An open letter to office suite users, just before the Euro-Office announcement
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@libreoffice
I hope/predict that the unfortunate and sucky choice of OOXML default format is just a legacy of having been forked from OmlyOffice.With moves in the EU to mandate ODF as a default, I do have hopes this will be flipped to an ODF default sooner rather than later. And that would support the ecosystem favouring LibreOffice as well.
OOXML was probably chosen because Euro-Office does not currently provide full support for ODF; see https://nextcloud.com/blog/euro-office-building-momentum
"Euro-Office roadmap: Security, performance, and ODF support"
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Improve ODF support""One item we want to call out specifically: #EuroOffice will work towards full #ODF support. That is not only because it matters technically, but also reflects our priorities: a focus on open standards."
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@jmbmkn OnlyOffice (the software Euro Office forked from) does support ODF natively.
The difference is OnlyOffice defaults to saving documents in OOXML format (and supports it better than LibreOffice, in my experience, I've had data loss from LibreOffice crashing while dealing with Word documents, and such thing has never happened with OnlyOffice).
The reason to default to OOXML instead of ODF stems, AFAIK, from OnlyOffice (and I assume also Euro Office) wanting to be a "drop-in" replacement to MSOffice, where you can be sure you'll be complying with what is the de-facto office file format used in A LOT of companies.
Also, for many governments, MSOffice is still the go-to office suite and OOXML the file format public entities MUST use.
So, while those requirements don't change, defaulting to OOXML makes sense.
Euro-Office does not currently provide full support for ODF; see https://nextcloud.com/blog/euro-office-building-momentum
"Euro-Office roadmap: Security, performance, and ODF support"
"
Improve ODF support""One item we want to call out specifically: #EuroOffice will work towards full #ODF support. That is not only because it matters technically, but also reflects our priorities: a focus on open standards."
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An open letter to office suite users, just before the Euro-Office announcement
https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/06/08/an-open-letter/
> Euro-Office defaults to the fully proprietary OOXML document format
Oh, that's very disappointing.
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@luc @josch @libreoffice achievement unlocked: bespreekbaarheid
@flyingpenguin was this made with "AI"?
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@celisej567 @libreoffice A crack of an already free product. Begone, malware bot
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An open letter to office suite users, just before the Euro-Office announcement
https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/06/08/an-open-letter/
@libreoffice using crappy pseudo-open Microslop format by default is a no no and is counterproductive...
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@zandbelt @libreoffice
You can see the difference between using a native format and being able to use other formats, versus using a closed format as if it were native.ODF first, use any format, vs. OOXML first.mat.
@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice OOXML isn't a closed format, even though LibreOffice's marketing keeps pretending it is.
Unfortunately, LibreOffice is choosing a fully self-defeating marketing position: The best way for open source office software to win is to loudly proclaim full compatibility with the proprietary solution everyone else is using. Businesses need software that works for them not software that sounds good.
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@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice OOXML isn't a closed format, even though LibreOffice's marketing keeps pretending it is.
Unfortunately, LibreOffice is choosing a fully self-defeating marketing position: The best way for open source office software to win is to loudly proclaim full compatibility with the proprietary solution everyone else is using. Businesses need software that works for them not software that sounds good.
@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice The funny thing is LibreOffice has great Microsoft Office support, there's no reason today a business can't drop in LibreOffice. The marketing at LibreOffice however has simply chosen a completely losing strategy, to ignore their own strengths and simultaneously advertise themselves as incapable of replacing Microsoft Office in organizational use.
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@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice OOXML isn't a closed format, even though LibreOffice's marketing keeps pretending it is.
Unfortunately, LibreOffice is choosing a fully self-defeating marketing position: The best way for open source office software to win is to loudly proclaim full compatibility with the proprietary solution everyone else is using. Businesses need software that works for them not software that sounds good.
@ocdtrekkie @zandbelt @libreoffice
OOXML specifications include things as "spaceline as in Word 97". Since spaceline in Word 97 is closed, OOXML is closed.
Microsoft can spend millions paying lot of people to convince someone that OOXML is open, but, precisely, specifications are there to anyone who want to check.
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@ocdtrekkie @zandbelt @libreoffice
OOXML specifications include things as "spaceline as in Word 97". Since spaceline in Word 97 is closed, OOXML is closed.
Microsoft can spend millions paying lot of people to convince someone that OOXML is open, but, precisely, specifications are there to anyone who want to check.
@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice It doesn't have to be a good open standard to be an open standard. But that isn't really the point: Most organizations today use Microsoft Office. We can all agree that's bad, right?
The only office software that isn't *dead on arrival* is software with great compatibility with Microsoft Office. So why is LibreOffice advertising incompatibility when it works great?
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@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice The funny thing is LibreOffice has great Microsoft Office support, there's no reason today a business can't drop in LibreOffice. The marketing at LibreOffice however has simply chosen a completely losing strategy, to ignore their own strengths and simultaneously advertise themselves as incapable of replacing Microsoft Office in organizational use.
@ocdtrekkie @zandbelt @libreoffice
You mention LibreOffice's marketing, but you're referring to an understandable decision: sticking with their own format. Are you confusing proper support for a format with "saving by default"?None of this explains why OnlyOffice doesn't have better usage figures. You're making assumptions without any basis.
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@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice It doesn't have to be a good open standard to be an open standard. But that isn't really the point: Most organizations today use Microsoft Office. We can all agree that's bad, right?
The only office software that isn't *dead on arrival* is software with great compatibility with Microsoft Office. So why is LibreOffice advertising incompatibility when it works great?
@ocdtrekkie @zandbelt @libreoffice
No, it is true. ODF is not a good standard anyway.
But include things you can't replicate. Then it is closed. Paying people can't change the nature of the code.
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An open letter to office suite users, just before the Euro-Office announcement
https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/06/08/an-open-letter/
@libreoffice Hear Hear!!
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An open letter to office suite users, just before the Euro-Office announcement
https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/06/08/an-open-letter/
@libreoffice You should check on the contrast again.
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An open letter to office suite users, just before the Euro-Office announcement
https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/06/08/an-open-letter/
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@ocdtrekkie @zandbelt @libreoffice
You mention LibreOffice's marketing, but you're referring to an understandable decision: sticking with their own format. Are you confusing proper support for a format with "saving by default"?None of this explains why OnlyOffice doesn't have better usage figures. You're making assumptions without any basis.
@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice I think LibreOffice defaulting to saving in ODF is not only fine, but a good thing. It means if we can transition organizations to LibreOffice, they will likely start transiting organically to ODF (which Microsoft Office also supports quite well!).
The problem is the author of this blog who constantly acts like OOXML is incompatible and bad and that the only way to get freedom is to switch to ODF. And that is a dumb and backwards marketing approach.
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@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice I think LibreOffice defaulting to saving in ODF is not only fine, but a good thing. It means if we can transition organizations to LibreOffice, they will likely start transiting organically to ODF (which Microsoft Office also supports quite well!).
The problem is the author of this blog who constantly acts like OOXML is incompatible and bad and that the only way to get freedom is to switch to ODF. And that is a dumb and backwards marketing approach.
@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice We should not be trying to tell people they need to switch to open things for open things' sake. That has never worked, it hasn't worked for the past thirty years, and it won't start working in the next thirty.
If you want to switch organizations over to LibreOffice, it needs to do what they need it to do: work with Microsoft Office, which is what everyone else they talk to uses (which it does!) and be cheaper (which it is!)
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@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice We should not be trying to tell people they need to switch to open things for open things' sake. That has never worked, it hasn't worked for the past thirty years, and it won't start working in the next thirty.
If you want to switch organizations over to LibreOffice, it needs to do what they need it to do: work with Microsoft Office, which is what everyone else they talk to uses (which it does!) and be cheaper (which it is!)
@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice And in this case, he has spun so far off the rails, he's now trashing a different open source project for being better at marketing to Office customers and meeting their needs than he is. Rather than just... fixing his marketing strategy.
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@ocdtrekkie @zandbelt @libreoffice
OOXML specifications include things as "spaceline as in Word 97". Since spaceline in Word 97 is closed, OOXML is closed.
Microsoft can spend millions paying lot of people to convince someone that OOXML is open, but, precisely, specifications are there to anyone who want to check.
@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice As long as what you need to include in the file to match that behavior is in the standard and it's permissible to use that in your files, there's nothing that prevents OOXML from being a standard if it says "match this behavior".
If I said every file had to start with WJGKWJF@ for no apparent reason, it'd be no different than some unchangeable string of binary. And it could still be part of a standard that you need to include it even if you can't change it.
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@karlggestd @zandbelt @libreoffice I think LibreOffice defaulting to saving in ODF is not only fine, but a good thing. It means if we can transition organizations to LibreOffice, they will likely start transiting organically to ODF (which Microsoft Office also supports quite well!).
The problem is the author of this blog who constantly acts like OOXML is incompatible and bad and that the only way to get freedom is to switch to ODF. And that is a dumb and backwards marketing approach.
@ocdtrekkie @zandbelt @libreoffice but in fact OXML is bad and incompatible and a lot of things.
Marketing from LibreOffice is bad, and some policies or decisions are bad too. I'm agreed in this.
But OOXML is only a standard because Microsoft paid people time ago to approve the ISO standard. Nothing more.
