openDesk 1.10: Security Update for the Federal Government's Office Alternative

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The openDesk project, funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, has released version 1.10 of its free office suite. The focus is on an improved security architecture and new functions for project management and document editing.

The Microsoft 365 alternative is coordinated by the Center for Digital Sovereignty (ZenDiS) and aims to free authorities from dependence on proprietary providers. As ZenDiS head Alexander Pockrandt explained to heise online in October, openDesk is already being tested in several federal authorities.

Keycloak 26.4 and Automatic Session Logout

The core of the security improvements is the update of the Identity and Access Management (IAM) system to version 1.15.2, which now integrates Keycloak 26.4.x. In addition to current security patches, the new version offers an LDAP import that is active by default and better supports federated identities. Another important innovation: Back-channel logout via OIDC automatically ends all sessions in linked services when logging out of the portal; this significantly increases security in heterogeneous environments.

Project Management and Spreadsheet Improved

The project management software OpenProject integrated into openDesk has been updated to version 16.6. The developers promise significant performance improvements for API requests and autocomplete functions, especially in large environments. New are calculated values in project attributes and hierarchical fields for portfolio analyses.

For spreadsheets, openDesk relies on Collabora Online 25.04.6. The new version brings formulas such as VSTACK, HSTACK, and TEXTSPLIT for more complex data analyses. PDF export can now also embed comments, simplifying coordination with external partners. In addition, the office component now supports custom XML mappings in the OOXML format.

Groupware with LDAP Mailing Lists

The groupware component for email, calendar, and contacts, based on OpenXchange, receives optimizations in caching and routing. New is the support for LDAP-based mailing lists: emails to a group address are automatically distributed to all current members without manual list maintenance. The video conferencing component Jitsi and the wiki system XWiki (version 17.4.7) primarily received stability updates.

All updates can be found in the Release Notes. Together with openDesk, several European alternatives are now competing with Microsoft 365. Just a few weeks ago, Ionos Nextcloud Workspace, another German service, was launched, which also relies on open-source components and stores data in German data centers.

(fo)