[DECISION] remove "Community" tagline from TDF's LibreOffice builds

Hello,

the following decision, which has been taken in private today, is now made public in accordance with our statutes.

Mike Saunders wrote on 10.06.25 at 11:07:

A few years ago we introduced the “LibreOffice Community” branding to distinguish what TDF offers from the ecosystem. With the shrinking ecosystem I believe that there is no longer a need to do this distinction and brand dilution – and we still see messages from users who are confused what “Community” means (as we also talk about the “LibreOffice community” as the makers of the software).

I have talked to Italo and he is in favour of removing the “Community” branding. We raised the topic in a team call and many are also in favour of the idea to remove the tagline. We already have a detailed list of code and build system changes that we need to make to remove the “Community” branding.

I therefore call for the following vote:

  • remove the “Community” branding from TDF’s LibreOffice builds so that they are simply “LibreOffice”

The Board of Directors at the time of voting consists of 7 seat holders (not including deputies). In order to be quorate, the vote needs to have 1/2 or more of the Board of Directors members, which gives 4.

A total of 6 Board of Directors members have participated in the vote.

The vote is quorate.

A quorum could be reached with a simple majority of 4 votes.

Result of vote:
5 approvals: Sophie, Eliane, Paolo, Mike, Osvaldo
0 abstain
1 disapproval: Simon

Decision: The proposal has been accepted.

Additional comment from Simon:

This is a significant change and we should consult openly before making it.

  • While it appears reasonable our community deserves the chance to comment.
  • If there were a public vote anfter a reasonable period for community feedback I would vote “yes”
  • There is no need to use this accelerated secret voting procedure to make this change.

I thus note “NO” and request my reasons for doing so be minuted given there are no meeting minutes published for actions like this taken in secret.

9 Likes

Ótima decisão tomada pela TDF, isso so fortalece mais a comunidade e tira qualquer duvida.

1 Like

I applaud the decision

2 Likes

I was not supportive of the “community addition” branding when it was first introduced (I was not a trustee then).

With that said, though - the timing of this decision and the wording of the proposal make it be, essentially, a “jab” at Collabora/Allotropia. Why did this need to be done in secret? Why did this need to be accelerated? When it has not even been brought up on this forum or our internal discussion list, for the last 3 years?

For me, this another example of the culture of managing TDF affairs behind trustees’ backs (which among other things facilitates this petty politicization).

2 Likes

So, i think some trustees will have some questions at the next board public meeting.
Bests,
Régis

Hi Eyal,

I would like to reiterate a few important points:

The decisions made by the Board are fully in line with the TDF statutes and are guided by a fundamental commitment to protect the image and interests of the LibreOffice project.

We are reviewing decisions made in the past that, in our opinion, were not in line with the best interests of the project.

The inclusion of this slogan was a choice made by previous Councils, without a clear goal or concrete benefit for LibreOffice. The project was born without this slogan, and we are now correcting this deviation and returning to our original identity.

I regret that you see this decision as a direct attack on specific companies, which is not the case. TDF is a neutral and independent foundation, committed to the project and the community as a whole.

In addition, insinuations that the Board is acting “behind the scenes” are disrespectful to the elected members and do not contribute to a healthy and constructive debate.

The Board will continue to work seriously, responsibly, and with a clear focus on TDF’s mission and interests: strengthening LibreOffice.

We are always open to dialogue, but within an environment of mutual respect.

Have a nice weekend!

Best,
Eliane

1 Like

I agree with the decision.

I agree with the decision.

I am happy for this decision as well. At least with the changed parameters regarding the ecosystem, I think it wise to revert what has been decided in former times.

If I remember correctly, there was a huge debate some years ago around Personal Edition, Home Edition, not for critical documents, and eventually Community as tag was chosen by the board.

LibreOffice addresses many people, and the Community tagline was perceived as confusing in the end, so I applaud this decision.

2 Likes

You can let us know if you have any questions already! I proposed the vote and my reasoning is described in my first paragraph. We’re dropping something we haven’t used for a long time anyway (the “Community” tag in our communications) and it was always confusing (we get a lot of messages on social media from people not understanding what “Community” means). So IMO better to just drop the tag we’re not even using now – rather than start a long discussion about when/how to change it (or what to).

Eu apoio essa decisão.

I fully support this decision. The term “community” was really confusing LibreOffice users.

Best,
Paolo D.