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By installing the corresponding mobile apps. If access without a dedicated app is important, export a PDF. I really don’t like treating web access as a require

By installing the corresponding mobile apps. If access without a dedicated app is important, export a PDF. I really don’t like treating web access as a requirement if only because it adds enormous complexity to an already-complex project and brings much higher recurring expenses to keep the hosted service online. Neither are conducive to a free product that’s so highly reliant on volunteered time and donations. Web apps work best as closed, paid SaaSes funded by VCs, where complexity and overhead can be papered over by money.

dangus 2y ago
I think this view that web apps are unnecessary is really naive to the way that people prefer to work in the modern world. Google's office suite commands a 44% marketshare and is essentially a web-only platform on desktops. If you haven't been paying attention, yes, that means it has surpassed Office 365 in marketshare. The market spoke loudly about how it wants to work when Google took the #1 spot away from Microsoft by making documents accessible and simple to anyone with a web browser. Online documents are a liberating experience where the benefits are obvious. There's no more losing files and forgetting to save, no more passing files back and forth, no more worries about multiple devices. Online document editing "just works" Someone who wants to use LibreOffice in a modern way like this is just SOL. Someone who doesn't own a desktop computer can't use it. Tablet and smartphone users are stuck with a third party solution that utilizes the codebase but isn't really LibreOffice, and it's a 3 star-reviewed app with the top review complaining about how easy it is to permanently lose work. Web apps are all over the open source ecosystem. They aren't just reserved for big money VCs. I would argue that LibreOffice's own history was made possible by sponsorship by a very big company (Oracle) and that OnlyOffice being developed by a rather small company pokes a big hole in the idea that web apps work best aas closed paid SaaS products. Obviously, OnlyOffice is able to be a sustainable business while offering a compelling self-hosted community solution. I also think of Bitwarden as a success story for making modern web and desktop software that is both fully open source and hosted in the cloud in a way that makes it easy for users. I personally think that the document foundation just "doesn't get it" and isn't really prioritizing giving LibreOffice the modern overhaul it desperately needs. OnlyOffice is what LibreOffice would look like if The Document Foundation had their priorities straight.
- cosmic_cheese 2y ago
  People may value the online aspect of GSuite, but the big brand name recognition along with being associated with Gmail (which was already beloved by then) probably did a lot of heavy lifting in its rise to prominence. Most cross platform MS Office competitors were made by companies that were comparatively nobodies and had no successes on the scale of Gmail under their belt.
  - dangus 2y ago
    I don’t think GSuite would have gotten half as much adoption as it had if it was a free downloaded app. Being in the web was a huge part of the appeal.

dangus 2y ago

I think this view that web apps are unnecessary is really naive to the way that people prefer to work in the modern world. Google's office suite commands a 44% marketshare and is essentially a web-only platform on desktops. If you haven't been paying attention, yes, that means it has surpassed Office 365 in marketshare. The market spoke loudly about how it wants to work when Google took the #1 spot away from Microsoft by making documents accessible and simple to anyone with a web browser. Online documents are a liberating experience where the benefits are obvious. There's no more losing files and forgetting to save, no more passing files back and forth, no more worries about multiple devices. Online document editing "just works" Someone who wants to use LibreOffice in a modern way like this is just SOL. Someone who doesn't own a desktop computer can't use it. Tablet and smartphone users are stuck with a third party solution that utilizes the codebase but isn't really LibreOffice, and it's a 3 star-reviewed app with the top review complaining about how easy it is to permanently lose work. Web apps are all over the open source ecosystem. They aren't just reserved for big money VCs. I would argue that LibreOffice's own history was made possible by sponsorship by a very big company (Oracle) and that OnlyOffice being developed by a rather small company pokes a big hole in the idea that web apps work best aas closed paid SaaS products. Obviously, OnlyOffice is able to be a sustainable business while offering a compelling self-hosted community solution. I also think of Bitwarden as a success story for making modern web and desktop software that is both fully open source and hosted in the cloud in a way that makes it easy for users. I personally think that the document foundation just "doesn't get it" and isn't really prioritizing giving LibreOffice the modern overhaul it desperately needs. OnlyOffice is what LibreOffice would look like if The Document Foundation had their priorities straight.

cosmic_cheese 2y ago
People may value the online aspect of GSuite, but the big brand name recognition along with being associated with Gmail (which was already beloved by then) probably did a lot of heavy lifting in its rise to prominence. Most cross platform MS Office competitors were made by companies that were comparatively nobodies and had no successes on the scale of Gmail under their belt.
- dangus 2y ago
  I don’t think GSuite would have gotten half as much adoption as it had if it was a free downloaded app. Being in the web was a huge part of the appeal.