if only there was a good, actively developed and highly regarded free and open source alternative whose name would be something like “LibreOffice”…
I like and use Libreoffice, but its a local application. This makes it fine for working by yourself and on your own hardware. Google Docs (Gstuite) is an online application with the best collaboration integration I’ve seen and works on nearly any device you can open a modern browser on. Yes, both products have a word processor and a spreadsheet, but they don’t serve all the same use cases.
If this new Euro-office can replicate the Gsuite offerings (that Libreoffice lacks), then Euro-office could be a great addition to the open source community.
right, thank you for pointing it out.
Nah this new Euro-Office is literally a OnlyOffice fork according to their GitHub. It’s much closer in comparison to LibreOffice than Google docs.
They have worked with NextCloud to make Euro-Office an app/add-on (I forget what NextCloud calls them specifically) from this release (v1.0), so that they can integrate with a platform that already… Has this feature (with Collabora office), but hey… The more the merrier.
Although straightforward, I appreciate they didn’t reinvent the wheel here – Nextcloud plus OnlyOffice is a solid combo to replace the MS365- and Gsuite-like product lines.
OnlyOffice is both. They have a fantastic web version that integrates well into NextCloud already. And they have a mobile version too. Assuming all of those get forked with it, we can certainly expect a Gsuite alternative.
Oh right, I didn’t know they had a web version I only saw the local edition. Glad to be corrected.
I remember seeing a post earlier this year about libreoffice doing a web based version.
You’re proving my point. They just started working on it 3 months ago. It will be a long time, if ever, before it is a Gsuite replacement. They even said they tried this a few years ago and abandoned it. There’s a risk they’d do it again.
So if there’s another open source effort specifically focused on an online product, its a good thing.
LibreOffice still hasn’t managed to sort out making the UI scalable on Wayland, so you’re stuck with either needing a magnifying glass to see the icons or you have to stand in the next room over and nothing in between. Given how many years they’ve had to work on that, I feel like the odds of them developing a working web UI in my lifetime are pretty slim.
Yeah, people are going to only office because libre office hasn’t sorted out a lot of issues.
Have you tried https://cryptpad.fr/ ?
Is cryptpad able to open existing docx files? Last time I checked I couldn’t figure out how to do it. I mostly need to edit word documents that people send me, and send them back the same format.
It can import most file types supported by only office
Where is that option? I’m only getting the option to create a new document for some reason, and to export documents created on cryptpad to docx. I assumed it was because they only figured out the conversion one way but maybe I’m just missing the button?
You need to create an account for uploads. Then you click on files -> upload
An office suite for collaborating ? Great idea ! I brt they would call it something like “Collabora Office” !
It takes more than a name to deliver the result. MS Office365 also claims to be great for collaboration, and its a trainwreck to try to use it in that way.
No I think we should call it
GoogleApache Wave. That would be a super intuitive name right??
LibreOffice feels like a java app with 40 years of baggage and tech debt going back to Sun Microsystems
LibreOffice isn’t an alternative to web-based office suites.
Uhh, you realize it’s just OnlyOffice, right? Another actively developed, free and open source (but web-first, vs desktop first) software?
While they claim to be open source, OnlyOffice uses their trademark to block forks and derivative work. Which is why this Euro Office was created, along with more control over mobile apps, since that part has issues as well.
Yes, which makes this choice even better since these will be open maintainers under a new name. Looking forward to it.
Why are there so many different open source office suites? Wouldn’t it be more effective if they joined forces? Or do they have incompatible visions?
Because before cloud vendor subscription lock-in was considered socially acceptable, there were a lot of big tech companies that wanted to be seen being “open source” in name to court customers while locking you in by other means. “Open”Office is the quintessential example, but it is by no means a unique situation in the “Open” source world.
It happens often enough that there are some people who get very upset with you for not knowing the difference between “Open Source”, “open source”, and “source available”.
The later, most likely. LibreOffice is a desktop native app, while OnlyOffice is a web-first app.
OpenOffice?
OpenOffice has been more or less dead for a decade. LibreOffice was its successor.
Yeah I was going for the “if only there was something like LibreOffice” joke.
literally french name
If governments across the world gave a quarter of what they give to Microsoft to open source projects that compete, not only would they get to stop paying Microsoft all that money, they’d have a better product to boot. Add to that the side benefit to people and companies using it, and it’s pretty obvious why Microsoft will do everything in its power (except make a better product for a better price) to prevent that.
I can’t wait for all the Office EU <–> MS365 tools Microsoft make that always make the Office EU software look bad on purpose
i remember hearing this is just a rebrand of onlyoffice, is there something interesting about it (from a technical pov)?
Looks clean and consistent at first glance, which is a huge plus.
Spotted a typo, it refers to “Apache Foundation’s OnlyOffice,” when that product is OpenOffice (as one can discover by following the link). This is different from the OnlyOffice mentioned earlier in the paragraph.
Despite the name, OnlyOffice has no connection with LibreOffice’s ancestor, the Apache Foundation’s OnlyOffice
It pisses me off when tech journalists don’t bother to double check with a simple web search. Don’t even need to actually search, just type in the search bar “apache foundation o” and it autocompletes in “apache foundation OpenOffice”
It could be worse:
Apache Foundation’s OnlyFansMy margins can only get so tight.
why reinvent the wheel when we have LibreOffice already
OnlyOffice is a much more polished and mature suite than LibreOffice.
Is it really, or is it just a matter of interface?
It is actually better in rendering Microsoft office files with weird layouts
Also it integrates wonderfully in nextcloud, it’s like Google docs (auto save, history, collaborative editing)
I see. Their focus does seem to be on microsoft compatibility, although pushing odf would be more sensible in Europe.
TIAS
I’m using nextcloud+onlyoffice as office 365 replacement so this is simply excellent news! Glad i can get rid of onlyoffice the company.
What’s wrong with Only office? I like it way more than Collabora.
They’re trying to exploit what they consider a loophole in the AGPL to stop people from forking the project.
At the same time they refuse to accept any PRs.
FSF has a great write up about it.
https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/agpl-is-not-a-tool-for-taking-freedom-away
It’s also supposedly a Russian project, which may or may not be relevant to people.
https://www.techzine.eu/news/infrastructure/140634/dutch-central-bank-chooses-lidl-for-european-cloud/
https://www.techzine.eu/news/infrastructure/141644/kpn-launches-sovereign-cloud-with-stackit-in-the-netherlands/One of the biggest telecom provider of the Netherlands KPN has started to work with German company Schwarzdigits to create a fully European Cloud as well and they’ll release it today!! Looooooooooooooooooooooooove these initiatives !!! Letsgo Europe 😍 🇪🇺
“Office EU is a complete cloud-based office suite (like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace) that is 100% European-owned and runs entirely on European infrastructure.”
its datafarming
Can you elaborate?
“Cloud-based” is the issue they’re complaining about. I mean we’re talking about an office suite. Those have been able to run on a potato since the 1980’s. Why the heck does that need to be hosted by a supercomputer that somebody else owns and operates?
Collaborative editing and the like isn’t really easy to solve with other methods. Maybe a P2P approach could be viable.
P2P wouldn’t scale very well, though. It would be really complicated once you have more than a small handful of people.
From what I remember, Lemmy had/has a similar problem, where the whole thing would start bogging down past a point, because all the connected instances would need to update each other, instead of a main hub they could query like more centralised networks would.
It can be self hosted, so the cloud can be a computer that you own.
Having degoogled this year, I deeply miss Google sheets and the ability to (a) summon it on any device and (b) share it with shy real-time participants.
I am trying out cryptpad which feels both flabby in terms of complexity and ui, but also in terms of delays and nuisances in processing and learning curve. Like if I were dumped into ‘Corel quattro’ or ‘Lotus 123’ for the first time, now.
But I don’t want them being able to slurp up my data and then hand it over to an adversarial government, so I am very interested in continuing to shift to European service providers for email, password management, and office documents.
The criticism in the thread isn’t about the vendor in specific, but the technology in general? Because I need persuasion (not that it’s your job, I just know we are all fumbling towards hopefully “better”)
Well hold on now. Could it be self hosted?
I use google docs when i want a simple document that is accessible and thats useful. I use open office or local programs when i want to drill into the details.
It’s for self-hosting.
I think I’m gonna stick with LibreOffice
Nothing bad in having some variety.
Maybe they’ll come up with stuff the other team didn’t and both improve that way.
I’ll gladly try any alternatives to a suite that feels 20 years out of date personally.
Looks like it’s powered by NextCloud? If so, that’s FOSS funding that we all win!
NextCloud is a contributor, I believe the screenshot they’re using is to show that Euro-Office can be used as an integration/app in NextCloud as of now.
Euro-Office seems based mostly on OnlyOffice if I’m reading their source page correctly. It’s a competor to LibreOffice more than a whole platform.
I’m disappointed it’s not “Euroffice”.
Orafice. EuroOffice. Eurafice!
You’re a fish, Harry
Oracle?
Now when are we getting: As-Office, Aus-Office, Afri-Office, NAmeri-Office, SAmeri-Office and Ant-Office?
Ant-Office would be so cool…
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🥶
Hope they will provide a Mac and Linux build.
It’s online only for now - clients are coming but for now focus is on online.
Yes, the desktop apps are a separate build, but if they stop at online editing ie for nextcloud, it’s a big misunderstanding of what office work stil look like today
Yeah I tend to agree but then I’m surprised how many people think GSuite is just fine!
Congratulations!
