open standards | Steve Woods

LibreOffice advises don’t use OpenOffice!

07/05/2025 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Security, Social Media, Tech

The developers of LibreOffice, the most popular free and open source alternative to Microsoft’s ubiquitous office suite, are advising against the use of its OpenOffice progenitor due to security vulnerabilities and its lack of development, German news site heise reports.

In a post on Mastodon, they point to security vulnerabilities that have been known for years but still remain unfixed. According to minutes of the Apache board meeting in March 2025, there are three security vulnerabilities in OpenOffice that are more than a year old. This has been confirmed by a representative of the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) security team.

According to the record there are numerous other, previously unaddressed issues with OpenOffice software, including vulnerabilities have existed since at least November 2023. “We are making progress in identifying improvements to address these issues,” the ASF security team representative explains.
LibreOffice: Apache Foundation is harming open source

Furthermore, the LibreOffice developers accuse the ASF of not developing OpenOffice actively any more, but of feigning to do so with minor changes to HTML tags and blank lines. This harms the entire open source community. The ASF has not commented on these allegations. However, OpenOffice has an active project management committee and retains its status as a top-level project within the ASF, according to spokesperson Brian Proffitt. In fact, the recent commits in the OpenOffice GitHub repository have primarily consisted of correcting typographical errors and making minor amendments to translations.

The current version of OpenOffice, 4.1.15, was released in December 2023. It included several bug fixes and dictionary updates, whilst it last received new features with the release of version 4.1 in April 2014. In the light of this, the LibreOffice team recommends using alternatives and in particular its own office suite.
Happy anniversary Open Document Format

01/05/2025 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Tech

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the ratification of the Open Document Format (ODF) as an OASIS standard. Two decades after its approval in 2005, ODF is the only open standard for office documents, promoting digital independence, interoperability and content transparency worldwide.

Even though it was originally created as an XML-based format to enable universal access to documents across platforms and software from different vendors, ODF has become a technology policy pillar for governments, educational institutions and organisations that choose open, vendor-independent formats to assert their digital sovereignty.

ODF is the native file format of LibreOffice, the most widely used and well-known open source office suite and is supported by a wide range of other applications, including Microsoft’s ubiquitous office suite.

ODF has been adopted as an official standard by the ISO (as ISO/IEC 26300) and by many governments on all continents to support digital sovereignty strategies and public procurement policies to ensure persistent and transparent access to content. These administrations include the UK government, which has comprehensive information on sharing and collaborating on government documents using ODF.

If a reason were required besides those referred to above, one only has to hear the words of Eliane Domingos, Chair of The Document Foundation (TDF), the organisation behind LibreOffice: “In a world increasingly dominated by proprietary ecosystems, ODF guarantees users complete control over their content, free from restrictions”.
German state to move to ODF

29/04/2025 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Politics, Tech

Germany’s IT Planning Council, whose duties include IT co-ordination, standards, administrative digitisation and e-government projects, published its decision on open formats for document exchange a couple of days ago. In particular, it specifically mentions the Open Document Format (ODF) as an example of the open formats being used to a greater extent.

The decision itself consists of three sections, as follows:

1. The IT Planning Council recognises that open exchange formats are necessary for nationwide collaboration and welcomes the resolution of the Digital Ministers’ Conference. Open formats and open interfaces are an important building block for the necessary process of setting the German public sector on the road to greater digital sovereignty and innovation.

2. The IT Planning Council is committed to ensuring that open formats such as the Open Document Format (ODF) are increasingly used in the public sector and become the standard for document exchange by 2027. It has commissioned the Standardisation Board to implement this.

3. The IT Planning Council further recognises that the exchange of documents via email is no longer appropriate for cross-border collaboration, especially for the preparation and follow-up of ministerial conferences, and advocates – in line with the approach of the First Ministers Conference (MPK) – the use of open collaboration solutions in inter-state cooperation. It instructs the Federal IT Co-ordination organisation (FITKO) to present a plan for providing a collaboration solution by its 48th meeting.

The decision is sure to receive widespread support from the opensource community, as has already happened with The Document Foundation, curators of the LibreOffice suite.
LibreOffice 25.2 video subtitled in 17 languages

18/03/2025 Steve WoodsLanguage, Open Source, Open Standards, Tech

LibreOffice 25.2, the latest stable release* of this popular free and open source office suite, contains many new features, which are described in the video below.

Furthermore, The Document Foundation blog reports that the but has subtitle translations in 17 languages, thanks to our awesome localisation communities!

In addition, the blog post also includes an appeal for volunteers prepared to help with localisation.

The video can also be viewed on Peertube, for those who don’t wish to hand their data to the Google subsidiary. 😀

* = Your ‘umble scribe is currently using a pre-release version – 25.8.0.0alpha0+ – of the software. As intimated by the version number, the second version release this year will take place in August.
EU common charger rules implemented

28/12/2024 Steve WoodsOpen Standards, Politics, Tech
As of yesterday, 28th December 2024, EU-wide rules came into effect standardising the charging ports for mobile phones and other portable electronic devices, meaning that henceforth all new devices sold in the EU must support USB-C charging.

This will hopefully reduce the number of chargers consumers need to buy, help minimise electronic waste and simplify everyday life.

Some benefits of the common charger are as follows:
- Increasing consumer convenience: Users can charge their mobile phones and other similar electronic devices with one USB-C charger, regardless of the device brand.
- Reducing e-waste: Discarded and unused chargers account for about 11,000 tonnes of e-waste annually within the European Union. The new rules encourage reusing chargers, thus helping to reduce the environmental footprint.
- Saving money: Consumers will now be able to buy new electronic devices without a charger, helping them save approximately €250 million a year on unnecessary charger purchases.
- Harmonising fast charging technology: New rules help to ensure that charging speed is the same when using any compatible charger for a device.
The EU’s Common Charger Directive was approved by the Council of the EU in October 2022. Manufacturers were given a transition period to adjust their designs and ensure compliance. From 28 December 2024, the rules apply to mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, headsets, video game consoles, portable speakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, portable navigation systems and earbuds sold in the European Union. The new rules will also apply to laptops with effect from 28th April 2026.
Rotten Apple claims DMA’s interoperability violates fundamental rights

14/12/2024 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Politics, Tech

The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) writes that interoperability – a key enabler of software freedom – is under serious threat in the EU from vested US technology interests.

Apple has initiated a legal battle against the European Commission to prevent third-party software developers from accessing essential software and hardware functions of Apple devices. The FSFE believes that control of interoperability should not at the discretion of companies like Apple.

Consequently the FSFE is taking action, intervening in the EU’s action against Apple to defend interoperability and software freedom. The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) imposes anti-monopoly obligations on very large companies like Apple (they are termed “gatekeepers” in the law. Ed.), forcing the likes of Apple to allow interoperability and granting access seekers (app stores, browsers, payment systems, etc.) free-of-charge access to its APIs. The law mandates the same level of interconnection enjoyed by Apple to third-party software developers – something which Apple is trying to avoid. Apple claims preposterously that interoperability in the DMA violates fundamental rights.

In contrast, the FSFE argues that interoperability is a cornerstone of public interest in digital markets: interoperability ensures that users and developers have the freedom to choose and create solutions that best meet their needs, rather than being locked into a single environment controlled by a dominant market player like Apple. Free software solutions cannot compete with Apple ‘services’ without effective interoperability, as they are denied access to essential functions on Apple devices, resulting in poorer performance and functionality.
Schleswig-Holstein wants to continue switch to open source

28/11/2024 Steve WoodsLinux, Open Source, Open Standards, Politics, Tech

The government of the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein is doing further work to implement its aspiration “to consider digital sovereignty holistically” and to switch extensively to free software for its administration, German news site heise reports. Furthermore, it published a strategy (PDF) for “Open Innovation and Open Source” last Monday. The starting signal was the change to LibreOffice as the standard office suite from some 25,000 workstations in April. The new strategy describes the additional measures towards the envisaged “digitally sovereign IT workstation”. This accordingly includes switching to the +1.Linux operating system. This is described as a “suitable and professionally supported” distribution for public sector with a modern, easily adaptable interface.

In its strategy paper, the government describes the switch to the open ODF (Open Document Format) file format, an open co-operation platform based on NextCloud, as well as Open Xchange groupware with email, calendar and address book as additional measures. In addition to these the plan for “digitally sovereign basic services and specialist services” and a suitable telephony system called Oskar (Open Source Communications Architecture).

“As frictionless as possible”

Microsoft Windows, Office, Teams & Co. will be a thing of the past. “The prerequisite for the widespread use of open source products is that the usual functionalities at least function reliably at the same quality,” emphasises Digital Minister Dirk Schrödter (CDU). “We will make the transition as smooth as possible for employees and support the well-planned migration process with training.”

“Public administration would not be able to function today without smoothly working digital systems,” says Schrödter, promoting the migration. Authorities need “reliable IT components, the purchase of which guarantees freedom of choice, customisation options, competition and control over their own digital infrastructure.” Ensuring digital sovereignty is “at least as important as energy sovereignty”. It is also important to avoid a heavy dependence on proprietary providers.

“Fundamental change in work culture”

The state government also hopes for improved IT security, lower costs, more data protection and easier interaction between different systems. An earlier government had set a goal of “completely replacing” Microsoft & Co. in 2017, whilst the previous coalition backed off a bit in 2022, but stuck to the plan in principle.

The conditions for a switch could hardly be better now, says Schrödter: “The clear trend towards collaborative, location-independent collaboration in the cloud offers a unique opportunity to take the path to digital sovereignty at a time when a fundamental change in work culture is already imminent.”

Schleswig-Holstein sees the promotion of the regional digital economy as a modern form of industrial policy. “Instead of investing our IT funds in licence fees, we use them to finance development and support contracts,” explains Schrödter. Overall, this strengthens Schleswig-Holstein as a location.

Other areas of action include the establishment of an Open Source Program Office (OSPO) in the state administration, a strengthening of the DigitalHub.SH, which is intended to connect offices and companies and a stronger focus on more participation via open government with independently verifiable hardware and software. The state also wants to participate in the German Administrative Cloud in order to join the German Centre for Digital Sovereignty (Zendis). The federal government is also pushing ahead with its own open source office suite, openDesk.
New point release for LibreOffice 24.2

05/09/2024 Steve WoodsLinux, Open Source, Open Standards, Privacy, Tech

The blog of The Document Foundation (TDF) has today announced the sixth point release of LibreOffice 24.2 for Linux MacOS and Windows, which it is describing as “the best choice for privacy-conscious users and digital sovereignty“.

This point release includes over 40 bug and regression fixes over LibreOffice 24.2.5 to improve the software’s stability, plus interoperability with legacy and proprietary document formats. LibreOffice 24.2.6 is aimed at mainstream users and business environments.

LibreOffice for business

For business use, TDF strongly recommends the LibreOffice Enterprise family of applications from ecosystem partners with a range of dedicated value-added features, long-term support and other benefits such as SLAs.

Next week, power users and technology enthusiasts will be able to download LibreOffice 24.8.1, the first minor release of the recently announced new version with many bug and regression fixes.

As per usual, LibreOffice users, free software advocates and community members are invited to support The Document Foundation with a donation.

Download LibreOffice 24.2.6. Please note that the minimum requirements for proprietary operating systems are Windows 7 SP1 and macOS 10.15.
LibreOffice 24.8 released

22/08/2024 Steve WoodsLinux, Open Source, Open Standards, Privacy, Tech
Today the blog of The Document Foundation (TDF), the organisation behind the free and open source LibreOffice suite. announced the release of LibreOffice 24.8, the second version of the software to be released under the new calendar-based (YY.MM) release numbering system, for immediate download for Linux, macOS (Apple and Intel) and Windows (Intel, AMD and ARM).

The release announcement lays heavy emphasis on the suite’s privacy features. LibreOffice is the only office suite, i.e. software that can create files containing personal or confidential information that respects user privacy – thus ensuring users themselves can decide if and with whom to share the content they have created. LibreOffice is thus the best option for the privacy-conscious office suite user and provides a feature set comparable to the ubiquitous MS Office. LibreOffice also offers a range of interface options to suit different user habits, from traditional to contemporary.

New features

There’s a handy little video that highlights the new features incorporated in LibreOffice 24.8.

Privacy
- If the option Tools ▸ Options ▸ LibreOffice ▸ Security ▸ Options ▸ Remove personal information on saving is enabled, then personal information will not be exported (author names and timestamps, editing duration, printer name and configuration, document template, author and date for comments and tracked changes).
Writer
- UI: handling of formatting characters, width of comments panel, selection of bullets, new dialog for hyperlinks, new Find deck in the sidebar.
- Navigator: adding cross-references by drag-and-drop items, deleting footnotes and endnotes, indicating images with broken links.
- Hyphenation: exclude words from hyphenation with new contextual menu and visualisation, new hyphenation across columns, pages or spreads, hyphenation between constituents of a compound word.
Calc
- Addition of FILTER, LET, RANDARRAY, SEQUENCE, SORT, SORTBY, UNIQUE, XLOOKUP and XMATCH functions.
- Improvement of threaded calculation performance, optimisation of redraw after a cell change by minimising the area that needs to be refreshed.
- Cell focus rectangle moved apart from cell content.
- Comments can be edited and deleted from the Navigator’s right-click menu.
Impress & Draw
- In Normal view, it is now possible to scroll between slides, and the Notes are available as a collapsible pane under the slide.
- By default, the running Slideshow is now immediately updated when applying changes in EditView or in PresenterConsole, even on different Screens.
Chart
- New chart types “Pie-of-Pie” and “Bar-of-Pie” break down a slice of a pie as a pie or bar sub-chart respectively (this also enables import of such charts from OOXML files created with Microsoft Office).
- Text inside chart’s titles, text boxes and shapes (and parts thereof) can now be formatted using the Character dialog.
Accessibility
- Several improvements to the management of formatting options, which can be now announced properly by screen readers.
Security
- New mode of password-based ODF encryption.
Interoperability
- Support importing and exporting OOXML pivot table (cell) format definitions.
- PPTX files with heavy use of custom shapes now open faster.
Minimum requirements for proprietary operating systems are Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 and Apple MacOS 10.15.

To coincide with the new version release, the LibreOffice Getting Started guide has been updated and is also available for download.

As usual, users are encouraged to support the TDF’s work with a donation.
LibreOffice Impress 24.2 guide released

24/06/2024 Steve WoodsOpen Source, Open Standards, Tech

The blog of The Document Foundation reports that a new guide has been released for the Impress presentation component of LibreOffice 24.2, the latest release of this popular free and open source office suite.

The updated guide itself was co-ordinated by Peter Schofield, with assistance of Olivier Hallot and B. Antonio Fernandez. It is based on the Impress Guide 7.6, the last release under the old version numbering system.

The guide is available for immediate download in PDF format. It is also available in HTML format for reading online, as well as in source format (OpenDocument Format). The Impress guide will also be available from LuLu Inc as a printed book.

The Impress guide can be downloaded from the documentation websites at documentation.libreoffice.org and the bookshelf at books.libreoffice.org.