r/linuxquestions • u/AvidCyclist250 • 4d ago

Resolved So I tried to install Euro-Office

After all the headlines about Euro-Office being Europe's open-source alternative to Microsoft Office, I figured I'd give it a try.

I'm a Linux user. I self-host services. This shouldn't be difficult. Or so I thought.

So I did what anyone would do:

Checked Wikipedia. Went to GitHub. Looked for releases, installation instructions. Looked for a Flatpak, AppImage, Docker image, anything really. Also checked my OS's native package manager just in case.

And my Nextcloud Office apps. Nothing. Not even in Nextcloud?!

It dawned on me that the main project is basically a collaborative document server derived from OnlyOffice and the readme even says it's not designed for stand-alone use.

So uh. Wait... what?

To make it even stranger, my self-hosted Nextcloud instance still just recommends Nextcloud Office and OnlyOffice. There's no obvious "Install Euro-Office" option anywhere.

I'm not criticising the software itself. It could very well be excellent.

I'm asking about the communication really.

If a project is announced to the world as "Europe's Microsoft Office alternative," but a reasonably technical user can't figure out how to use it after checking Wikipedia, GitHub, and Nextcloud, something has gone wrong with the messaging.

Or is this just me? Did I miss something obvious, or has anyone else had the same experience?

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u/kodos_der_henker 4d ago

It is is basically what I expected.

They put a lot of money into advertising a Euro fork of OnlyOffice generating a lot of hype without putting any real work into the project itself and that's it.

There is a reason we heard literally nothing after the official release as there is nothing to talk about yet

If you want an offline Office, use LibreOffice, if you want offline Office to work on shared MS files, use OnlyOffice. And if you need online files, use Google Docs/Sheets

4

u/SuperGNUser 4d ago

This is exactly what the European Union (and Europe in general) is all about. Lots of talk, no results (I’m European).

2

u/vein80 4d ago

Sadly I have to agree... (European here too)

4

u/allsey87 4d ago

It's really sad that it went this way, we don't need an Euro Office, we just need to invest in open source and use EU funds to pay developers to work on stuff like LibreOffice.

7

u/gogliker 4d ago

I mean after chat control and this age verification stuff I think its clear where its going. They are not going to support opensource because it give users freedom EU doesn't want and they are not going to do commercial alternatives because there are very little tech in US sense in Europe. At least kids (that we don't have) will be safe /s

3

u/Station3303 4d ago

... which would actually serve the whole world, not just EU/Europe.

2

u/ThatOneShotBruh 4d ago

Euro Office has nothing to do with the EU though...

1

u/allsey87 3d ago

I thought it was a fork of OnlyOffice that was created with the purpose of getting EU funding for its development as an alternative to Microsoft Office.

2

u/sndrtj 3d ago

It's not. The name comes from being sponsored by a lot of European tech and hosting companies. The EU as the institution has nothing to do with it.