LibreOffice Dev Satirizes Euro: A Bold Move by ODF Pioneer

The Document Foundation (TDF), the maintainer of LibreOffice, has taken aim at the upcoming Euro-Office suite, a direct fork of OnlyOffice, which is set to launch tomorrow. This new office suite is being marketed as an open-source “European sovereign alternative” to proprietary services like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, developed by a coalition of European companies including Nextcloud, IONOS, and Tuta.

However, in an open letter, TDF has disputed this marketing classification. It argues that OpenOffice.org, which was developed in Europe back in 2001, predates Euro-Office as the first open-source office suite on the continent. TDF feels compelled to clarify this point, emphasizing that open-source initiatives should prioritize transparency over deception.

TDF considers OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice as the only two “genuine” office suites with European codebases, implying that Euro-Office is merely a freeware clone of Microsoft Office that has rebranded itself to symbolize digital sovereignty. Furthermore, TDF has noted an ironic twist: those now championing digital sovereignty were dismissive of LibreOffice and the OpenDocument Format (ODF) a couple of decades ago.

The mantle of digital sovereignty in Europe can be traced back to The Document Foundation and the dedicated community of LibreOffice members. These champions refused to let the notion of open-source office suites fade away, instead continuing to innovate and uphold the only genuinely open and standard format that ensures digital autonomy by granting complete user control over content.

LibreOffice has recently taken Microsoft to task for its allegedly problematic OOXML standard, which they argue locks in customers. The European counterpart, Euro-Office, adopts this same OOXML format, a move that LibreOffice deems as an unspoken alliance with Microsoft.