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Forking frenzy ensues after Euro-Office launch sparks OnlyOffice backlash
(www.theregister.com)
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this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2026
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Skill issue indeed. Reading comprehension, specifically.
Let me spell it out:
"This year will be the year of ~~the Linux desktop~~ Codeberg!"
On top: Codeberg is like sourceforge: Relativeky unknown.
So some of the less technically inclined may know GitHub but would interpret Codeberg as a rip off unless IONOS literally links to it on their website (which they probably wont and instead just provide the download link or literally host the git infra on their own)
I don’t need to know that foot is hosted on codeberg. Searching for its source code reveals that it’s hosted there.
I do not need to know that euro office is hosted on github, searching for its source code reveals that it’s hosted there.
If you search on github itself that is your fault. If the goal is digital sovereignty for europe, hosting code on an american-owned forge when a perfectly viable european one exists is idiotic.
Whether you like the SEO-driving search engine providers or not, they are still the way that most people find things on the internet, and they prioritize Github results. When you're not searching for "it", but just searching them by describing things like it, (of which there are many, mostly on Github), it serves your interest to 'O' for the 'SEs' by putting it somewhere that will get prioritized higher.
Sovereignty is exercised and evidenced by a state's ability to enforce the laws they have created. Microsoft operates within Europe. As long as Europe can enforce their laws upon Microsoft (as they can and do now), that relationship is still an exercise of European sovereignty.
Back to my first comment in the thread, "sovereignty != isolation". Cutting yourself off from external groups does not make you "more sovereign" or something. If Europe cannot enforce their laws upon foreign business entities operating in their jurisdictions, and thus choose to prioritize Europe-headquartered businesses, that would be evidence of far weaker sovereign control of their jurisdiction.
Now, if it's just a matter of prioritizing supporting European businesses, (call it, say, "Europe First", or maybe "Make Europe Gr..." oh wait) that's fine for them to do, and supporting any smaller business or organization over a large one is almost always preferable, but that isn't and shouldn't be about the perception of sovereignty or about nationalism, it should be about fighting back against corporate power by not rewarding these de facto monopolies and political meddlers and manipulators with your business.
But once again, that's not within the scope (or ability) of a simple Office-alike application.
What an unhinged take.
You’re saying that having your supply chain outside of your control strengthens your sovereignty, because apparently controlling it would be “evidence of far weaker sovereign control over their jurisdiction”.
Guess what, microslop operates within europe not just with github, but also with… Can you guess it? Yes, their office suite. And yet, the EU saw fit to develop an alternative to strengthen its digital sovereignty by removing a supply chain liability.
You are equating hosting on github with “isolation”, but that is complete bullshit.
First: there is no isolation whatsoever. Codeberg is fully searchable and indexable by search engines. It is an open and open source platform.
Second: the only way for a software forge to become more popular is for projects to use it. If the only problem with codeberg, in your mind, is that it’s not popular enough (and not other techincal or political issues), then not using it is not the solution. Indeed, a major european-backed project being hosted there would boost its popularity overnight.
Third: all of this is moot anyway, because if the only issue is popularity and visibility, the EU could have set up a github mirror of the codeberg repo instead. People searching on github would find the repo, search engines would bubble the result up, and the mirror would link to codeberg. Done.
The decision to host on github is completely unjustifiable when a perfectly valid european alternative exists.
I don’t see why the choice of host wouldn’t be “within the scope or ability” of an office application. Somebody (or rather, multiple somebodies) has decided to develop an alternative office suite branded as european, mainly for political reasons (I consider resilience against supply chain disruptions political reasons rather than technical in this context).
Therefore, it is clearly within the scope and ability of a “simple office-alike application” to “not reward these de facto monopolies and political meddlers”. It is evidenced by the fact that euro-office even exists. This extends to the choice of host.
And let me stress out that the only one talking about nationalism is you. Europe needs to disentangle itself the fuck away from american corporations because they are a liability and absolutely have the ability to make the entirety of europe crawl to a standstill if they wanted to, and that is a national security risk that has nothing to do with nationalism.