November 6, 2025
Open or open‑ish?
OpenDesk – a flexible all-in-one office suite for the public sector
OpenDesk vows freedom from Big Tech, commenters cry ‘LibreOffice clone’ and ‘open‑ish’
TLDR: OpenDesk aims to give European governments a homegrown office suite and independence from Microsoft. Commenters love the mission but argue it looks like a LibreOffice rebrand with a gated demo, while skeptics say no online suite beats Microsoft 365, making this a sovereignty dream vs. usability reality debate.
OpenDesk is pitching itself as Europe’s government‑friendly office suite, waving the banner of “digital sovereignty” (translation: tools Europe controls instead of relying on U.S. tech giants). The community reaction? Pure split‑screen drama. Some see a bold escape route from Microsoft; others see a familiar face behind new branding.
g‑mork’s spicy question — “Is this just a rip of Collabora or is it more?” — kicked off the identity debate. Collabora is the web‑based spin on LibreOffice, the popular free office apps, so folks are poking hard at whether OpenDesk is truly new or just repackaged. Then came demo‑gate: graiz mocked the site’s vibe as “We’re open! But you can’t just download, please request a demo,” sparking memes about “open‑ish” software with a velvet rope.
Supporters dropped European Alternatives as the club OpenDesk should join, while hype escalated when ChrisArchitect linked a related thread claiming the ICC — the International Criminal Court — ditched Microsoft 365 for OpenDesk (link). That poured gasoline on the “Big Tech breakup” storyline. But the skeptics held the mic: ksec sighed, “I have yet to see an online office suite that is good enough to rival MS 365,” grounding the convo in everyday usability. Verdict from the crowd: bold mission, messy rollout, and a very loud question — can it actually beat Microsoft’s polished machine?
Key Points
- •OpenDesk is an all-in-one office suite tailored for the public sector.
- •It emphasizes digital sovereignty, security, and seamless collaboration.
- •The suite provides familiar tools for everyday administrative work.
- •It aims to meet the need for a powerful, independent work infrastructure in public administration.
- •OpenDesk is optimized for efficient workflows in government organizations.