The LibOCon, or LibreOffice Conference, brings together the LibreOffice community to discuss the project’s activity, and is currently taking place in Brno in the Czech Republic. The open-source office suite, LibreOffice, continues to gain traction with both Linux users and developers, as well as administrators and enterprises.  

Earlier this week it was reported that the open-source alternative to LibreOffice, OpenOffice, was losing traction to LibreOffice and could shut down altogether due to a lack of contributors. The number of volunteer developers willing to update the once popular OpenOffice has dwindled to just six.

LibreOffice, on the other hand, had more than 1,000 contributors with 300 making commits in 2015. LibreOffice is also making good traction with larger organizations with the likes of both the U.K. government and a large branch of the Italian government making the move from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice.

LibreOffice 5.2 features

Early last month, LibreOffice was updated to version 5.2, a major release aimed at early adopters and power users. At the LibOCon on Wednesday, it received its first minor release with the announcement of LibreOffice 5.2.1. Here are some of the changes making their way into version 5.2:

Integration with Google Drive, SharePoint, more

The integration of LibreOffice with services and platforms such as Google Drive, SharePoint and Alfresco, allows users to save files to, and open files directly from, these platforms. The options are found in the LibreOffice applications under File menu.  

Note: LibreOffice also has built-in support for IBM FileNet P8, IBM Connections Cloud, Lotus Quickr Domino, Nuxeo 5.4, OpenDataSpace, OpenText 10.2.0, WebDAV, FTP, SSH and Windows Share.

Mark documents as confidential

The Document Foundation, the independent self-governing body, has been working closely with the Transglobal Secure Collaboration Program (TSCP), responsible for secure electronic communication for organizations.

LibeOffice 5.2 complies with TSCP’s standards for securing shared documents online, allowing documents to be classified into categories such as Confidential, General Business, Internal only or Non-business.

Multiple digital signature support

LibreOffice 5.2 also supports multiple digital signatures and descriptions. It also supports the import and export of signatures from OOXML files.

Two-factor authentication support

For users of Google Drive, LibreOffice 5.2 now includes support for two-factor authentication.

Updated features for Writer, Impress and Calc

LibreOffice 5.2 also includes a variety of new features for its suite of tools, including Writer, Impress and Calc.

Writer: LibreOffice’s word processor tool now includes a single toolbar mode. The updated Save toolbar button includes a Save as Template option for quick saving. While LibreOffice also includes a Print to File option when printing documents.

Calc: LibreOffice’s spreadsheet tool includes new functions, together with tooltips as you type. There is also a single toolbar mode, multiple status bar functions, and quick access to currencies using the drop-down menu.

Impress: LibreOffice’s presentation tool includes a new Slide panel in Properties where you can easily change the format, orientation and background image of a slide. A toolbar button allows users to show or hide the drawing tools and there is a new way to add effects to custom animations.

Mobile versions of LibreOffice

The Document Foundation is working on a full-feature mobile version of LibreOffice for both Android and iOS. The app will extend beyond the limited document viewer apps that are currently available, and will likely integrate with cloud services allowing users to work on the go.

Image via The Document Foundation