LibreOffice turns 15: a celebration of freedom, collaboration and open technologies and standards

Fifteen years ago, we announced our ambitious plan to provide the world with a fully free and open office suite created by and for the community. Today, we are celebrating 15 years of LibreOffice — a milestone not only for the software itself, but also for the global movement that it represents.

LibreOffice was born on 28 September 2010 when it was launched as a fork of OpenOffice. This was not just a technical split, but also a declaration of independence, transparency, and freedom. LibreOffice would be free: free to use, free to modify, and free from corporate constraints.

From day one, our mission has been clear: to empower people through open technology.

A community like no other

LibreOffice has never been alone. Throughout its journey, it has been supported by a community of thousands of contributors and dozens of companies who have contributed to development, design, localisation, quality assurance and other services to support its growth. Many have simply dedicated their time, skills and passion to creating something unique and better for everyone.

Over the years, the community has:

• Released dozens of major versions, each more powerful and significantly better than the last;
• Localised LibreOffice into over 120 languages, some of which are rare or at risk of disappearing, making it accessible to more than 5 billion people;
• Kept the source code open, making it more modern and secure thanks to countless improvements and rewrites;
• Organised conferences, workshops, and hackfests that have stimulated innovation and mentoring.

This is not just software. It is a living project, fuelled by real people and companies who are committed to its daily growth.

Why LibreOffice is more important than ever

In an era of cloud lock-in, creeping surveillance and disappearing ownership, LibreOffice remains a bastion of digital autonomy. It gives individuals, schools, non-profit organisations and governments the opportunity to own their tools rather than “renting” them under licence.

It supports ODF (Open Document Format), the only open document standard, which guarantees users transparent access to and management of their documents and perpetual control over their content. No subscriptions. No forced updates. No strings attached.

Looking back, moving forward

Fifteen years is a significant milestone, but LibreOffice is not slowing down. Thanks to continuous improvements to the user interface, increased compatibility, and greater integration with modern systems (including the cloud), the project is moving forward with the same energy with which it was launched.

Here’s what the future looks like:

• More powerful collaboration tools for teams and organisations
• Ever-improving compatibility with proprietary formats and native handling of the open document format standard
• A flexible user interface and user experience to meet the compatibility needs of users accustomed to the rigid interface of proprietary software
• Continuous performance and security improvements at all levels
• An ever-expanding network of volunteer contributors and partner companies around the world.

Join the celebrations!

This anniversary is about more than just LibreOffice; it’s about you too: the users, volunteer contributors, ecosystem companies, supporters and everyone who believes in open-source software.

If you have ever reported a bug, done a translation, answered user questions, contributed to the documentation, written source code, organised an event, made a donation, or simply shared LibreOffice with someone else, then you are part of the story.

So raise your glass (or open a text document, spreadsheet, presentation, or drawing) and join us in celebrating 15 years of LibreOffice and the people who made it possible. The best is yet to come!