LibreOffice

Euro-Office: sovereign in name only, or in reality too?

The announcement of the Euro-Office is welcome news. The coalition is credible, the governance is sound and the timing is perfect. Europe needs office software, and we are delighted to see such significant players allocating resources to make it happen.
However, we have a question. It is not meant to be hostile, but it is the only question that matters.

What is the native document format of Euro-Office?

https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/04/01/euro-office/

8:37amWeb
Show threadkravietz 🦇3h ago

@libreoffice

Regarding this argument:

OOXML is a format designed, controlled and managed solely by Microsoft

OOXML is registered as ISO/IEC 29500 since 2008, the same as ODF which is ISO/IEC 26300. I’m not supporter of Microsoft in any form and I’m aware of their lobbying going well beyond standardisation, but let’s stick to the facts.

Show threadlxskllr2h ago

@kravietz @libreoffice

Is LO's statement incorrect? Does anyone but MS design, manage, and control OOXML? Pretty sure nobody but MS cares about OOXML. It's only supported by programs other than MSOffice because their software became the defacto standard.

I'm not a programmer, but it's my understanding ODF is much simpler to implement. "Standards" aren't equal, and some only are due to fraud. The best standard should be default and required. Formats beyond that are user convenience only.

Show threadkravietz 🦇2h ago

@lxskllr

The whole point of international standard like ISO is that you give away control of the standard to an international body, relieved of patents, licenses and… full control of the standard, typical for proprietary formats.

In the latter, you just change the format, update you product and you’re obliged to tell noone. However if MS wants to update OOXML post 2008, they must follow the ISO path, which in theory everyone else can use to influence the standard, and then all changes must be documented and published. Granted the painful path all products attempting to process the old DOC format went through, this is a huge change already.

That’s why I disagree with this “managed solely by Microsoft” because this would imply there’s no legal difference between the before-ISO and after-ISO standard, which is obviously not true.

@libreoffice

Show threadOle-André Rodlie1h ago

@libreoffice Yeah... The reality for governments and organizations is that OOXML compatibility is a non-negotiable baseline. They sit on decades of legacy data that must remain accessible and editable without formatting loss.

If a suite can’t handle OOXML properly, the conversation about ODF (or whatever alternative) never even starts.

This is the reason OnlyOffice is gaining ground in the public and private sectors.

Show threadMr. Lance E Sloan (IRL) 👤55m ago
@libreoffice
#altText4All!