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.
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.
LibreOffice feels like a java app with 40 years of baggage and tech debt going back to Sun Microsystems
Pretty sure it uses Collabora, which is literally LibreOffice source code in a web shell.
Edit: just checked, they are using OnlyOffice as a base instead of the already European Collabora. Strange choice but so be it.
OnlyOffice has a decent product owned by a pretty shitty business, so I am glad to see another alternative based on their product.
Isn’t Only Office European too? My memory tells me it’s from Estonia. It’s Europe!
No it’s not. The main company is Russian and they try way too hard to hide the fact that they are from Russia. They constantly creating new sub companies in Estonia, Cypher, UK and some more and transfer the HQ there while main Company is still in Russia along with CEO that owns it.
Oh, that’s sad. Thanks for informing me (and others) on that part! Considering the war in Ukraine (where I live now), there’s a no way, I’m going to use it then. In this case, I agree. Having a European solution is better than using Russian or even USian.
Uhh, you realize it’s just OnlyOffice, right? Another actively developed, free and open source (but web-first, vs desktop first) software?
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?
The later, most likely. LibreOffice is a desktop native app, while OnlyOffice is a web-first app.
LibreOffice isn’t an alternative to web-based office suites.
I’m using nextcloud+onlyoffice as office 365 replacement so this is simply excellent news! Glad i can get rid of onlyoffice the company.
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
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.
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 😍 🇪🇺
I think I’m gonna stick with LibreOffice
I’ll gladly try any alternatives to a suite that feels 20 years out of date personally.
“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
It’s for self-hosting.
I’m disappointed it’s not “Euroffice”.
Now when are we getting: As-Office, Aus-Office, Afri-Office, NAmeri-Office, SAmeri-Office and Ant-Office?
Ant-Office would be so cool…
What is this, an office for ants???
🥶
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!
The problem I have with this is, that it won’t be compatible with Marcors and other stuff - Libre Office does work perfectly well for “normal” Office stuff and even basic excel…but anything beyond that is actually needed more than another “basic” Office software.
In LibreOffice you can code marcos using Python. The actual problem is cross compatibility ( while its possible to execute VBA in LibreOffcie
I know. The point though is, there are projects that have countless hours of work in them and sometimes even work together with access - not only would you need to invest time to redo those, you’d also have to learn python… Which is most often the argument for a switch to Libre falls on its face. I don’t like it, and I don’t agree with that, but it is what I am confronted with nearly every day over countless different companies…
Agree, grip of the lock-in is sitting tight … But as you mentioned, its less the lack of software than it is path dependencies.
Tried LibreOffice, hated it for being clunky and unpleasant.
Hoping the Euro is better.
