The Document Foundation has formally revived LibreOffice Online, reversing its 2022 decision that had frozen the project and moved it to the “attic.” The Board has rescinded the previous votes, reopened the repository, and invited the community to resume development under upstream stewardship.
It’s worth noting that the whole thing is still a long way from being a ready-to-use product, with the code requiring further work, review, and modernization before it is production-ready.
For those unfamiliar with LibreOffice Online, it’s the web-based version of LibreOffice. In other words, instead of installing the desktop application, users access the office suite through a web browser, with LibreOffice Online rendering documents on a server and streaming the interface to the browser.
Users can open, edit, and collaborate on documents remotely, using the same LibreOffice core as the desktop version. It supports Writer, Calc, and Impress documents, and is designed for integration with cloud platforms and self-hosted collaboration environments.
Just to recall: in 2022, TDF’s Board decided to freeze the LibreOffice Online project. Development stopped, and the repository was archived. While ecosystem vendors maintained their own related solutions, there was no actively developed upstream LibreOffice Online under direct Foundation governance.
Fortunately, the Board has now reversed this decision and explicitly revoked the earlier freeze.
It is also important to clarify that, according to the announcement, the restart does not mean TDF will operate a cloud office service similar to Google Docs or Microsoft 365. The Foundation states it will not host an enterprise-grade SaaS platform or provide commercial support services.
The focus is on restoring a community-driven upstream codebase. Organizations seeking hosted or commercially supported offerings will need to rely on ecosystem partners.
For more information, see the TDF’s announcement.
Image credits: LibreOffice
