LibreOffice State of the Project (April 2025 – March 2026)
Posted by themikeosguy@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 64 comments
Posted by themikeosguy@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 64 comments
rbrownsuse@reddit
47 Collabora developers, doing 4763 commits..
16% of the developers doing 42% of the commits..
Seeing these graphs and realising that the TDF just kicked out the largest single source of contributions is really quite depressing
So the April 2026 - March 2027 report is just going to be 20 slides of Disaster Girl? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster_Girl#/media/File:Disaster_Girl.jpg
a-peculiar-peck@reddit
I'm not well versed in the LibreOffice/TDF lore, what do you think of this statement? https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/04/01/comment-about-collabora-blog-post/
rbrownsuse@reddit
I think it is useful to see that the “initial crime” was the incorrect legal structure of the TDF which put the Foundation on shaky ground
I think it was a mistake for the TDF to see that problem and opt for a route that obviously has alienated Collabora
I think the more ethically, morally, and practically sound route would have been to change the TDFs legal structure to fit the needs of all of its stakeholders
Rather than its current route which seems to be to double down on its independence even though its community contributions make up a relatively small amount of the work in LibreOffice.
They’re on track to put a huge amount of responsibility on 8 not-so-broad shoulders to keep the engine running while the community and collabora are likely to look elsewhere - this drama is still toxic AF and the situation is perilous even if you fully buy in to the TDFs decisions
a-peculiar-peck@reddit
Thanks.
I agree it doesn't look too good for the technical evolutions needed in LibreOffice.
Could it be fair also to say that Collabora might have prioritized a bit too much its own financial interests over the overall well breeding of the foundation?
In which case the foundation had to do something anyway, and I don't see how it could not have somewhat alienated Collabora
Or am I reading the situation wrong?
themikeosguy@reddit (OP)
Well, donations to TDF are growing which has enabled the foundation (while remaining an independent non-profit, the whole goal of this) to take on more paid developers. Recently a new Base developed joined the team, and a scripting developer too – with more to come...
silenceimpaired@reddit
I’m not donating a cent until their software functions a lot closer to Microsoft Office suite (like OnlyOffice)… which means I probably will never be donating because a large portion of LibreOffice fans like the difference.
Natural_Night9957@reddit
You're being dickish, LO doesn't need to become MSO II.
silenceimpaired@reddit
Yes, a bit. And you're right, it doesn't need to become that. OnlyOffice already exists.
That said, I just am not participating in learning a new set of software when I have years of muscle memory in another. It's one of those things that in my opinion holds back LibreOffice. It doesn't have to be the default settings, but they should have the tools in place where a user can build a preset that perfectly fits their expectations. LibreOffice doesn't have enough of those tools. I went through the process of trying to align it with my expectations and it still fell far too short.
Xeromycota@reddit
Suit yourself, but I wonder do you also complain about muscle memory when learning linux?
silenceimpaired@reddit
No. I pick a DE that operates like I’m used to. Just like I do for my Office Suite.
And since I’m being downvoted into oblivion for an opinion I’ll give another… LibreOffice’s design has little to no improvements over Microsoft Office.
Xeromycota@reddit
Ignore the downvote, it just arbitrary number. What DE and Distro? I need to know because maybe your choice is the proper gateway for people who tired with Windows but lazy to learn new thing.
silenceimpaired@reddit
On a high level KDE is closest to Windows and Gnome is closest to Mac. I’m on Debian.
Xeromycota@reddit
What DE do you use? Did you install Debian by yourself?
silenceimpaired@reddit
I went with Gnome with extensions and installed Debian myself
Xeromycota@reddit
Nice, so you used to mac, manage to install Debian with Gnome. 2 more question if you may:
Do you think tech enthusiast will find more difficulty in learning libreoffice given familiarity with Microsoft office than learn linux & install Debian?
Why you even bother? Microsoft office is running perfectly on mac
silenceimpaired@reddit
This will be my last reply as you appear to just be looking for a “gotcha”.
First off, my initial feedback assumed a new user looking for advice on where to start.
Second, I come from Windows not Mac. I didn’t come to Linux because it was better; I left Windows due to privacy concerns and hardware ownership. I used extensions to make Gnome feel like Windows because it has been more polished than KDE in my experience.
Third, it’s a false dichotomy you provide. I cannot choose to stay on Windows as Windows 10 is discontinued. It is a foregone conclusion I had to come to Linux. If I could continue to have an updated Windows 10 or even 7 I would. Additionally I consistently pick an environment that serves my muscle memory — I do not use Linux just for something different… just like I won’t pick an office suite that isn’t familiar.
Xeromycota@reddit
TLDR
Far_Calligrapher1334@reddit
Yeah its because literally no one asked and you shoved it into a completely wrong comment chain.
mrtruthiness@reddit
No. The issue started with the founding of the TDF in Sept 2010 (the issue being the policy about how a charitable foundation in Germany must structure the use of its trademarks and that it can't have free use by a non-profit). Collabora started the sub-org Collabora Productivity -- paid devs for support of LO -- 3 years later. They were enabled by the poorly-thought-out trademark policy, but that was the fault of the TDF.
rbrownsuse@reddit
I think during the TDFs creation Collabora was not entitled to the sort of control it would have needed to avoid this situation
So I put more of the blame on the TDF for setting itself up wrong for its members, not any of its members for operating in a way that’s totally acceptable in many other projects
a-peculiar-peck@reddit
I see. I think I understand the situation better now, thanks.
CyberSkepticalFruit@reddit
If you look at why the TDF was set up in the first place you can understand their reticence to allow a private entity to have more control of their products.
silenceimpaired@reddit
I think the future will be EuroOffice fork of OnlyOffice, but what do I know.
themikeosguy@reddit (OP)
TDF hasn't "kicked out" anyone from contributing. Collabora employees have had their TDF Board of Trustees membership status suspended pending resolution of legal issues to protect the non-profit status of the foundation. It doesn't stop them contributing. Many contributors to LibreOffice are not TDF Board of Trustees members.
Rich, you've been around in the FOSS world for a long time, so I hope you know the importance of TDF surviving as an independent, non-profit foundation as a home of the LibreOffice project. Steps like these, painful as they are, are (following legal advice) essential.
mrtruthiness@reddit
To be clear: The TDF Board of Trustees is just a fancy name for being a member of the TDF and that we're talking about something like a 150 member group being reduced to a 120 member group. There has been a lot of confusion between that group and the "Board of Directors" which has 7 members (+3 alts).
And to be more clear: The vote to change the bylaws to suspend members where there are "pending legal issues" was done in Jan 2026.
And as I understand it: The TDF isn't defining "pending ... legal issues" as an actual lawsuit. It appears to call "pending ... legal issues" as TDF threatening a lawsuit.
You have personally thrown so many stones at the Apache Foundation in regard to "the home of the AOO project" that I don't value your opinion on this.
Natural_Night9957@reddit
In all seriousness, do you want an Oracle inside TDF? I know I don't. That's how this story begins.
mrtruthiness@reddit
Oracle? What are you talking about?
Oracle is explicitly not in the Office Suite game for almost as long as the TDF has existed. Oracle gave away all of its interest in OpenOffice (copyrights and trademarks) to the Apache Foundation a long time ago. The Apache Foundation is a charitable foundation (a US 501.c.3) and has existed for nearly twice as long as the TDF.
Natural_Night9957@reddit
Are you trying misdirection? The great fork happened after Oracle had bought Sun. Apache received OO as a donation some time after.
I'll ask again: In all seriousness, do you want an Oracle inside TDF? I know I don't. That's how this story begins.
mrtruthiness@reddit
I know the timing. That's why I said "Oracle is explicitly not in the Office Suite game for almost as long as the TDF has existed."
When Oracle gave the rights of OpenOffice to the Apache Foundation, Oracle completely stopped being in the Office game.
And that's why your question is ridiculous. What do you not understand???
Natural_Night9957@reddit
You're a real piece of work, you know that? I'm gonna let the other folks in the thread read the room on what Collabora didn't say but sure as hell implied. If anyone's on the spectrum and needs it spelled out, slide into my DMs.
mrtruthiness@reddit
Reported for reddiquette violation.
Spell it out here. Publicly. What are you afraid of???
You're not being clear at all. Are you confusing Collabora with Oracle??? Are you somehow speculating the Oracle's partnership with NextCloud has something to do with Collabora's Online version have something to do with each other?
Glad-Weight1754@reddit
LOL :D
mrlinkwii@reddit
honestly i dont care
Natural_Night9957@reddit
Eh, par for the course these days.
Natural_Night9957@reddit
Oof
mrlinkwii@reddit
honestly with code nothing get done the user sees, im sayuing that as a tester for foss projects
thebearon@reddit
Suspended? Fancy newspeak for revoked.
rbrownsuse@reddit
If the legal framework the TDF chose for its existence is responsible for alienating the source of almost half of its contributions, then the TDFs choice to be an independent non-profit is wrong, not anything anyone else did
Yes I’ve been in the FOSS world long enough to know there’s plenty of other governance models which could/should be considered rather than sticking to one that forces the TDF to cut off its nose to spite its face
CyberSkepticalFruit@reddit
"TDFs choice to be an independent non-profit is wrong"
If you look at the reason for TDF being set up in the first place its not surprising they wanted a governance model that doesn't give too much power to a single private entity.
Far_Calligrapher1334@reddit
I love lying on the internet to suit my agenda
avg_php_dev@reddit
I have only one question: Which office suite I should recommed for people switching to linux now?
mrtruthiness@reddit
Maybe Collabora Office. Here's a flatpak: https://flathub.org/en/apps/com.collaboraoffice.Office
avg_php_dev@reddit
Thanks, but my question is more about confusion. Looks like I can't recommend anything stable now. Personally I don't care about office suits, but for many people it's crucial.
mrtruthiness@reddit
You could recommend Open Office. It's very stable! It's probably the most-used MS Office alternative on Windows.
avg_php_dev@reddit
hehe. My cousin who is using ms office daily said she will leave her work if they force her to use OO :d
Well, I don't care anyway - I designed my CV in html+css and exported to PDF because I couldn't force libre office to produce what I wanted.
FryBoyter@reddit
As usual, it depends on your needs and preferences.
For many, LibreOffice will suffice.
For others, OnlyOffice is more suitable. However, the developers of OnlyOffice are currently trying to prevent the Euro-Office fork. And they are doing so by questionable means. OnlyOffice uses the AGPL licence. However, the developers of OnlyOffice have modified this licence so that a fork is only possible if the logo is used. Which is not permitted. This effectively makes a fork impossible. According to some sources, such a change to the licence is not legally possible either.
TeutonJon78@reddit
Also it seems OnlyOffice is a Russian led project, which is an issue for many.
Assix0098@reddit
Hence the fork of Euro-Office
TeutonJon78@reddit
Sure, but have you actually looked at that project? It's a handful of people with little to no infrastructure behind it.
As of now, it's not poised to do anything of note beyond just being a literal rebadge of OnlyOffice.
RoninTheDog@reddit
The question depends on how advanced they are with Excel and Powerpoint.
Farados55@reddit
OnlyOffice
SirGlass@reddit
Libre office.
silenceimpaired@reddit
OnlyOffice
https://media.tenor.com/Nzr1mcb-gdkAAAAM/duck-season-rabbit-season.gif
datfalloutboi@reddit
Sorry if this seems very stupid to ask, but what exactly is wrong with libreoffice? Im out of the loop and also confused because this doesn’t look that bad.
EncampedMars801@reddit
Not sure if this is exactly what you're asking about, but imo, the UI, both in terms of UX and theming, is absolutely archaic. My recent experience trying to make it look good was a mess, with the light theme not entirely being light, all UI options being scattered and messy, and icons generally feeling outdated (even the newer ones).
Even though it's still regularly recieving contributions, I couldn't name a single change since I started using it a couple years ago.
TheDormantOtaku@reddit
Theming completely messed me up too. Couldn't get it right. The interface looks bad. I eventually settled on onlyoffice due to its decent UI but it got a whole lot of other problems. Now this euro office thing, I am looking out for.
ImprovedJesus@reddit
So is this drama somehow related to why EuroOffice is based on OnlyOffice instead of LibrrOffice?
Falimor@reddit
It seems ok to move to Collabora?
Natural_Night9957@reddit
I don't have a dog in this fight, but LibreOffice looks like it's about ready to jump off a cliff. Someone needs to put them on suicide watch.
silenceimpaired@reddit
Let them jump. I prefer OnlyOffice and by proxy EuroOffice. And if I had a dog in the fight I’d sic it on the UX designer who didn’t keep the software design close to the most popular Office suite on the planet.
Okay. I’m calming down. Just breathe. It’s just software. They’ve helped us all in many different ways…
Ok-Winner-6589@reddit
Yes lets prevent people from editing files localy. What an inteligent idea...
Whats Next a toaster tied to the cloud?
silenceimpaired@reddit
No clue what you’re talking about. I run OnlyOffice on my computer locally and modify my files locally. Pretty sure EuroOffice will support that.
Ok-Winner-6589@reddit
EuroOffice is a fully cloud service. They already claimed that
And OnlyOffce sued them for forking their software. Which goes against what OS is. Despite they use AGPL...
They added clauses to forze everyone to use their logo on forks but another clause doesn't allow anyone to use their logo unless they allow them. Which means that their product isn't open source accesible source
Skypefall@reddit
At this point I might just go back to pirating Office 2010.