Daily Archives: Sunday, February 17, 2013

  • Ubuntu Touch Developer Preview due next week

    Steve WoodsLinux, Open Source, Tech

    Ubuntu logoThere’ll be a further foretaste of the Ubuntu OS for smartphones with effect from 21st February according to a report on German IT news website Heise since Ubuntu developer Canonical wants to publish its Touch Developer Preview of the mobile operating system then. It is aimed at developers so they can test their applocations with it, as well as users who like to experiment. Besides images for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and LG Nexus 4 smartphones, Canonical also wants to publish the sources with which the operating system can be ported to other smartphones.

    An Ubuntu for smartphones wiki page is already online, but will only be filled with additional content on 21st February. Anyone visiting the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona from 25th February can also see the Ubuntu OS on smartphones at the Canonical stand (81D30) in Hall 8.1.

    image of Ubuntu running on smartphones
    Ubuntu: coming to a smartphone near you soon

    Using Ubuntu for smartphones is heavily based on swipe gestures and dispenses with the usual Android home, back and menu buttons. The final version is provisionally scheduled to ship in the autumn, as was recently announced by Canonical’s founder Mark Shuttleworth.

  • Happy birthday to The Document Foundation

    Steve WoodsOpen Source, Tech

    the LibreOffice logoThe Document Foundation, the organisation behind the LibreOffice productivity suite, is celebrating its first birthday as a German charitable foundation.

    Florian Effenberger of The Document Foundation has today posted the message below on Google+:

    Exactly one year ago, February 17th 2012, The Document Foundation was established as a charitable Foundation under German law (gemeinnützige rechtsfähige Stiftung des bürgerlichen Rechts). So far, it has proven to be the ideal entity for reflecting the LibreOffice’s community needs. I am proud and honoured to be part of this project, part of this community, and part of TDF. I would like to thank all of you who have contributed to the success of our common goal – all developers, marketeers, localizers, administrators, designers, testers, donors, adopters, users and everyone else involved. You have made possible what the community has been dreaming of for a decade, and we all can be excited about the future!

    I’d like to add my best wishes for the future of The Document Foundation and LibreOffice to those of Florian. Keep up the good work; LibreOffice is a great product without which I wouldn’t be able to work so well. 🙂