Juan Carlos Sanz, a long time contributor to OpenOffice and LibreOffice, and a TDF Member, passed away last Friday, August 22. He has been contributing to documentation and localization in Spanish, and has been active in the forums to help LibreOffice users as much as he could.
In July 2022, Juan Carlos was interviewed by Mike Saunders for the Community Member Monday. In 2022, he also attended the LibreOffice Conference in Milan (2022) and Bucharest (2023).
LibreOffice 25.8: a Strategic Asset for Governments and Enterprises Focused on Digital Sovereignty and Privacy
Overview
In a time when geopolitical tensions, data localization laws, and compliance risks are reshaping the IT landscape, LibreOffice 25.8 (released last week) stands out as a strategic choice. It’s a fully open source, locally run productivity suite designed for organizations that require full control over their software, data, and infrastructure.
This version builds directly on priorities voiced by public administrations and large enterprises worldwide: protecting user data, reducing dependency on foreign vendors, and strengthening digital autonomy.
Why Digital Sovereignty Matters
For governments and enterprises, digital sovereignty is about more than philosophy. It’s about:
LibreOffice 25.8 is purpose-built for these goals.
Key Benefits in LibreOffice 25.8 for Institutions
Privacy-First Architecture
Open Standards & Interoperability
Flexible Deployment & Integration
Strategic Advantages for Public and Enterprise IT
Real-World Adoption
Governments and large institutions across Europe, Latin America, and Asia have adopted LibreOffice as part of digital sovereignty initiatives. Government bodies in Germany, Denmark and France, and national ministries in Italy and Brazil, have turned to LibreOffice to reclaim control over their digital infrastructure.
LibreOffice is backed by The Document Foundation, a neutral, non-profit steward with a global contributor base, not a private corporation with conflicting interests.
Conclusion
LibreOffice 25.8 is more than a productivity tool. It’s a vehicle for strategic IT independence. With no data collection, no vendor lock-in, and complete local control, it’s ideally suited for:
It’s time to own your documents, own your infrastructure, and own your future.
The best open source office suite continues to evolve, while maintaining its focus on privacy and digital sovereignty
Berlin, 20 August 2025 – The Document Foundation announces the release of LibreOffice 25.8. This latest version of the market-leading free open source office suite maintains its focus on digital sovereignty and privacy protection. It offers individuals, organisations, and governments total control over their data and the most comprehensive productivity tools.
In a global context of growing concern about data privacy, cloud lock-in, and surveillance capitalism, LibreOffice 25.8 provides concrete solutions.
Open Source: The source code is available for inspection and is completely free from proprietary technology constraints.
Privacy and Control: LibreOffice does not collect personal data, usage metrics or diagnostic information, and complies with the data protection regulations required by public administration implementations (GDPR).
Local Execution: all features are executed locally on the user’s computer, without the need for an internet or cloud connection.
Self-Hosted Collaboration: Integration with on-premises cloud solutions, such as Nextcloud, enables teams to collaborate without sharing information with Big Tech.
User Interface: the Welcome/What’s New dialog now offers access to the user interface picker and appearance options, allowing new users to leverage LibreOffice’s flexible UI and personalise the look and feel according to their preferences.
Performance: everything is faster, from startup to scrolling through large documents – with significant speed improvements on less powerful machines.
Better Interoperability with Microsoft Office files, with more accurate handling of DOCX, XLSX and PPTX files and fewer formatting issues, thanks to changes such as:
There are, of course, other important new features, such as the ability to export to the PDF 2.0 format, and several new ScriptForge library services. The complete list is available here: wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/25.8.
In terms of operating system support changes, LibreOffice 25.8 will no longer run on Windows 7 or 8/8.1 versions. It is also the last version to run on macOS 10.15. Support for x86 (32-bit) Windows versions is deprecated.
The Document Foundation collaborates with a global network of certified partners who offer enterprise-grade support and maintenance, customised features and integrations, and assistance with user migration and training. A full list of partners can be found here: www.libreoffice.org/get-help/professional-support/.
LibreOffice 25.8 is completely free and offers a viable alternative to proprietary office suites for individual users, schools, businesses, and public institutions. It contains no advertising, data tracking, or subscriptions.
It is ideal for students and teachers who need reliable tools for documents, presentations and data analysis, as well as for home users and freelancers looking for a solid, free alternative to Microsoft Office/365 or Google Docs. It is also ideal for public administrations and companies that value data sovereignty and the long-term accessibility of documents.
LibreOffice 25.8 reaffirms our dedication to safeguarding the freedom and privacy of end users in the digital age. With this new release, we ensure that personal information stays where it belongs – with the individual. LibreOffice gives end users full control over their documents, helping them to avoid reliance on third-party platforms that might compromise their data or privacy. It’s about empowering users to work securely, independently and confidently, said Eliane Domingos, chairwoman of The Document Foundation.
LibreOffice 25.8 is available for Windows, macOS and Linux, with versions for Intel and ARM/Apple processors, at www.libreoffice.org/download/.
The Document Foundation is a non-profit organisation that promotes open document formats and develops LibreOffice, the market-leading free open-source office suite. Its mission is to empower individuals and organisations to maintain control over their data and tools in an increasingly digital world dominated by closed platforms.
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Press Kit: nextcloud.documentfoundation.org/s/doGTtfJSkNAtrNi
Video YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dIRR37PF7M
Video PeerTube: peertube.opencloud.lu/w/1J49cZ9NvZy1sLmx8dJKDi
In the digital world, document formats are essential. Proprietary formats such as Microsoft Word’s DOCX or Excel’s XLSX dominate the workplace, but at the same time they lock users into a specific vendor and its business strategies, which tend to exploit users to the maximum in every way. The Open Document Format (ODF) offers an open, standard alternative that protects users and their privacy, promotes interoperability, long-term access and data ownership.
Migrating documents from proprietary formats to ODF is the solution, and although vendors who rely on proprietary formats – not only Microsoft, but also its freeware clones such as OnlyOffice or WPS Office – do everything they can to prevent it, it is very easy and represents a fundamental step forward for users in terms of privacy and digital sovereignty (i.e., ownership of their own content).
This guide breaks down the migration process to make the transition smooth, efficient and sustainable, both at the individual level (where problems are virtually non-existent) and at the enterprise level, where problems exist due to the lock-in strategies of proprietary formats.
Step 1: Understand ODF and its advantages
Step 2: Document inventory to define conversion priorities and estimate the effort required for migration
Step 3: plan the migration workflow
Step 4: Converting documents to ODF format
Step 5: Monitoring the migration
Conclusion
Migrating from proprietary formats to ODF is a strategic move, both individually and for businesses, towards openness, content control and document protection for the future. In a business environment, it requires careful planning and user involvement, but the benefits in terms of flexibility, interoperability and cost savings are well worth the effort.
LibreOffice 25.8 will be released next week, on August 20, 2025 (check the Release Plan). LibreOffice 25.8 RC3 brings us closer to the final version, which will be preceded by a last minute LibreOffice 25.8 RC4 needed for a fix solving an easy to trigger crash. Check the release notes to find the new features included in this version of LibreOffice.
LibreOffice 25.8 RC3 is already available, while LibreOffice 25.8 RC4 will be available from Thursday, August 14. Both can be downloaded for Linux, macOS and Windows, and will replace the standard installation.
In case you find any problem in these pre-releases, please report it in Bugzilla (you just need a legit email account in order to create a new account). For help, you can contact the QA Team directly in the QA IRC channel or via Matrix.
LibreOffice is a volunteer-driven community project, so please help us to test, we appreciate your contribution! Happy testing!!!
Adhering to these guidelines can enhance productivity and guarantee that documents remain consistent, robust and accessible over time, irrespective of the platform.
Firstly, use an editor such as LibreOffice that natively supports the format without conversion. This preserves the nuances of the ODF XML structure, supports all its features and reduces the risk of formatting issues or data loss. It also ensures that documents are fully compatible with the ISO standard.
Secondly, use an up-to-date version of LibreOffice to benefit from continuous improvements in ODF feature management, avoid bugs that could cause file corruption (a rare event thanks to the robustness of the ODF format, but still possible) and enjoy the highest level of security in file management.
Thirdly, use LibreOffice document templates and styles for all elements, such as headings, fonts, paragraphs, and tables, to ensure consistent formatting throughout the document. This allows you to make global changes quickly by changing the style rather than each individual element, and improves accessibility, as screen readers and other assistive technologies rely on a consistent structure. This also results in smaller, more robust ODF files.
Creating and reusing LibreOffice templates is an excellent practice for companies that produce many similar documents (such as invoices or monthly reports). Once all the characteristics of the document have been defined, simply save it in ‘template’ format to obtain a blank copy with all repetitive elements already in place.
The fourth condition is to save and back up documents frequently and regularly. ODF files are compressed XML files, which makes them robust and reliable, but not immune to problems. In a business environment, it is advisable to use a cloud storage solution with a version history, such as Nextcloud, which allows you to revert to an earlier version of a file.
The fifth recommendation is to avoid overly complex formatting to ensure maximum compatibility when sharing ODF files with a diverse audience or converting them to other formats, such as Microsoft Office proprietary formats, because complicated layouts, embedded objects or macros may not work or appear differently.
It is recommended that you use basic styles and standard LibreOffice fonts (open source and available to all users), or fonts that can be installed by any user, independently of the operating system, even if backed by an End User Licence Agreement (such as Microsoft Aptos, which can only be downloaded from the Microsoft website). You should also avoid excessive use of tables or nested text boxes.
The sixth condition is to integrate multimedia content sensibly, optimising images or videos used in presentations to reduce their size without compromising quality.
The seventh and final condition is to always save the original file in ODF format, even when sharing with users who insist on using Microsoft Office’s proprietary format — thereby handing over ownership of their files to Microsoft. Once the document is finalised, save a copy in OOXML format and share this with Microsoft users.
Similarly, when receiving an OOXML document from a Microsoft user, immediately save a copy in ODF format for editing until the document is finalised and the OOXML copy can be shared again.
When sharing a document within a team, it is advisable to use comments to provide feedback instead of editing the body of the document, enabling change tracking so that changes can be reviewed before acceptance or rejection. Where possible, collaborate on a shared ODF platform based on LibreOffice technology and the cloud, such as Collabora Online.
Open standard formats such as ODF allow you to avoid dependence on a single supplier, maintain ownership and control of your documents, and future-proof your work — but only if used wisely. Following best practices will enable you to manage ODF documents more smoothly and conveniently without sacrificing any of the advantages of the ISO standard format.
