After a long period of anticipation, the newest of LibreOffice Community Support Groups has made its inaugural appearance on the Canadian scene on October 9th, 2019. LibreWaterloo hopes to attract local developers in the Region of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) where the various university high tech programs have gained the reputation of churning out some of the best graduates in the business. In fact, local high tech graduates are counted as some of the most numerous working in Silicon Valley, California; Canuks are indeed well-entrenched in the Silicon Valley hubs and hightech culture. As well, the Region of Waterloo is blessed in having large high tech programs taught/mentored at local undergrad institutions and organizations, University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, Conestoga College, Perimeter Institute, not to mention the close proximity of the University of Guelph, local Region of Waterloo private educational enterprises as well as other private enterprises where mentorship programs are offered to its employees.
LibreWaterloo is the temporary name coined for the support group and may still be refined at a later date should the new membership or board of directors decide to a name change. However, LibreWaterloo, or by any other name, will still hold to its main purpose as part of the LibreOffice international chain of support groups. LibreWaterloo as of today is the only organized LibreOffice group in North America and hopes to lead actively in LibreOffice code development and local LibreOffice user support.
The mission of LibreOffice Community Support Groups tend to vary little across national boundaries, in that the groups' principal mission is that of LibreOffice user support as well as code development of the LibreOffice suite. The code development continues with its tradition of openness where developers/coders interested in helping out are invited to help with hacking LibreOffice code. Devs are vetted once introduced to the dev mailing list(s) and in most cases are offered a sample of "low lying fruit" or "easy hacks" where coders can start work with either some form of mentorship or by some form of direction from some of the seasoned developers. Devs are also invited to participate in QA, UX development, accessibility etc. For users who are not developers, there is also a call out for help with LibreOffice manuals, marketing, publicity, website and wiki design/maintenance, and also representation at conferences running LibreOffice booths. So, a little bit for any interested in the LibreOffice project.
If you are in the vicinity of the Region of Waterloo and would like to attend local meetings feel free to email join@librewaterloo.ca and the LibreWaterloo Community Group will add you to its mailinglist or visit https://www.LibreWaterloo.ca for more information.
La COVID-19 nous défini comme êtres humains. S'aider les uns les autres en dépis de nos différences. Soyez vigilents et pratiquez l'éloignement physique. / COVID-19 defines us as human beings. Helping one another despite our differences. Be vigilant and practice physical distancing.