Best of: Open source in technical writing

Celebrating LibreOffice at 40 years

LibreOffice is a powerful open source office suite that supports all platforms: Windows, Mac, and Linux. LibreOffice in one form or another has been around since 1984, so it just turned 40 years old in 2024. We interviewed Italo Vignoli to learn more about LibreOffice and to celebrate this milestone anniversary

• For more about LibreOffice, also read Command line document conversion with LibreOffice where Don explains how to leverage LibreOffice from the command line.
• Many people have a first impression that LibreOffice has a "tired" interface. But those are just the defaults. You can actually make LibreOffice look quite different, as explained in Give LibreOffice a user interface makeover.
• You may also like Accessibility features in LibreOffice where Don shares how LibreOffice supports people using assistive technology.

Technical writing with open source software

Technical writers often rely on open technologies, and increasingly use open source software tools. In this article, Jim discusses how he teaches technical writing with open source, including Docs as Code, HTML, desktop publishing, and XML as markup.

An open source version of Visual Studio Code

Don introduces VSCodium, a community-driven, open source, freely-licensed binary version of Visual Studio Code. It is released with an MIT license minus the licensing limitations and telemetry of Visual Studio Code.

Open source vector graphics in Inkscape

Inkscape is a powerful, open source vector graphics editor, ideally suited for creating scalable artwork such as logos, illustrations, and diagrams. Unlike raster-based programs, which work with pixels, vector graphics are composed of paths defined by mathematical equations, allowing for infinite scalability without losing quality.

How WordPress powers communities

In 2025, WordPress continues to be the backbone of accessible, customizable web publishing, especially for community organizations, libraries, and small businesses. Built on a robust open-source database, WordPress empowers users to organize content intuitively through categories and tags.