exactly twenty years now – on May 1, 2005, the Open Document Format (ODF) - started...

[d-hubs]

Two Decades of Open Document Format (ODF): Open Standards – A Gain for Digital Self-Determination and Sovereignty:

 

 

Dear Community – Hello Dear Users,

 

 

It's been almost exactly twenty years now – on May 1, 2005, the Open Document Format (ODF) was officially adopted by the international organization OASIS as an open standard for office files. Today, 20 years later, the Document Foundation – the organization behind LibreOffice – is celebrating this anniversary as a historic step toward *greater transparency, interoperability, and digital self-determination.

 

Why ODF is so Important

ODF is an open, standardized file format for text documents (.odt), spreadsheets (.ods), presentations (.odp), and other office formats. Unlike proprietary formats like Microsoft's .docx or .xlsx, ODF's source code is open, the specification is freely available, and anyone can implement it – without license fees or dependencies.

 

This openness has key advantages:

• Long-term readability and archiving security
• Independence from individual software providers
• Promoting competition and innovation
• Strengthening the digital sovereignty of public administrations

 

 

Digital Sovereignty in Practice

Especially in times of growing dependence on large tech corporations, the call for digital sovereignty – that is, the ability of states, organizations, and individuals to shape their digital infrastructure independently – is becoming ever louder. ODF is a key tool in this regard: It enables administrations, educational institutions, and companies to use *free software such as LibreOffice or OnlyOffice* and free themselves from proprietary dependencies.
A very good example is the conversion of 30,000 workstations in Schleswig-Holstein to LibreOffice – (we reported on this here).

 

Examples from practice:

• In Germany, several federal states actively recommend ODF for government communication.
• The EU Commission uses ODF as the standard format for document exchange in many committees.
• In France, Spain, and Italy, numerous cities use ODF in the public sector.

 

Political support and open issues

Despite ODF's technical maturity, widespread use remains a challenge. Many IT environments are still optimized for Microsoft Office. The interaction between ODF and other formats (e.g., .docx) is often not entirely seamless, which can lead to problems, especially in mixed IT landscapes.

Nevertheless, embedding open standards in procurement guidelines and educational institutions is key to digital independence. ODF is more than a technical format – it is a political signal.

20 years – and the journey continues

To mark its anniversary, the Document Foundation is calling for the next steps: **More ODF in schools, in government, and in companies.** More openness in everyday digital life. And more self-determination in how we handle our data.

Questions for you!

Do you use ODF in your daily life – professionally or privately?
How well does the exchange work with other formats like .docx?
What stumbling blocks have you encountered? What success stories?

 

 

Further links and sources: Interesting and important information pages:

die Documentfoundation: https://www.documentfoundation.org/

LibreOffice-das Projekt: https://www.libreoffice.org/

Die Wikipediaseite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Document_Foundation mit vielen vielen Infos zum Weiterlesen!

 

[Haswellx86]

No MS Office software can open ODF. It's useless for me. I send my documents to other people and they can't open it with MS Office. Thankfully LibreOffice supports docx.

 

 

[d-hubs]

 

HI and good eveing -dear  @Haswellx86

 

many thanks for the reply - and for sharing your experience

 

 

Quote

 

 

thankfully LibreOffice supports docx.

 

thats it - thats the poinnt - therefore i am lovin LibreOffice

[Haswellx86]

1 hour ago, d-hubs said:

HI and good eveing -dear  @Haswellx86

 

many thanks for the reply - and for sharing your experience

Why are you talking like you work at a company and you are responding to a feedback? If so, you would do a terrible job with the spelling of "evening".

[d-hubs]

9 hours ago, Haswellx86 said:

Why are you talking like you work at a company and you are responding to a feedback? If so, you would do a terrible job with the spelling of

"evening".

 

good day  - 

well - its not a company - its a "community-thing" - such as 

 

a. Linux

b. LibreOffice and the rest that is hosted on SourceForge , Github 

 

note: thats completly different to all things "company" - but thats why i am here - on linustechtips

 

 

and for the rest:  srry - english is not my mother thounge and i live not in USA 

 

greetings

 

 

ps. what i mean by the difference is that - i regard Open-Source as a completly different production model... 

 

some ( out of a bunch ) good readings...: 

Epistemic Communities, Situated Learning and Open Source Software Development
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/2409897_Epistemic_Communities_Situated_Learning_and_Open_Source_Software_Development

 

Epistemic Communities and Social Movements: Transnational Dynamics in the Case of Creative Commons
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/45190434_Epistemic_Communities_and_Social_Movements_Transnational_Dynamics_in_the_Case_of_Creative_Commons