Happy Birthday LibreOffice!

It’s been one year, and I still can’t believe time has gone so fast. I would like to thank everybody who has been making the LibreOffice Project what it is today, and what it will become in the years to come. To the first founders and to the newcomers these days, to the former OpenOffice.org community and to the LibreOffice community; to the users who put their confidence in us; to our families, friends and colleagues who supported us: thank you for a wonderful year on your side. We are now one year old and we owe it to you. If anything’s been proven in these incredible 365 days, it’s that community works. I’m not referring to community “management”, I’m talking about people standing up for what they believe is the right thing to do, and getting it done. It’s about software freedom and perhaps about freedom in general too. It’s about realizing that no one will step up and set you free if not yourself. One of the greatest Americans of all times, Benjamin Franklin, used to say that freedom is not something that’s given to you, it is something you take. The LibreOffice Project is fundamentally about that and not about anyone’s corporate roadmap.

It’s been a great year. It’s been a tough year. I learned a lot. I grew quieter. I tried to become more humble. I didn’t lose weight. I got engaged to the Love of my life. I helped pushing something nobody usually gets excited about: an office suite. But folks, beyond the code, beyond a community, beyond ourselves, we did more than an office suite.

We changed the world.