First details: LibreOffice for the browser and as an app

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The Document Foundation (TDF) wants to strategically develop LibreOffice further towards the browser, smartphones, and collaborative work. A strategy paper now published names five development strands: a responsive user interface, a browser version based on WebAssembly (WASM), mobile apps for Android and iOS, its document server, and functions for collaborative document editing. However, the foundation explicitly emphasizes that this is a draft strategy – not a technical specification, a project plan, or a product announcement with fixed deadlines.

With this initiative, the TDF is positioning LibreOffice more strongly in the long term as an alternative to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. The paper formulates the goal of building a credible free alternative to the two market-dominating cloud office suites. Unlike the competition, the foundation aims to build the web and mobile versions on a common codebase with the desktop version and to operate without close ties to a single cloud provider. At the same time, the TDF reaffirms that LibreOffice should primarily remain a desktop application.

To limit development risks, the foundation plans to divide the project into several independent sub-projects. Each initiative should deliver usable results on its own, even if other components of the strategy are not yet complete. This is intended to reduce dependencies between components and lower the risk of project delays.

Browser version with WebAssembly

A central component is a browser version of LibreOffice. For this, the TDF wants to build on an existing prototype that uses Qt 6 and WebAssembly. WebAssembly executes native applications in a compact binary format in the browser. Unlike many current cloud applications, the aim is for a large part of the processing to take place locally on the end device and not on a central server.

According to the TDF's vision, this approach could offer several advantages. Since the application largely runs on the end device, the requirements for server resources are lower than with many comparable cloud services. This should be particularly attractive for self-hosting and on-premises scenarios where data protection, digital sovereignty, and operating expenses play an important role.

Accompanying the browser version will be a new responsive interface. The foundation plans an optional mode that adapts to screen size and input method, working on both desktop systems and touch devices. On smaller displays, rarely used functions could move further into menus, while frequently used tools remain more easily accessible.

Mobile Apps and Document Server

In parallel, mobile versions for Android and iOS are to be created. Initially, the TDF plans functional builds of the desktop application for Android and iOS emulators, which the team will then develop step by step. At the same time, the foundation explicitly names iOS as a development goal for the first time. Instead of a standalone mobile product line, as much code as possible is to be shared with the desktop version to reduce development and maintenance effort.

Furthermore, the foundation plans its document server. This should be easy to operate independently and work more closely with the desktop application. The project builds on existing support for remote file services and aims to simplify handling hosted documents. The TDF intends to design the server components in such a way that they can be easily extended or integrated into other services.

Initially classic collaboration, later possibly peer-to-peer

Another focus is on collaborative document editing. Initially, the foundation relies on a classic client-server architecture. For development, direct TCP/IP connections between LibreOffice instances will be used first. Later, a document server will coordinate collaboration and act as an intermediary between clients. In the long term, the TDF also considers peer-to-peer approaches conceivable, where clients exchange their changes directly with each other. However, the paper explicitly refers to this as a long-term vision and points out open questions.

The foundation justifies the strategic reorientation, among other things, by changed framework conditions for cloud services. Rising hosting and energy costs, as well as new requirements for more sustainable software development, argue for shifting as many computing tasks as possible to users' end devices. The paper cites discussions about energy-efficient software and regulatory requirements such as the French RGESN guideline for the ecological design of digital services as examples.

Organizationally, the foundation also plans additional development capacities and a stronger formalization of security processes. The announcement specifically mentions CVE management as well as tools and services such as OSS-Fuzz and Coverity.

The paper does not explicitly state release dates for browser, mobile, or collaboration functions. Many of the described approaches are conceptual in nature so far and explicitly marked as preliminary considerations. Nevertheless, the proposal shows that the course correction announced just last week is to be followed by concrete steps soon.

(fo)