FINDING EQUI-LIBRE-UM
Linux Format|May 2022
Your favourite office suite needs help, as Jonni Bidwell finds out...
Jonni Bidwell
FINDING EQUI-LIBRE-UM

Upon hearing the words "office suite for Linux" there's a good chance you'd think immediately of LibreOffice. Yes, there are others, but LibreOffice (with a couple of exceptions) has for many years been the de facto standard for wrangling documents on Linux.

Not only that, but The Open Document formats have become so widespread that businesses and even the UK government uses them. The applications may been mocked for looking like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint from the late 90s, but there's no denying they're a powerhouse of productivity. Also, we never liked Microsoft's 'modern' ribbon interface...

But have you ever stopped to think how this huge project is maintained and sustained? Perhaps you've heard of The Document Foundation, perhaps not. For years this has been lobbying and advocating for digital equality and document sovereignty since its establishment in 2010. Through libre productivity software, interoperability, good documentation, and translations for as many languages as possible, the independent non-profit meritocracy aims to make the world a better place.

Most big projects have the backing of some sort of foundation, and it's generally inferred that foundations provide support not only in the shape of governance, but also materially, in the form of cold, hard cash. For LibreOffice though, this isn't quite true. Today, a great deal of LibreOffice development is done by open-source champions Collabora, the UK-Canada consultancy that's contributed extensively to projects as diverse as Chromium, Wayland and Steamos. And to pay their bills they've created Collabora Office, a supported, enterprise edition of LibreOffice.

Denne historien er fra May 2022-utgaven av Linux Format.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra May 2022-utgaven av Linux Format.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA LINUX FORMATSe alt
Create your first WebSocket service
Linux Format

Create your first WebSocket service

Mihalis Tsoukalos explains how to use the Go programming language to work with the WebSocket protocol.

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2023
Fantastic Mr Firefox
Linux Format

Fantastic Mr Firefox

Nick Peers takes a trip down memory lane to reveal the story behind the rise - and slight fall - of Mozilla's popular web browser.

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2023
Set up your terminal and email like it's 1983
Linux Format

Set up your terminal and email like it's 1983

Jump in the hot terminal time machine with Mats Tage Axelsson who emails from the command line using the latest technology.

time-read
8 mins  |
April 2023
Universal layer text effects with GIMP
Linux Format

Universal layer text effects with GIMP

Posters use them, films and presentations are hard to imagine without them: text effects. Attract attention with Karsten Günther and GIMP.

time-read
8 mins  |
April 2023
Jump to a federated social network
Linux Format

Jump to a federated social network

Nick Peers reveals how you can get up and running with this free, decentralised and non-profit alternative to Twitter.

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2023
Free our SOFTWARE!
Linux Format

Free our SOFTWARE!

Taking anything for granted is dangerous, so Jonni Bidwell and Mike Saunders revisit how the free software movement got started to help free us from proprietary tyranny!

time-read
4 mins  |
April 2023
Master RPI.GPIO
Linux Format

Master RPI.GPIO

Les Pounder goes back to the early days of the Raspberry Pi - and his career with this classic library! -

time-read
5 mins  |
April 2023
Waveshare Zero to Pi3
Linux Format

Waveshare Zero to Pi3

Transform your Pi Zero into a Pi 3, they promised Les Pounder, but it's more like adding on go-faster stripes.

time-read
2 mins  |
April 2023
The Best OPEN SOURCE Software Ever!
Linux Format

The Best OPEN SOURCE Software Ever!

In an attempt to trigger controversy, Michael Reed and Neil Mohr unequivocally state these are the greatest free software apps ever. Probably. We’re just trying to be helpful.

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2023
Linux-Mandrake 7
Linux Format

Linux-Mandrake 7

Simplicity and a wide range of applications make this a great distribution for all Linux users.

time-read
2 mins  |
April 2023