Hi @mikesaunders,
That is a bit of self selecting though, because productivity is not just ādesktopā. Desktop productivity use itself is getting more and more a corner case: In my day jobs, ādesktopā productivity software have not been used anymore by my employers for a decade at least already. Now, the future is not evenly distributed, but the desktop itself is becoming irrelevant.
Are there still people using ādesktopā software? Sure, but it is hardly universal in the way you are arguing.
A common trap people fall into is that assuming the LibreOffice project is something you can just wish for your feature to be implemented free of charge or without a contribution (or worse: to be bought by donation). That is obviously not how that works or can work, so it is important that āfree of chargeā is not a goal in itself, but means: it is the easiest way to unlock and generate future contribution.
By extension, the foundation needs to carefully consider other investments (like e.g. hosting productivity solutions beyond desktop binaries) on if they also enable enable or unlock future contribution in the same way.
Best Regards,
Bjoern