With this message, I hereby inform the Board of Directors, the Membership Committee and the TDF Trustees of my irrevocable resignation from the Board of Directors of The Document Foundation, effective immediately.
After fourteen months of trying to resolve the problems afflicting The Document Foundation, which have been created over the years with the help of all those who have played a role in the Board of Directors, at different levels and in different ways, I am forced to raise the white flag.
At this time, I prefer to avoid further explanations, which will come when I have managed to detoxify myself from the unbreathable atmosphere I have had to breathe for the last fourteen months.
I had already announced my intention to resign, but I was persuaded to stay and seek mediation, as I am perhaps one of the few people who still enjoys the trust of the majority of TDF Trustees.
Unfortunately, with the current composition of the Board of Directors, reasonable mediation, the kind that would take place in any environment frequented by people of common sense, is not possible. And I want to avoid my presence being used instrumentally by those who have no intention of finding a solution to the problems, but only personal revenge.
I am 70 years old, and I have the right to choose what to do and what not to do in my life. At this moment, I want to focus solely on the positive things, those that can make a difference and help the community grow: marketing and communication, both product and institutional, in support of LibreOffice and ODF, and of course community members.
These are all things that I have not been able to do as I would have liked over the last fourteen months, because I have been distracted by the problems of The Document Foundation and the search for a solution that has proved impossible.
In particular, I want to avoid waking up in the middle of the night thinking about how to solve the problems of The Document Foundation and how to limit the damage caused by the presence of people who should never have found a place in âourâ project. And by âourâ, I mean everyone who cares about the LibreOffice project.
One last thing. I feel I must apologise to those who voted for me, because I believe they expected a positive contribution that did not materialise. I tried in every way to do what I had promised myself and others, namely to restore the spirit of the founders of The Document Foundation, but it was not possible.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to rewrite history, and the spirit with which the LibreOffice project was born has been lost forever.
To avoid unnecessary controversy or speculation, I will not respond to any comments on this message, personal messages, or phone calls.
Furthermore, I will immediately delete all files relevant to my role as Director of The Document Foundation, and I will never again use the email address @documentfoundation.org to avoid being associated in any way with individuals who uses a similar one and, in my opinion, have tarnished its value.
Enough is enough.
Iâm really sorry to see you go, having tried hard to persuade you to stay! still I completely understand there is a limit. Thank you so much for serving in this role, and putting heart and soul into finding and doing the right thing in a constructive and well argued manner. While we didnât always agree it was great to have your skills and ability to communicate with everyone across perspectives to grow mutual understanding.
I hope you can find the peace & rest you deserve - before continuing to do awesome work around LibreOffice Marketing I am deeply encouraged that youâre still engaged with the project and planning good new things around LibreOffice marketing - weâve lost too many good people for similar reasons - thanks for sticking around & continuing to do positive things!
The decision to resign from the Board of Directors of The Document Foundation has been carefully considered, along with all the possible consequences for me, my future, my family and the LibreOffice project. All my energy has been exhausted in a battle that ultimately proved futile, because the majority of the BoD â effectively leaving the final word to a single member â has already decided otherwise.
Having passed the age of 70, I have the right to live my old age in peace and to choose the people with whom I share my activities, and I have a duty â to my wife, my partner for over 40 years â to safeguard my health. My doctors have formally asked me to avoid stressful situations, as sudden changes in blood pressure could be fatal (I have an aortic aneurysm).
I will continue to honour my consulting contract with The Document Foundation, unless the BoD decides otherwise, and to support the LibreOffice community as a volunteer by participating in events organised by the community itself, dedicating all the time that has been taken up by the BoDâs activities to date.
I have deleted all references and documents relating to my work as a member of the Board of Directors from my PC and backup, and I have deleted my email account italo@documentfoundation.org, which I cherished because it testified to my role in the project I founded in 2010, but which now unfortunately associates me with something that has completely lost its original meaning.
Out of respect for the community, I will refrain from commenting further on the reasons for my resignation and, of course, I remain of the opinion that if I had been fully supported by the majority of the BoD members in my mediation attempt, perhaps some of the issues highlighted by the audits would have been resolved, but everyone is free to think what they want (including the exact opposite).
As someone said long before me: it is up to posterity to decide whether I was right or not.
Fortunately, I still enjoy the trust and esteem of many members of the community and companies in the ecosystem. Together with them, I will try to give new impetus to media relations, communication and marketing activities to ensure that awareness of LibreOffice continues to grow, as well as the number of customers of companies in the ecosystem, and that the number of downloads and donations continues to increase.
This has nothing to do with the age. If you choose to do resign, quit or change focus than it is your right to do so. It is sad that you quit as a member of the BoD, and Iâm really happy that you do not quit the project and will contribute to the community. Thanks for all your effort in the BoD.
At least my support and my trust you still have!
Hi Italo,
I reiterate what I wrote on the internal list.
I disagree with your statement that you did not have the support of the Board.
I am a member of the Board and I supported your initiative to mediate. In fact, during our meeting in Brussels in February 2025, I expressed my support for your proposal to consult the lawyers again, even if it resulted in additional costs for the TDF. My support comes from the belief that we cannot rely on guesses or personal opinions. We are not experts in these matters and therefore need legal advice to strictly follow German law so that we can fulfill the purpose for which the TDF was created, which includes maintaining its non-profit foundation status.
We shouldnât confuse the discussion of ideas - and the fact that there isnât always consensus - with a lack of support.
I understand how difficult it is to learn about problems that were not created by the current Board, absorb so much new information and deal with facts that were previously unknown to us. With all the comings and goings, many hours of our lives have been dedicated to reading documents and attending meetings to carefully understand the situation.
I deeply regret that you have decided to leave the mediation process and resign from the Board.
We will continue where you left off, as we are genuinely committed to resolving these issues and bringing the project out of stagnation. I ran for the Board, I was elected and Iâm here - as a volunteer - to help overcome these challenges. I will stay engaged until we reach a solution. We have responsibilities - and I personally take them very seriously.
Respectfully,
Eliane Domingos
Tradução para o PortuguĂȘs Brasil
OlĂĄ Italo,
Reitero o que escrevi na lista interna.
Discordo de sua afirmação de que não teve o apoio da Diretoria.
Sou membro do Conselho e apoiei sua iniciativa de buscar mediação. Na verdade, durante nossa reuniĂŁo em Bruxelas, em fevereiro de 2025, expressei meu apoio Ă sua proposta de consultar os advogados novamente, mesmo que isso resultasse em custos adicionais para o TDF. Meu apoio decorre da crença de que nĂŁo podemos confiar em suposiçÔes ou opiniĂ”es pessoais. NĂŁo somos especialistas nessas questĂ”es e, portanto, precisamos de assessoria jurĂdica para seguir estritamente a legislação alemĂŁ, de modo que possamos cumprir o propĂłsito para o qual a TDF foi criada, o que inclui a manutenção de seu status de fundação sem fins lucrativos.
NĂŁo devemos confundir a discussĂŁo de ideias - e o fato de que nem sempre hĂĄ consenso - com falta de apoio.
Entendo como Ă© difĂcil tomar conhecimento de problemas que nĂŁo foram criados pela Diretoria atual, absorver tantas informaçÔes novas e lidar com fatos que antes eram desconhecidos para nĂłs. Com todas as idas e vindas, muitas horas de nossas vidas foram dedicadas Ă leitura de documentos e Ă participação em reuniĂ”es para entender cuidadosamente a situação.
Lamento profundamente que vocĂȘ tenha decidido se afastar do processo de mediação e renunciar ao Conselho.
Continuaremos de onde vocĂȘ parou, pois estamos genuinamente comprometidos em resolver esses problemas e tirar o projeto da estagnação. Eu me candidatei ao Conselho, fui eleita e estou aqui - como voluntĂĄria - para ajudar a superar esses desafios.
Continuarei engajada até chegarmos a uma solução. Temos responsabilidades - e eu, pessoalmente, as levo muito a sério.
Respeitosamente,
Eliane Domingos
It is sad that there is a different understanding of the situation. Many board members and also me have supported the efforts - by giving time, by spending TDF funds in legal consultancy, but even more by spending lots of time to work through proposals, discuss options, and working long days and weekends to resolve the situation. Several board votes of support have been taken, so it is sad to read the impression is a different one.
Not giving support would have looked different. I am sorry if the impression was created there was no support. While for sure there are difficulties between individual board members, I donât see a general rejection of the work proposed at all. Italo and me e.g. had different thoughts on some aspects, but I found the cooperation quite fruitful and constructive, and I will try to build on what we have achieved up to now.
It is sad to see one more person understandably drained out by the situation at TDF.
Me and others wake up in the middle of the night because of TDFâs problems, and more than once I then sat down - in the middle of the night - to write down notes that eventually made it into one of the documents used in the discussion. Just this week, two important calls are set up - one related to an external deadline, another one to discuss the licensing fees. Both calls will be with lawyers, both calls will cost money, both calls will cost volunteer and employee time, and a lot of brain and energy.
The situation is sad, but I stay committed, even if we learn of new problems, issues and yet unknown troubles each day.
We will see how to unwind the situation now that the parameters have changed. As it seems there is uncertainty about which information is required, I can be in a call with each of the involved company to explain this again. Discussing, making concrete proposals, engaging in it, thatâs what happened and what I qualify as support.
I explicitly do not want to judge. I do understand the frustration. I am frustrated too, after half a decade going in circles.
There would have been the option to legally escalate things months ago. That step was deliberately not taken. It was clear that the path taken would have risks, but for the sake of peace and a proper solution, everyone stood behind that.
Iâm surprised and sad to read about the resignations and to read statements that are not supported by any document, email or messages that the board has available.
I fully understand the frustration, the fact that one might be exhausted and desires only to get out of a difficult position as Iâve seen this situation unravelling during the past 3+ years but I donât consider that a valid justification for unsubstantiated public accusations toward the board and its members.
I was very optimistic that we would have soon manage to solve the issues when well researched explanations of the legal situation have been published on this forum.
I was very optimistic also when in mid March the board has been notified that the parties were ready to sign an agreement.
We even arranged for this weekâs meeting with the legal team to, as agreed, validate the proposal that has been negotiated.
Then out of the blue we learned last week that negotiations stalled back in February and suddenly we see resignations containing controversial statements.
It would have been nice to have gone through an ordinate handover process so that the board could understand what happened in the past 6 months and where the negotiation process was as of last week but âŠ
I see that as quite problematic, especially from someone with decades of experience, as the negotiations were done on behalf of the board so records belonging to the board should not have been deleted as they are necessary for administrative purpose and to know where the board stands now.
We donât know if there if there was a new version of the agreed proposal so at this point we will need to count on the willingness of the involved parties to share the latest documents that have been agreed, together with the information they have been asked for since a very long time to validate the proposals so that we can get to a final agreement in the next few days.
Ciao
Paolo
Since I have no real clue what information is being asked for - it would be really helpful to have such a call to go over things.
From my side - we are (despite everything) still willing to engage in good faith and try to help TDF solve this. Even if the claims are merit-less they can consume lots of time and energy and block good things. However we need concrete, agreed proposals from the board - that are reasonable, the more expensive these are - the more detailed substantiation and legal discussion will be needed around them.
Iâll re-send some previously sent details on the internal list on this topic.
In order:
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I have expressed my feelings, and I have not made any statement. Feelings can develop in different ways, including by listening to other people, reading what they write, looking at how they interact, and also realizing that they stay silent when you expect them to speak. My feelings have developed that way, which is legitimate.
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Your statement: âthen out of the blue we learned last week that negotiations stalled back in Februaryâ is completely false, as I informed the BoD by making a proposal that ecosystem companies were available for a meeting, but that the BoD should get to that meeting with a proposal, which I made and the BoD did not approve. So, no stalled negotiations, but a BoD who has ignored my proposal.
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I have the proposals I made following the talks with the ecosystem companies. I have not the documents which I received as part of my election to the BoD. Re-sending the proposals which have been ignored by the BoD seems quite useless. In any case, you commented those proposals at least twice, so you have the original documents with your comments.
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The objective of the mediation activity was to get to a meeting where to discuss the issues, which was not possible as my proposal was ignored by the BoD. Getting information and documents would have been the next phase, but my attempt was killed even before reaching the first phase.
I will not comment further.
I suppose you are referring to the proposal you sent the 12/03/2025 which we agreed to send it to our legal team to be validated before voting on it.
That, as agreed, will happen this week so I still do not understand the outburst about the lack of support.
Ciao
Paolo
Since we are somewhat unexpectedly drawn back, the board and me need a bit of time to sort things out. Some legal calls will take place this week as planned, then thereâs some admin work around the resignation, and other decisions need to be revisited as the involved people have changed just over the public holidays when people celebrated Easter with their families.
Someone from the board or me will reach out, but likely not before next week, the dust needs to settle a bit.
I reminded you in tdf-internal what information the board needs to move on in solving the issues once and for all.
I believe that during the 6 months of negotiations you had the opportunity to ask all possible questions so I guess there wonât be any need to go over the same things again.
Ciao
Paolo