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The following commit(s) were added to refs/heads/main by this push:
new cf6197f New file for a status report of current AOO development
activities
cf6197f is described below
commit cf6197f1f3b372df6b065ea0790f2e3960ce1322
Author: Marcus <[email protected]>
AuthorDate: Sat Sep 26 16:37:41 2026 +0200
New file for a status report of current AOO development activities
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+title: What is going on in Apache OpenOffice development?
+layout: post
+date: '2026-09-26T20:00:00+00:00'
+permalink: what-is-going-on-in-Apache-OpenOffice-development
+
+<p>
+ <b>A new release is in preparation: Apache OpenOffice 4.1.17</b>
+</p>
+<p>
+ We are preparing Apache OpenOffice 4.1.17, a maintenance release carrying
important fixes backported from current development. The release branch 4.1.x
remains the version we recommend to our users today.
+</p>
+<p>
+ <b>What comes after that?</b>
+</p>
+<p>
+ The work that has landed in the development branch are no longer the kind of
changes that fit into a point release. We are changing the platforms we build
for, the compilers we build with, and part of the runtime we ship. The next
logical version would be 4.2.0 but that would undersell our work and – more
importantly – would mislead our users about what they are installing.
+</p>
+<p>
+ We have therefore retired the planned 4.2.0 and are heading directing
towards Apache OpenOffice 5.
+</p>
+<p>
+ <b>What will be new?</b>
+</p>
+<p>
+ <b>The biggest changes</b>
+</p>
+<p>
+ <ul>
+ <li>Support for Windows 64-bit. The full suite now builds and runs as a
native Windows 64-bit application, rather than the 32-bit binary we have
shipped since the beginning.</li>
+ <li>Support for macOS on Apple Silicon. Apache OpenOffice builds and runs
as a native macOS arm64 application instead of going through Apple's Rosetta
emulation.</li>
+ </ul>
+</p>
+<p>
+ Still under discussion is the support for Windows 32-bit binaries in
general, the Windows 7 platform (please note: Microsoft has already stopped its
support for older Windows versions: Windows 7 on January 14th, 2020, Windows
8.1 on January 10th, 2023 and even Windows 10 on October 14th, 2025) and older
macOS releases with Intel architecture. No final decision has been already
made. We are still looking for solutions that let us keep them but we will not
know what is realistic until mo [...]
+</p>
+<p>
+ <b>Further changes you will see (only some extractions)</b>
+</p>
+<p>
+ <ul>
+ <li>Code signing and notarization on macOS, so that the application and
the disk image install without the warnings from the Apple Gatekeeper like in
recent versions for macOS.</li>
+ <li>Bundled Python will be updated to the newer supported versions
(currently 3.11), which put the scripting provider and the macros that rely on
it back on a supported interpreter.</li>
+ <li>OpenSSL 3 for TLS, encryption and digital signatures.</li>
+ </ul>
+</p>
+<p>
+ <b>More changes behind the scenes (only some extractions)</b>
+</p>
+<p>
+ <ul>
+ <li>Support for modern compilers. Windows builds now with the use a
current Microsoft Visual C++ tool set instead of Visual Studio 2008, and macOS
builds with current Xcode and clang. This sounds like normal housekeeping; But
actually these are changes that unblock many, many other things on this
list.</li>
+ <li>New C++ / UNO bridges for Windows x86-64 and for macOS arm64,
including the exception-handling routine each ABI needs. This is the piece that
makes the two new platforms possible at all.</li>
+ <li>A long tail of build and dependency work — static library handling,
install-name rewriting, ICU, libxml2/libxslt, NSS and the rest — the kind of
thing nobody notices until it stops everyone from building at all.</li>
+ </ul>
+</p>
+<p>
+ Since January 2025 that adds up to more than 850 changes from 15
contributors on the branch for version 5.
+</p>
+<p>
+ <b>Furthermore, a short story from our engine room: Apache OpenOffice x
AI</b>
+</p>
+<p>
+ AI coding agents have been a real help to us, in particular on the
build-system and porting work described above. Chasing a linker flag through
four layers of makefiles, working out precisely where two ABIs differ, porting
a bridge instruction by instruction: this is exactly the work that has
historically kept new contributors away from Apache OpenOffice, because it is
slow, unrewarding, and depends on a great deal of context that nobody ever
wrote down. It turns out agents are good at [...]
+</p>
+<p>
+ <b>Help wanted</b>
+</p>
+<p>
+ Anyone can contribute to Apache OpenOffice. We need developers, but we
equally need testers, translators, documentation writers, and people willing to
help out on the user forums.
+</p>
+<p>
+ <ul>
+ <li>How to get involved:
https://openoffice.apache.org/get-involved.html</li>
+ <li>Mailing lists: https://openoffice.apache.org/mailing-lists.html</li>
+ <li>Source code: https://github.com/apache/openoffice</li>
+ </ul>
+</p>
