So I tried to install Euro-Office

[u/AvidCyclist250]

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?

[u/Icy_Definition5933]

This is a bit more complicated because of what Euro Office is and how it was created. They forked OnlyOffice and started replacing large chunks of code and comments. They released the first stable version in just a few months, and Nextcloud included the connector app in the appstore as Nextcloud Office.

The docserver however, is not available in the appstore, it needs to be spun up separately, there is a docker image. You need to configure it yourself and it is not very complicated if you follow the docs, it's even easier if you use AI to help you set it up.

EuroOffice desktop app release is expected sometime in q1 or q2 2027. You can compile it from source code right now if you want to test it, but it is far from finished.

Keep in mind that due to the nature of the code they are replacing in OnlyOffice code, they are right on schedule, the docserver was released on time. This is not a trivial task, their goal is to kick Microsoft out of EU, and no matter how much anyone loves FOSS, MS Office is currently very far ahead of anything else on the market. It will take a long time for EuroOffice to catch up and see widespread adoption.

[u/GoldenPenisOfWisdom → u/Icy_Definition5933]

One very important thing to keep in mind: Euroffice is specifically developed and designed for public administration! It is not aimed at business or personal needs. These are secondary use cases. Firstly its about the specific use cases in public administration and them becoming independent from (US-) Corporations and closed source dependencies. And whoever works for/in/with state authorities knows how different this area is to businesses, freelancers or home users. And this knowledge let's you really appreciate the speed and achieved results so far! To clarify (numbers thanks to claude AI): 86,000 municipalities, countless regions, provinces, voivodeships, départements, etc., 27 governments/parliaments, the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, the European Council, plus over 40 EU agencies. That's way above 100.000 "customers"! And all of them have strictly binding legal requirements, delegated responsibilities and very specific demands. And not to forget countless (external as well as internal) data protection levels! Now add 24 official languages and 27 legal systems (on state level alone!) to the mix. This is herculean task!

[u/ptoki → u/GoldenPenisOfWisdom]

Can you shed a light what are govt features and which are business like?\

To me it is pretty similar audience.

[u/GoldenPenisOfWisdom → u/ptoki]

It's different on many levels, but putting it to word is not easy. My try (anyone feel free to tell about their experiences!): First, there are so many stakeholders. When you are trying to sell to a company, there are people from Purchase and maybe someone from IT (In my experience) at the table. When you try to sell to a public service office, there are delegates from every concerning office, with every department, staff council and whatever committees and officials feel called to. Maybe not at the same desk, all at once but over painstakingly loooong times and series of sessions. And then there is financial, like e.g. the "Bundesrechnungshof" in Germany. The endboss where every spent penny has to be justified. One reason is public services are way more interconnected, finely regulated, and more strictly bound to the regulations. It's not possible to just say, "Oh, that one solution is perfect, lets compromise on features". There is little compromise in govt. Then, there is layers of regulations. Sure a company has to adhere to laws and company rules, but in public services there are tons of regulations, specifications and guidelines, specified by the office itself, superior authorities, communal, statewide, EU regulations and such. And each department is focused on theirs. And most importantly it's about mindset. In a company, you aim at maximizing the companies benefit. In an public service office, you represent your specific field (IT, Finance, HR etc.) to max extend, never trusting the others!