Yes, we should have published this blog post some time ago. We would like to thank Mike Kaganski, who was affected by the recent suspension of membership, for reminding us so politely of our oversight: mikekaganski.wordpress.com/2026/04/05/the-post-they-managed-to-avoid/.
Had we published the post earlier, we would probably have avoided some of the anger expressed in certain messages. However, this would not have changed the situation, which might feel like an unfairness to some, even though it isn’t.
You are absolutely right to point out that your personal conduct was not the issue. You have all contributed generously and honestly to this project, and some of you still do, for which we are very grateful. What happened does not reflect on your integrity as people or as developers.
The problem is that once elected, several of your company’s representatives acted in ways that put in serious danger the status of TDF as a non-profit organisation.
The foundation could not treat this as individual issues to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. We had to address the vulnerability of having trustees whose primary institutional loyalty lies with an organisation other than TDF.
This is not guilt by association in a moral sense, but recognition that the foundation’s governance structures have consequences regardless of individual intentions.
Even if a board member votes in good faith in their employer’s interests, this creates a conflict of interest that the foundation cannot manage retrospectively on a case-by-case basis once the damage has been done.
We had to improve the governance structures and rules of each of the bodies that form TDF in order to prevent any further damage that could be caused by overlapping loyalties. This affected everyone, including you.
Regardless of the structural changes needed to protect the foundation, the code and the community, these will remain shared assets to which everyone is welcome to contribute.
The post that we should have written, and which we are writing today, is as follows:
We are grateful to you. We are sorry that this is the outcome. We are not saying that you are bad people, bad contributors or bad members of our community.
The Document Foundation and the LibreOffice project are open by definition and principle to all developers. Our doors have never been closed to any of you, and they never will be.
The technical excellence and enthusiasm for teamwork that you have demonstrated time and again are the cornerstones of our joint achievements.
However, we must tell you that the structure was flawed and the harm was real. We could not correct the structure without this consequence also temporarily affecting people who did not deserve it.
Sadly, what has happened is an example of the kind of unfairness that often follows structural changes, and you are fully entitled to feel like victims of this unfairness.