LibreOffice 25.8 RC2 is available for testing

LibreOffice 25.8 will be released as final on August, 20, 2025 (check the Release Plan). LibreOffice 25.8 Release Candidate 2 (RC2) brings us closer to the final version, which will be preceded by Release Candidate 3 (RC3). Check the release notes to find the new features included in this version of LibreOffice.

LibreOffice 25.8 RC1 can be downloaded for Linux, macOS and Windows, and it will replace the standard installation.

Understanding ODF File Types: .odt, .ods, .odp, and Beyond

If you’ve ever wondered what those .odt, .ods, or .odp files are all about – or if you’ve stumbled across them and weren’t sure what to do – this post is for you.

.odt: The Open Document Text File

Think of .odt as the open counterpart to .docx. It’s the default file format for LibreOffice Writer.…

An artificially complex XML schema as a lock-in tool

A document format is a tool for sharing knowledge and, as such, should be as simple and accessible as possible in relation to the complexity of the document content itself. This remains true even when the format is based on an XML schema that is hidden from users when the document is displayed on screen.

Unfortunately, while an XML schema can be simple, it can also be unnecessarily complex, bloated, convoluted and difficult to implement without specific knowledge of its features.…

The Document Foundation announces LibreOffice 25.2.5

LibreOffice 24.8 has now reached the end of life, so all users have to update their free office suite to the latest release

Berlin, 17 July 2025 – The Document Foundation announces the release of LibreOffice 25.2.5, the fifth maintenance release of the LibreOffice 25.2 family for Windows (Intel, AMD and ARM), macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux OSs, available for download at www.libreoffice.org/download

LibreOffice Podcast, Episode #4 – Documentation in Free and Open Source Software

Good software needs good documentation. But how do we define “good” in this sense? And what does the future hold? Find out in episode 4 of the LibreOffice Podcast! (This episode is also available on PeerTube.)

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The Role of XML in Interoperability

When different systems, applications or organisations need to communicate with each other and actually understand what is being said, interoperability is key. It enables a hospital’s software to communicate with an insurance company, for example, or one vendor’s inventory system to synchronise with another’s logistics platform.

At the heart of many of these data exchanges is XML.…