Tinker ☀️2d ago

Heavy drama in the open-source world of...

...Office Document Software.

Nextcloud, originally a fork of ownCloud, has launched Euro-Office, a fork of OnlyOffice (pissing off OnlyOffice). Collabora is weighing in and issuing comments against both OnlyOffice and Euro-Office while, itself, forking Collabora Office Desktop from the Document Foundation's LibreOffice. Document Foundation has now resumed LibreOffice Online which competes against Euro-Office and OnlyOffice.

(I think I've got all that right 😅 Correct me if I haven't! 😂)

❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 I unironically love this!!!! ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

Document software may appear boring on its face, but Microsoft Office is a big reason why folks still stay with Microsoft OS and don't (can't...) move to Linux. MS Office 365 is often used as a bridge to allow folks to move to Linux while still using Microsoft products in the browser but that solution still keeps them tied to closed source solutions.

Development of Free and Open Sourced Software (FOSS) office products, both desktop apps and online web apps, is a core and key element to allowing FOSS solutions to thrive - both for individuals and organizations.

This level of drama and fighting is indicative of a lot of effort and attention being thrown into this arena. I'm confident over time it'll settle and different projects will merge back together or at the very least borrow and build upon each's efforts.

Read and get your fill of the drama here: https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/02/eurooffice_forks_onlyoffice/

#FOSS #digitalSovereignty #installParty #Linux #diDay

Forking frenzy ensues after Euro-Office launch sparks OnlyOffice backlash

: Meanwhile, Collabora splits from LibreOffice Online amid claims TDF ejected 'all Collabora staff and partners'

The Register
Show threadtuxwise2d ago

@tinker

Mostly correct, but saying the Document Foundation "resumed" LibreOffice Online as kind of a "competitor" is a bit over the top.

Their announcement was much more defensive, along the lines of: "ok, since many of you really want something like that, you can continue working on it – we'll reopen the repository".

https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/02/24/libreoffice-online-a-fresh-start/

LibreOffice Online: a fresh start - TDF Community Blog

LibreOffice is a desktop application, but we get many requests for a web-based version of the suite that users can deploy on their own infrastructure. Several years ago, project members started to develop LibreOffice Online, but in 2022 the Board of Directors at The Document Foundation voted to freeze the project and put it in the “attic”, for reasons that have now been superseded. Earlier this month, the current Board of Directors decided to revoke those votes to give new life to the project, as Eliane Domingos, chairperson, put it: To start the process of freeing LibreOffice Online, and to start the journey that will lead to having an online version by the community and for the community. Now the work begins. We plan to reopen the repository for LibreOffice Online at The Document Foundation for contributions, but provide warnings about the state of the repository until TDF’s team agrees that it’s safe and usable – while at the same time encourage the community to join in with code, technologies and other contributions that can be used to move forward. We will actively work with the community to identify how to foster LibreOffice Online, including its technological basis, QA and

TDF Community Blog
Show threadTor Lillqvist1d ago

@tuxwise @tinker The LibreOffice Online code has not been hidden; if there had been anyone that really wanted to start working on that branch again, they could just have grabbed the repo and started doing something with it. That hasn’t happened. At least not publicly. Instead, all development has been going on in Collabora Online. Which by now is hugely improved since it was ”forked”.

(Besides, the repo in question is still read-only. I have obviously no knowledge how Document Foundation plans to actually proceed with it. They are not very open about it.)

Show threadtuxwise

@tml

AFAIK, the only publicly available reference that confirms the atticization of LibreOffice Online is in the 2022-11-28 foundation's board of directors meeting minutes:

»conclusion seems to be: not enough activity to keep out of the attic for the moment«

https://www.mail-archive.com/board-discuss@documentfoundation.org/msg06401.html

While technically "anyone" could have forked the repository, as you said, to continue working on LibreOffice Online, de-atticization would have been necessary to enable pushes and pull requests for the original repo.

The criteria for de-atticization seem to have been established by an earlier email voting:

https://www.mail-archive.com/board-discuss@documentfoundation.org/msg05549.html

https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/TDF/Policies/Attic#Deatticization_requirements

They are nontrivial, IMHO, and not really encouraging any further contribution to an atticized project.

@tinker

[board-discuss] Board of Directors Meeting 2022-11-28

Apr 4 at 12:46pmWeb