatest success being a parliamentary motion passed in April according to which the government would be obliged to give preference to open source in invitations to tender.

More opportunity for open source

From their dissatisfaction, Oosenbrug perceives that local authorities are seeking alternatives to their current software. Oosenbrug states: “The opportunities for open source are increasing and definitely now the government is giving it preference. Amongst local authorities we do find those where the councillors won’t interfere (with procurement choices. Ed.), but I’ve also sat in the council chamber myself. Not every intervention from The Hague is in itself bad or negative, but is on the contrary supportive.

Open source good option for local authorities

In open source software the software’s source code is published and freely available to the public. The software can therefore be freely copied, adapted and distributed. Software standards between applications that work, services, systems and networks that work with each other can be inspected with open standards.”

Oosenbrug views open source and open standards as a good choice for local authorities. “Software companies have a hold on them with their products. If there’s no agreement with price rises, they stop providing the services and local authorities get into quite a bit of trouble. With open source local authorities can be freed from the stranglehold. With open source, anyone can examine the software used and inspect the source code. In this way security holes and clumsy coding are quickly traced.” Users with expertise are also looking everywhere, on account of which the software remains up to date and inexpensive solutions can often be found,” declares Oosenbrug. “There is a safe environment in which ethical hackers for example can play a major role.”

Open standards

Local authority websites are regularly attacked and are sometimes as leaky as a sieve. Consequently, Oosenbrug is also advocating open standards in addition to open source. “Of the 360 local authorities, only thirty comply with accessibility standards. You can overcome these sorts of problems with open source and open standards.” Oosenbrug believes there should be a template for websites with which local authorities can comply with all standards. “The remainder of a website can then be completed according to the local authority’s own preferences.”

Investment repays itself

Open source and open standards mean a considerable investment, but Oosenbrug believes it’s one that is repaid. “The bid that works best wins invitations to tender. Everything is checked for price and quality by the users themselves. Local authorities are currently in the land of the blind where the one-eyed man is king and they must always pay more. Software is becoming safer and cheaper with open source. The government must not view open source as a punishment, but as an opportunity.”

Municipality of Ede

Several local authorities have made progress with open source. In this way the Municipality of Ede has been able to make appreciable savings. After the changeover, it has been spending ten times less for software licences than comparable local authorities. On account of this, total ICT expenditure has been one quarter less than previous years.

Original Dutch source article: http://www.binnenlandsbestuur.nl/digitaal/nieuws/open-source-kan-gegijzelde-gemeenten-bevrijden.9500508.lynkx

Originally posted on Bristol Wireless.
LibreOffice 5.0.3 “fresh” and LibreOffice 4.4.6 “still” released

04/11/2015 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Tech
Away from the world of alpha versions and bug hunting sessions (posts passim), The Document Foundation yesterday announced the arrival of LibreOffice 5.0.3 “fresh”, the 4th release of the LibreOffice 5.0 family, and LibreOffice 4.4.6, the 7th release of the LibreOffice 4.4 family. Based on feedback from both users and the media, the LibreOffice 5.0 family is the most popular version of this free and open source office suite to date.

LibreOffice 5.0.3 is more feature-rich and as such is aimed at power users and tech enthusiasts, whilst LibreOffice 4.4.6 is targeted to more conservative users and enterprise deployments as it has been in widespread use for a longer time and as such offers a better experience for document production.

For security reasons it is recommended that all LibreOffice users update their software at least to LibreOffice 4.4.6.

Both software packages include many fixes introduced since the previous versions which can be viewed here for 5.0.3 RC1 and 5.0.3 RC2 respectively and here for 4.4.6 RC1 and 4.4.6 RC3.

Download LibreOffice

Both new versions can be downloaded via the following links:
- LibreOffice 5.0.3;
- LibreOffice 4.4.6.
Support

When deploying LibreOffice in large organisations and for enterprise use, The Document Foundation strongly recommends the use of professional support by certified individuals.
LibreOffice 5.1 will be the fastest ever

29/10/2015 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Tech

LibreOffice 5.1, the next release of the popular open source office suite, has officially entered the final stage of development with the release of the Alpha version, which has been released in time for the first Bug Hunting Session due to take place from Friday, 30th October to Sunday, 1st November (posts passim).

LibreOffice 5.1 starts twice as fast as the previous version and, as well as the usual incremental interoperability improvements with MS Office file formats (including MS Office 2016), incorporates some useful new features, such as the Chart Sidebar to change settings in a more intuitive way, easier workflow with Google Drive, OneDrive and SharePoint, plus a Style Menu in Writer.

The first LibreOffice 5.1 release candidate (RC) will be available in mid December, followed by second and third RCs in January 2016, with the release version becoming available in early February, just after FOSDEM 2016 (where LibreOffice developers will provide all the technical details about the new and improved software features).

Over the last 12 months, around 300 developers have hacked the LibreOffice source code, providing over 19,000 commits, representing a weekly average of 375 commits.

Download LibreOffice

LibreOffice is available in 2 versions codenamed “fresh” and “still” for production use*.

LibreOffice 5.0.2, the current “fresh” version, is available for download, whilst LibreOffice 4.4.5, the current “still” version, is likewise available for download.

* Alpha and pre-release versions should only be used by technology experts or enthusiasts who don’t mind getting their fingers cut by bleeding edge software! Ed. 🙂