I second the opinion of Alex ([email protected]). The moment any kind of restriction is imposed or proposed to be imposed on the user (be it individual, be it an NGO, be it a community, be it an enterprise) is no more a Freedom Software. As such the proposed LibreOffice Community Edition / Personal Edition cannot be a free software and it cannot be called "libre".
LibreOffice has reached this stage following the free software principles. There is no reason to commercialize the project for want of more contributions by 'demand'. I also noticed (from Slide 16) that 68% of the contributions are from eco-system companies. They contributed their code without any enterprise edition. LibreOffice had evolved to this stage and can continue to evolve without any need of enterprise edition. If at all TDF wants to focus on an enterprise edition, it is appropriate if they do it on a separate brand name, but not on LibreOffice. The draft marketing plan makes it clear that the eco-system companies' focus in future might be on the enterprise edition, leaving the 'actual' LibreOffice behind. LibreOffice has been an outstanding freedom software suite till date. The proposed marketing plan may kill the positive direction in which the office suite had been heading. I feel that the board has already decided the matter since the Development Branch already has the personal edition tag without any sound discussion before the community. - Aravind Palla ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ On Thursday, July 9, 2020 8:00 PM, Alexander Werner <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear board, dear community, > > Abstract: > I request the board to: > > - provide software in accordance with the statues. > - remove parts of the software that are of no use for the intended > audience, hereby meaning the support key "feature" of LOOL. > > - undo the "Personal" edition branding. > > I am very concerned about the recent developments regarding the > strategic future of LibreOffice and The Document Foundation. As this > concern is shared by many no quick decision should be taken. > > I want to remind all of you what The Document Foundation is all about, > as stated in the unalterable statutes > (https://www.documentfoundation.org/foundation/statutes/): > > "The objective of the foundation is the promotion and development of > office software available for use by anyone free of charge." - this does > not restrict the target audience. > > "This software will be openly available for free use by anyone for their > own files, including companies and public authorities, ensuring full > participation in a digital society and without detriment to intellectual > property." > > I would like to remind all members of the board of directors that first > and foremost you are obliged to pursue these statutes. As a consequence > you must not restrict the target audience of LibreOffice to a specific > user group in any way. > > But this already happens for quite some time and is now getting worse: > > > 1. LibreOffice Online - Unsupported Warning > > The website for LibreOffice Online states: "The Document Foundation will > not be maintaining binaries for enterprise use". This is clearly in > violation of the statutes. > (https://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-online/) > > The website also includes a picture of a warning message that often > appears > (https://www.libreoffice.org/assets/Uploads/LibreOffice-Online-limit.png), > and it is also stated: "... is designed for personal and/or development > use ..." This is not only in violation of the statues, but also very > questionable behaviour for Free/Libre and Open Source Software. > > I hereby request the board to take action to provide the software in > accordance with the statutes. > > 2. LibreOffice Online - Containing Support Keys > > Looking through the source code of LibreOffice Online, it can be easily > found, that there is a build option for support keys, this makes > absolutely no sense in our software product. > > (https://git.libreoffice.org/online/+/refs/heads/master/wsd/LOOLWSD.cpp#1259) > > I hereby request the board to take action to remove parts of the > software that are of no use for the intended audience. > > 3. LibreOffice "Personal Edition" > > As I have already mentionend in my comment to the Bug Report > (https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=134486#c23), I see > any restriction or even suggested restriction of the intended audience > in violation of the statutes. > > I would also like to remind, that there are still and fresh versions > existing right now (https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleasePlan), > and that the still versions are intended for "conservative, corporate > deployments". Will the "still" "Personal Edition" then be recommended > for "corporate deployments"? I don't believe that this is understood by > our audience in any way. > > Also: I don't see the reason for the "Personal Edition" tag, as this > means that TDF must also provide another edition that is then targeted > for all other use cases. > > I hereby request the board to take action that this change be undone > to gain time for the community to find a consensus. > > My personal opinion is to keep the Brand LibreOffice as a name, and > certified vendors are able to provide support and services as > "LibreOffice Enterprise" partners. If you change the product, the name > is to be changed. > > As this topic already gained significant public interest, it is now the > time for the board to re-evaluate the Marketing Plan and its hopefully > unintended side-effects. > > The primary goal of The Document Foundation is to fulfill its statutes, > and the secondary goal is to cater for ecosystem vendors needs. > > Alex > > -- > To unsubscribe e-mail to: [email protected] > Problems? > https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ > Posting guidelines + more: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette > List archive: > https://listarchives.documentfoundation.org/www/board-discuss/ > Privacy Policy: https://www.documentfoundation.org/privacy > -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: [email protected] Problems? https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: https://listarchives.documentfoundation.org/www/board-discuss/ Privacy Policy: https://www.documentfoundation.org/privacy
